In a month or so, Fast Horse will turn 13. I’ll be sending best wishes on the agency’s emergence as a teen — but from a distance. Today is my last day here after seven-plus years. I’m going back to the Star Tribune as a reporter, circling back to the industry and the newsroom I left in 2007.

There have been amazing changes at Fast Horse during my time here. When I arrived, we were eight or nine people; now we’ve got almost 30. In fact, we literally outgrew our building.

We’ve progressed from an agency relatively few had heard of to one that’s almost always in the discussion of the hottest shops in the Twin Cities. We’ve won all the top international awards in marketing, public relations and advertising.

I’m proud to have had a part in that growth. Of course, there’s only one person who can claim the title “father of Fast Horse.” That’s Jorg Pierach, our founder. All these impressive accomplishments are a direct result of his strategic vision and his unflagging focus on giving clients nothing but our best.

But perhaps I can consider myself something of an uncle: a key member of the extended family who plays an ongoing role in the development of a young life. After all, I’ve been around for more than half of Fast Horse’s existence, often with a pocketful of Werther’s.

I won’t try to run down the list of all my colleagues and call out my feelings for each one. Suffice to say that our veterans are the best in the business. And our youngsters are so sharp and promising that I’m glad I’m departing before they completely leave me in the dust.

But I do want to thank Jorg for taking a chance those many years ago on a newspaper refugee with virtually no marketing experience. I think I was good for your business, but your business was definitely good for me. I’ve never worked in a place where so much was demanded of me. And I’ll confess, I sometimes found it wearing.

But I also experienced the deep satisfaction of pouring my heart, my brain and my energy into a piece of work — and seeing it pay off with happy clients, appreciative colleagues and impressed industry peers. That’s not an experience everyone gets to have even once, and I had it many times at Fast Horse.

I couldn’t possibly have fonder feelings for everyone here, nor wish more fervently for them to thrive and prosper in the years ahead. And I couldn’t be more pleased to have contributed to the growing years of an agency that I expect will be making a mark for decades to come.