The Message Engineers

Biography of Louis Pukelis

Louis G. Pukelis is an award-winning public relations practitioner and former journalist with 17 years experience in integrated public relations programming and management. Pukelis’ diverse clientele has included state and local government agencies, engineering firms, Fortune 500 companies, associations, non-profits, law firms, & communications firms.

Louis co-founded The Message Engineers in February 2005 with Jonathan Lehrer, a former colleague from the AAA-Chicago Motor Club. Louis provided strategic planning and communications program management for many of the firm’s clients including HNTB Engineering, E. Morris Communications (Illinois Department of Transportation), IMD Guest House, and the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Previously, Louis owned LKN Public Relations where he managed programming for the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Illinois Department of Revenue. For CDOT, Louis updated and rewrote the agency’s Master Plan. For IDOR, he spearheaded a media outreach program to promote the department’s electronic tax filing options.

In 2004, Louis was senior communications consultant for the three-year South Lake Shore Drive reconstruction project. Working closely with Edwards & Kelcey Engineering and Chicago Department of Transportation officials, Louis facilitated all communications programming and collateral material production, under the auspices of Kemper Lesnik Public Affairs (now Res Publica Group). Other client work included CTE Engineers, ComEd, Quinlan & Carroll Law, Horseshoe Casino and the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra.

In 2003, he and the City of Chicago earned recognition from the Publicity Club of Chicago (PCC), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) for outstanding communications efforts related to the South Lake Shore Drive reconstruction project. As an additional honor, Louis was elected by his peers to the PCC's board of directors, where he currently serves as the organization's treasurer and advertising committee chairman.

Prior to his consultancy, Louis was vice president for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Kemper Lesnik Communications. He spearheaded activities on a variety of accounts including Illinois Department of Transportation, City of Chicago’s Millennium Park construction, Starbucks Coffee Company, Illinois Lottery, United Way of Chicago, Lincoln Foundation for Business Excellence, Seagram Americas, Equal Sweetener, Snap-on Tools, BP Amoco, and American Greetings, among many others.

In 2000, PCC honored Louis with a Golden Trumpet Award for exemplary PR efforts on the Illinois Department of Transportation's Stevenson Expressway reconstruction project. He also won a 1998 PCC Silver Trumpet and 1999 Creativity in Public Relations Award (CIPRA) for The Glenlivet Office Putting Championship for Seagram Americas.

Prior to joining Kemper Lesnik, Louis was managing director of public affairs for the AAA-Chicago Motor Club (AAA-CMC). Louis was AAA’s spokesman in Illinois and Indiana. He also was associate editor of Home & Away Magazine (now AAA Traveler) and led the planning, publicity and execution of several AAA programs that included the School Safety Patrol and other traffic safety initiatives. Louis was AAA-CMC’s resident expert on gas prices and motor fuel taxes, basic car care and he managed the annual Ford/AAA Auto Skills competition in Illinois. Louis co-led many other AAA initiatives including the ADVANCE Project, an early experiment of “smart car” technologies in the Chicago area, and Illinois Ice Pack, a partnership of public and non-profit agencies (IDOT, Illinois Tollway, American Red Cross et al) to promote winter car care and safety. He also co-managed AAA-CMC’s traffic reporters on WBBM Newsradio 780 in Chicago and developed Traffic Trackers, a partnership with AAA-CMC and WLS-TV to recruit morning commuters as on-air traffic reporters during the early morning newscasts. He even was substitute traffic reporter on WLS-TV during the maternity leave of its key anchor.

The early part of his career was spent as communications specialist for the Dairy Council of Wisconsin; news reporter for Vondrak Publishing, a group of Chicago area community newspapers; and market research analyst and account executive for TeleRep, a national TV spot sales rep firm, in New York, N.Y. and Chicago.

A native of Chicago's South Side, Louis graduated from Southern Illinois University with a B.S. degree in broadcast journalism. He resides in the western suburbs with his wife and children.