Steve Dworin, new chief executive officer of N.W. Ayer of New York, has a US$30-million war chest to help the agency grow in North America.

Ayer spokesperson Kevin Tedesco says that could mean expansion to Canada, where, now, the only presence the agency has is an affiliation with Prism Communications, of Toronto and Montreal.

Dworin was made ceo of Ayer last month after leaving his agency Deutsch/Dworin, now Deutsch.

During Dworin’s two years at Deutsch, he grew the billings from US$90 million to more than US$250 million.

Before joining Deutsch/Dworin, he was director of client services at J. Walter Thompson, New York, after stints at Ogilvy & Mather and Benton & Bowles.

Dworin is responsible for Ayer offices in New York, Chicago and Detroit, which list clients such as at&t, DeBeers, General Motors, Gillette, KitchenAid and Procter & Gamble.

The agency’s 1993 billings were US$781 million.