Rock Island, IL/January 5, 2011 -- A well-known name in Quad-Citiy media has joined forces with the region's only 8(a) certified marketing firm. Leigh Geramanis joins the Media Link team as an Account Manager and will develop and manage new accounts.

Geramanis has been consulting with Media Link over the past eleven months, assisting with client development. "It has been such a great fit for both of us that it just made sense to make it 'official.' I'm so inspired by Natalie Linville-Mass's business model. It's exactly what businesses are looking for in this challenging environment: the ultimate in quality service, flexibility and results."

Leigh's career prior to Media Link afforded her a rare perspective on the workings of media. Leigh has been an award-winning medical reporter and anchor, in the international medical destination of Rochester, MN. Leigh later helped facilitate Mayo Clinic's efforts to fight a railroad's plan to send high-speed coal trains less than 100 yards from the Mayo's Rochester campus. Leigh and her teammates helped educate policymakers, taxpayer watchdog groups, and the media about a proposed $2.3 billion federal dollar loan that would have financed the project. Their work resulted in the loan ultimately being denied. For six years, Leigh served clients of esteemed research and consultation firm, Frank N. Magid Associates, working with some of America's most successful local television stations. Among her clients: Fortune 500 executives, an ambassador, and a recent governor. Since returning to her hometown in 2007, Leigh has worked as News Director for WQAD, and Director of Marketing and Communications for Trinity Regional Health System. Leigh is a graduate of Rock Island High School, Black Hawk College and Southern Illinois University.

"I am so fortunate to have someone of Leigh's caliber on our team. Her expertise as a consultant and in the filed of media is a big help for our customers. She reinforces our scope and capability as a marketing firm," said Media Link founder and President Natalie Linville-Mass, who incorporated the company in 2001.

Media Link is a full-service integrated marketing firm specializing in strategic media buying and placement. Media Link works with businesses in the Quad-Cities and around the country to develop and execute customized marketing strategies to help them more effectively reach their customers. Media Link is the only marketing firm in the region to have obtained an 8(a) SDB certification, a designation of significance to clients who contract with the federal government.

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