Why Small Businesses Matter
Shop small, do big things for your community
Why Small Businesses Matter puts a spotlight on the local merchants who donate their time, talent, goods, and services for the betterment of our community. The shop local movement spreads virally as local businesses who are “tagged” have the opportunity to share their story
You're IT Vertex Marketing!Three questions with Ronald and Barbara Occhino, owner of Vertex Marketing.
Vertex Marketing Communications is certified by the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services as a Set-Aside, Hispanic Woman-Owned Small Business Enterprise (SBE) and Minority Business Enterprise (MBE). The boutique agency provides graphic design, translations, media buying, logos, branding, video production, television and radio commercials, public relations, trade show materials, promotional gifts, web design, Internet marketing, direct mail, and other marketing and advertising services for start-up businesses, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.
Why did you start your business?
Ronald and Barbara Occhino founded Vertex Marketing Communications in 1982 with just $30 in the bank and only two weeks after getting married. They had met at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey while majoring in communications, marketing, and economics. Both were raised by the hard-working middle class, entrepreneurial families who had owned retail businesses, restaurants, hair salons, real estate and more. It was only natural to transfer those skills and experiences to their own business. Today, they have two grown daughters who are also entrepreneurs and altogether the family has founded a dozen businesses. Besides VertexMarketing.com, Ron and/or Barbara also own/co own HighRidgeDrivingSchool.com, StamfordJunkpros.com, BarbaraEntertains.com, StamfordGutterCleaners.com, StamfordDrivingSchool.com, plus a small Thoroughbred racing stable.
What is your best selling product/service?
With all the electronic communications, now mailboxes are sparse, presenting the opportunity for effective communication via direct mail. Unlike e-blast or social media campaigns that are so difficult to track and measure, a hard-copy postcard or other mailer has a shelf life and people tend to save and share them.
In regional and national marketing and branding competitions against hundreds of agencies from Madison Avenue to the West Coast, Vertex campaigns have won First Place. Vertex has been awarded as one of Connecticut's top 50 most successful businesses (DiversityBusiness.com), 2009 Best of Stamford Advertising Agencies by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA) for exceptional marketing success, INC. Magazine's Inner City Top 100 National Entrepreneurs, Fairfield County Business Journal’s “32 Top Advertising Agencies” 2007, and the Connecticut of 2004 Inner City 10 Entrepreneurship Award for fastest growing privately-owned, urban city companies.
How many people do you employ? Any youth or seniors from the community?
Among all the businesses, we employ over two dozen people from various ethnic backgrounds, from youth in their twenties to mature persons over sixty. Barbara supports the youth in the community as a volunteer business coach and competition judge for NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship). In past years, Ronald volunteered to teach economics to young students via Junior Achievement.
Vertex Marketing is located at 992 High Ridge Road, 3rd Floor, Stamford. Visit them online here.
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