April 23rd, 2008: Spectrum Marketing Companies awarded 2008 Small Business Persons of the Year.

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MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release
For More Information Contact:
Richard Pease
(603) 627-0042 Manchester, NH 03012

Richard Pease and Brian Mikol, co-owners of Spectrum Marketing Companies, Manchester, were named the NH SBA’s “2008 Small Business Persons of the Year.” Spectrum Monthly is their flagship direct mail advertising publication with additional operations including full service printing, graphic design and direct mail services. Presently Spectrum Monthly has over 2,200 customers and sales for all divisions topped the $30 million mark for 2007.

Teaming up in 1991 to start a monthly direct mail advertising publication, both men worked selling ads to local businesses. The Spectrum formula: to provide advertisers with a quantifiable return on their advertising investment, was coupled with innovative design and format ideas, along with a unique mailing program to give advertisers the results they needed to stay with the publication as it grew.

In 1996, the duo expanded to include a commercial printing division. Mail prep and trucking followed. A full service graphic design and creative department has been developed to include 16 full time graphic artists. The company last year expanded to include a sign division, which offers wide format printing for a variety of signage and marketing objectives. This vertical integration allows Spectrum clients to enjoy “one stop” convenience for design, printing, direct mail, signage and advertising.

A cutting edge, proprietary system of targeted saturation mail has proven to be a highly effective marketing system for both large and small clients. Direct mail pieces are specially designed along with customized programs tailored to achieve a client’s specific objectives, all with an eye toward that all important return on investment which keeps clients coming back.

“Our 2200 customers are mostly small business owners,” Pease notes. “When they invest money in one of our marketing options, whether it be a few hundred dollars for an advertisement, or several thousand dollars for a direct mail campaign, they depend on a significant return on their investment… we don’t let them down.”

“We would not be able to grow,” Mikol notes, “if we didn’t have a direct mail system that is better than our customers will find elsewhere. Our sales have grown steadily and we’ve increased our number of employees from none to our current level of over 100.” Today, with the help of Centrix Bank and the SBA 504 loan program, the company utilizes more than 45,000 square feet of space from its facility on Eddy Road in Manchester. Press lines include an 8-color Heidelberg SM-74, an 8-color Diddie web, plus four-color and two-color smaller presses and complete bindery operations. The company is able to produce and process several million pieces per week. Spectrum Monthly, the publication, has grown to a circulation of more than 304,000 homes in 30 zones.

Mikol, 40, of Bedford, serves on the board of the Better Business Bureau and has served on the board of the Autism Society of NH and the Farnum Center. Pease, 45, also of Bedford, serves on the board of the Greater Manchester Family YMCA and the board of the Fight To Educate. The company is also a donor to Catholic Medical Center, The Salvation Army, and Kevin Youlikis’ Hits for Kids Foundation, among others. In addition to direct contributions, Spectrum provides special, deeply discounted non-profit rates for such organizations as the Boy Scouts of America and the Red Cross.