Todd Ford Public Information Coordinator for Cook County + North Shore Health

Todd Ford

Cook County government and North Shore Health are sharing Todd Ford. He serves as the new Public Information Coordinator for both organizations. He enters this new position after serving as Marketing Director for Grand Portage Lodge and Casino.

Although the work of both organizations is quite different, Ford’s areas of influence are the same.

A big issue for the county and the hospital is employee recruitment. He will work with Human Resource departments to effectively improve current, and develop new, recruiting programs.

In the area of media and public relations, Ford will edit and distribute media releases and articles. He will arrange interviews for representatives of each organization and provide talking points that will keep a consistent and effective message.

Ford received his Marketing Degree from Columbia College Chicago and he spent ten years in a leadership position with an advertising agency in Chicago. From there he was recruited to become the Creative Director at a Las Vegas, NV based advertising and marketing group.

From there, he became the Executive Director of Marketing for the Stratosphere Hotel Casino and Tower. After ten years there, the Stratosphere was sold to new owners who furloughed the entire executive team.

A native of Omaha, NE, Ford has fond memories of visiting and camping on the North Shore as a boy. After the ownership change at Stratosphere created the freedom to relocate to a more rural area, he became the Marketing Director at Grand Portage. He and his wife Susan live in Lutsen, along with Susan’s mother.

Ford says, “I’m enjoying growing into the new position(s).” He is still getting settled into the job in both organizations and is open minded about finding appropriate communication strategies for each.

He will be developing Facebook and Instagram content and monitoring each for effectiveness and feedback. He will also be doing website development and maintenance, shooting and editing photo and video content as well.

In addition to developing brand identity programs for the county and hospital/care center he will devote time to internal communications as well. He will be involved in writing and designing brochures, flyers and signage and will lead a communications team.

By Todd Ford

After high school, Ford attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Art is still a hobby for him. He shares his sketches on his Facebook page.

Ford can be reached at todd.ford@co.cook.mn.us and todd.ford@northshorehealthgm.org