Joe Erwin

President

Joe Erwin’s presence in the agency he started, and in the community he lives in, are remarkably similar. Both are marked by an incredible dedication to doing what’s right, and doing it the right way.

After a stint in New York City at DMB&B, one of the world’s most reputable and enduring ad agencies, Joe’s southern demeanor and sensibilities got the better of him. Although his star was rising in New York, he struggled with the way agencies there worked with their clients.

“It was more of a, ‘We know what’s best for you, so just do what we tell you,’ attitude ,” says Joe. “There was little room for real collaboration – or real respect, for that matter.”

So in 1986, Joe came back to the south, settled in Greenville and along with his wife Gretchen started Erwin-Penland. That two-person local shop of 22 years ago has since become a 200-person regional and national powerhouse agency, in part because of the philosophy, brain power and style of Joe.

In an industry often rife with petty politics and squabbles, Joe has managed to build an agency that transcends those distractions so that the focus is incontestably on the clients and their businesses. Erwin-Penland’s clients have profited from that set of values, and that is reflected in the agency’s consistent growth. Indeed, Erwin-Penland has never had a layoff in its history, and has never lost a client to another agency.

Joe has created a remarkably united and focused agency. His ability to do that has prevailed beyond the agency business and into the community where Joe’s reputation as an idea guy, as an entrepreneur, and as a consensus builder have all benefited South Carolina.

Joe is simply one of those businessmen who has succeeded because of a sense of fairness, not in spite of it.