SYRACUSE — Eric Mower + Associates (EMA), the largest advertising agency in Central New York, this summer launched a new specialty group within the agency that aims to help energy providers and manufacturers of energy-efficient products to promote their services.

Syracuse–based EMA has clients that specialize in work that falls into this group “…whether [they’re] utility companies, manufacturers of green-building technology, or green-building products,” says Stephanie Crockett, the leader of EMA Energy + Sustainability.

The advertising agency decided in early 2012 to eventually brand its work with clients in this sector, Crockett says.

EMA created the energy and sustainability specialty group to communicate internally about the industry research that its employees are conducting, but also to leverage what the firm has learned from its work with different clients and share that information with their colleagues on other client teams, Crockett says.

“This specialty group really is also a way for EMA to take advantage of the fact that energy and sustainability [are] obviously becoming more and more of a hot topic, an important topic in basically all businesses,” she adds.

The group represents a “strategic initiative” for EMA to harness the opportunities and the “momentum that’s there” in the energy and sustainability sector, Crockett says.

The Energy + Sustainability group is one of a “handful” of specialty groups that EMA uses for work with its clients, she adds. Those groups focus on contractors, health care, and new moms, according to the EMA website.

Besides Crockett, the specialty-group leadership includes John Lacey, public-affairs management supervisor; John Leibrick, senior strategic planner; and Wally Stoneman, creative director.

“We’ve represented about 12 or 15 [EMA employees] that cross a wide variety of basically all of our disciplines across all the offices,” Crockett says.

Many of the EMA employees in the specialty group work “almost exclusively” on energy and sustainability-related client work, says Lacey.

The firm didn’t initially add any employees for the specialty group, Crockett says.

EMA’s Energy + Sustainability group includes employees who focus on insight and analytics, creative ideas, design and branding, public relations and public affairs, social media and strategic planning, the company said.

The team conducts research studies, interviews industry experts, and shares insights through articles, blog posts, webinars, and videos.

EMA employees conduct work for the specialty group in all seven of the firm’s offices, she says.

EMA’s Energy + Sustainability specialty group has a client roster that includes companies such as Fairfield, Conn.–based General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Charlotte, N.C.–based Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE); Baltimore, Md.–based Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG); Bilbao, Spain–based Iberdrola, S.A.; and Albany–based Transmissions Developers, Inc.

TDI is working to site a power-transmission line that would bring Canadian hydropower and wind down to New York City, Lacey says.

“We help TDI make the case why this is a superior project, why it should go forward, why it should get approval,” says Lacey.

EMA, which has worked with TDI since 2008, handles the firm’s website-design work, public-meeting advertising, and press-related materials, he adds.

EMA worked with Nucor, which describes itself on its website as “North America’s largest recycler” to highlight its recycling activities in publications such as The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

“Print advertising, online advertising, emails … that really talked about Nucor’s commitment to sustainability and recycling their steel products and using recycled materials,” Crockett says.

The Syracuse headquarters of Eric Mower + Associates operates in a 35,000-square-foot space in the Jefferson Clinton Commons building at 211 W. Jefferson St.

EMA also has offices in Buffalo, Rochester, and Albany, as well as Atlanta, Charlotte, and Cincinnati.

The firm currently employs more than 250 people companywide, including about 90 people in Syracuse.

The Syracuse employee count includes two part-time employees. The firm generated $36 million in revenue in 2012.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com