Clients include Intel, Nike, Microsoft

Agencies

the leading digital city in the U.S., especially with the South by Southwest conference.”

W2O, founded in 2001, operates a communications, marketing, research and development firms, had billings this year of $62 million and expects to reach $80 million next year. Clients include Honeywell, Hershey Co., Intel and Warner Bros.

In addition to San Francisco and Austin, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and London.

VM Foundry, also founded in 2001, specializes in Web and mobile app development. It has worked on state and national political campaigns and its clients include Dell, Nike, the Weather Channel, NFL and MTV.

W2O Digital will be headquartered at VM Foundry’s offices on East Cesar Chavez Street in East Austin.

Meanwhile, New Yorkbased R/GA, which is owned by global advertising giant Interpublic Group, has opened an Austin office that will serve as a hub for the digital advertising firm’s mobile and social business efforts.

Founded in 1977, R/ GA’s clients include MasterCard, Getty Images, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson. The agency had billings of $242 million in 2011, according to Ad Age’s annual agency report. It has nine locations, including ones in San Francisco, New York, London and Singapore.

R/GA, which has offices in the Littlefield Building at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, recently recruited Austin-based social media veteran Peter Kim as managing director, business transformation. Kim was previously chief strategy officer of Dachis Group, an Austin-based social media consultancy.

R/GA currently has 15 Austin employees and expects to add up to 35 more next year in areas including mobile developers, social media strategists and visual designers.

“Austin is a forwardthinking, creative hub that has seen explosive growth over the years, and we look forward to contributing to the continued evolution of the city,” said Bob Greenberg, CEO of R/GA. budget year ends Sept. 30.

Obama’s presidency has coincided with four straight $1 trillion-plus deficits — the first in history and a record he had to vigorously defend during his re-election campaign. He had promised in February 2009 to cut the deficit in half by the end of this first term.

This year’s deficit is closely tied to what happens with the fiscal cliff. Economists fear that the $671 billion in higher taxes and spending cuts, if left in place all year,