Profile: How Multiple Channels Became One Company in America's Heartland
Combined sales at Firespring, now the Midwest's largest, diversified communications agency, may reach nearly $25 million this year.
Five Omaha companies have combined to bolster what already was the largest communications agency in Nebraska.
With a combined history dating back to 1919, CopyCat Printing, Minute Man Printing, United Enterprises, Mail Marketing, and Cornerstone Print & Marketing have been staples of the Omaha community. Now, they have joined forces with Firespring, the largest communications agency in the Midwest with thousands of clients on five continents and more than 230 employees in Lincoln, Omaha, and nearby Council Bluffs, IA. The firm provides integrated print, creative, and technology solutions in addition to subscription-based software, IT services, and marketing solutions for nonprofits and small-to-midsize businesses.
Firespring became the largest communications agency in the Midwest when it merged with Lincoln ad agencies 42 and Snitily Carr earlier this year. Founder and CEO Jay Wilkinson said the recent merger and expansion plans in Omaha enable the company to provide a wide range of marketing, advertising, and communications services tailored to the specific needs of each client.
“We’ve acquired, merged-in or rolled-up more than 10 companies in the past five years and feel like we’ve gotten it down to a science,” noted Wilkinson. “This recent merger though was the biggest we’ve ever done, but has gone even better than anticipated. It was a perfect alignment for us.” Key management is still in place, and Ryan Henkel, the former owner of United Enterprises and Mail Marketing, is overseeing the entire Omaha operation.
Indeed Henkel, the VP of Omaha operations, said Firespring can now offer a wide spectrum of creative, print, mail and technology solutions from one location. “Our current and future clients will benefit from the additional services we offer and vast experience we now have at our disposal. We’re a company on the cutting edge of cross-media marketing.”
Firespring president Kevin Thomas, who began his career at an Omaha AlphaGraphics franchise that eventually became Cornerstone Print & Marketing, noted, “We’ve been part of the Omaha business community for decades and have grown with the city. This expansion has taken things to a whole new level.”
In fact, executives projected 2015’s revenue to exceed $20 million and remain on pace to grow another plus 20 percent in 2016.
Strength in Diversity
Their firms’ diverse specialties complement each other:
- Cornerstone Print & Marketing: commercial offset, digital print, and signage.
- United Enterprises: variable-data digital offset.
- Mail Marketing: mail and specialty bindery.
- Minute Man: digital quick print and commercial offset.
- CopyCat: short-run digital and over-the-counter convenience printing.
As a result of the merger, the firm has been able to offer additional products and services to existing clients, as well as expand its clientele in Omaha. “We’ve also been able to help clients with marketing needs that go beyond print by offering creative services,” Wilkinson added, such as branding, marketing campaigns, and digital advertising.
Since a few of the brands focused on the convenience market, Wilkinson and his colleagues expected sales from those clients to decrease. Instead, the opposite happened. “We’ve actually had an 8 percent increase in revenue from clients who previously utilized our walk-in stores, which is attributable to the fact that we have more services to offer and average job tickets have increased by 20 percent.”
He also reported that the corporate culture has changed for the better as a result of the mergers. “No question that our overall corporate culture has improved. Last year, Firespring became a B Corporation and began operating under a new stated purpose to ‘leverage our people, products, and profit as a force for good.’ Our employees have fully embraced the opportunity to work in a company that gives so much back to the community.”
Each employee receives one full day of paid time off every month to volunteer for the nonprofit of their choice. Overall, benefit packages for employees have become a powerful recruiting tool instead, he said, “of something we needed to apologize for.”
Emerging
The plan for the next several months calls for Firespring to continue to focus on emerging technology and seeking out strategic partnerships that allow it to grow. “We will also focus on educating our target prospect base on the diversity of services we provide and how we can help them impact their business through the use of those services.”
The company has bought and renovated another 52,000-square-foot building in Omaha that is expected be ready this month. It will house a full range of digital print and sign services immediately, and will accommodate additional creative team members moving forward. Said Wilkinson, “At time of move-in, we expect to be close to 50 employees, but the facility will accommodate twice that many people.”
As for the industry as a whole, Wilkinson said that he and his colleagues are excited to see how inkjet evolves, as well as increasing workflow automation. “Print service providers who have diversified their services and focused on their local geographic market will see continued growth and opportunity. Many printing companies are failing to integrate the multiple marketing channels necessary to help their diverse client bases. We also see more consolidation coming in the years ahead.”
