Named a 2019 Crain’s Chicago Business ‘Notable Entrepreneur’
Beth Silverman walks fast, talks fast and some say she’s on the fast track to becoming Chicago’s next public relations maven.
Beth Silverman is the founder and president of The Silverman Group, Inc., a prominent Chicago-centric public relations boutique specializing in the arts and leisure fields, from theater, dance and music, to film, visual arts, comedy and hospitality.
Following two valuable college internships, Beth’s career in public relations officially began here in 1986 at Kurman Communications, where she promoted a diverse roster of consumer accounts, including automobiles, gourmet coffee and nightclubs. In 1988, pursuing her lifelong passion for the arts, she joined the staff of Margie Korshak, Inc. where she rose through the ranks over 12 years (ultimately serving as Vice President of the Entertainment Division). Through this experience, she not only honed her public relations skills but also gained an incredible range of contacts throughout the city and beyond. Eventually realizing that among her contemporaries in the business community were the next wave of theater producers, marketing directors and non-profit executives, Beth left MKI in 1999 to parlay her connections and launch the Silverman/ LaCorte Group, a boutique firm specializing in public relations and promotions services for arts and entertainment clientele. (She subsequently bought out partner Marlo LaCorte in 2001, becoming the sole proprietor of The Silverman Group, Inc.). Now in its 20th year, The Silverman Group currently has six amazing employees, and a distinguished client list of non-profit cultural organizations and commercial entities.
Beth, herself, has become a Chicago “connector” in the truest sense of The Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell’s words, i.e. “The kind of people who know everyone…with a truly extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances.” Having resided and worked in the Chicago area her entire life (not to mention possessing an uncanny knack for not forgetting a face), Beth is proud to claim an extensive and valuable network of friends, former colleagues and business contacts. She rarely goes anywhere without recognizing someone, and has encountered familiar Chicago faces in airports, on a street corner in New York and on the islands of Turks & Caicos, along with nearly every restaurant, cultural venue, or retailer she frequents here.
Throughout her career, Beth has relished her role as connector to her peers, and counselor to the next generation of publicists. Given her passion for public relations, she is proud to serve as a mentor – both officially, via her work with the national Step Up Women’s Network, and informally, via the lessons imparted to her staff. Beth is proud to have trained some of Chicago’s most polished publicists, and she is frequently sought out by public relations professionals throughout the city who want an expert, experienced second opinion.
Beth is a proud 2015 graduate of the prestigious Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and a 1986 graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana. She currently resides in Chicago’s Gold Coast – a (fast) walk from her office.