A PRA rooftop event in New York City. Photo Credit: Courtesy of PRA
PRA has named Tom Kemp, former CEO of Northstar Travel Group and a PRA board member, its interim CEO. He takes the place of Mike Fiber, who stepped down as of Nov. 1. The board of directors and EagleTree Capital, PRA's private equity partner since February 2023, have begun a search for a permanent replacement.
"We commend Mike for all his contributions and recognize the positive impact he made during his five-year tenure with PRA," said Michael Struble, senior partner with EagleTree Capital, also private equity investors in Northstar Travel Group, parent company of Northstar Meetings Group. "Mike guided PRA through the unimaginable impact of Covid to achieve stability and operational efficiency."
Moving forward from a position of strength
Tom KempThe leadership change comes at an opportune time, as the business events industry has made a strong pandemic recovery and is poised for growth in 2025, according to Northstar Meeting Group’s annual forecast. In the incentives sector, planner optimism is at its highest level since 2022, according to the latest Northstar/Cvent Incentive PULSE Survey.
PRA’s clients are “incredibly optimistic” about the year ahead, said Laurie Knapp, PRA’s chief growth officer. “They are bullish on the power of face-to-face to drive their strategic business objectives forward.”
PRA, headquartered in Chicago, was founded by Patti Roscoe as a destination management company in 1981. Now with 277 employees across North America, PRA is still a DMC at its core, noted Knapp, but often identifies as a business-events management company to acknowledge a broader range of offerings, including strategy and creative services, production and staging, and technology solutions.
Kemp brings extensive experience to the role
As interim CEO, Kemp brings deep experience in the business events sector, having served as CEO of Northstar Travel Group from 2009 to 2023.
Since joining PRA's board in February 2023, Kemp has been impressed by the team's talent and commitment. PRA’s culture is similar to Northstar's, he said, in that employees share a passion for the business events industry and the drive to create unique experiences and content.
While he had been poised for retirement, Kemp welcomes the opportunity to work with PRA's team and clients. “While this is an interim gig, I don’t know how to be anything less than a full CEO,” he stressed. PRA continues to invest in technology and people for both organic and inorganic growth, and those projects will continue with the support of EagleTree partners, he added.