ASHLAND – Jeremy Harrison knows the importance of marketing for a small business. As owner of Spire Advertising, he makes his living helping small business owners reach new customers.
That’s why he started a contest last year offering a $10,000 website and marketing package to a small business owner in the area who could benefit from Spire’s expertise.
“We are passionate about small businesses. Our purpose is to enable small businesses success that transforms communities,” Harrison said.
Tuesday, Matthew Stanfield of FiELD9: Architecture in Mansfield was named as the 2016 winner of the contest.
“This is really going to make a difference for my business,” Stanfield said after winning the award.
Stanfield launched his business in 2010 after 11 years working for another architect. When he first started his business, a lot of his business was clients who just needed a building permit and weren’t really looking for an architect.
“A lot of the early work was that and me working on trying to get my name out. I think I’ve successfully done that to some extent but this will certainly be huge in helping me take that up a notch,” Stanfield said.
Stanfield said he is ready to take his business to the next level and he believes working with Spire will help him attract the type of clients he wants to work with.
“I’m looking to do more, it’s called passive house. I just got my certification for that in the spring,” Stanfield said. “It’s low-energy consumption buildings that get you to about 80 percent to net zero without any alternative energy sources and then you can use alternative energy sources to get you the other 20 percent.”
Super insulated wall, air infiltration barriers and mechanical ventilation are the core concepts of “passive house,” Stanfield said.
His first passive house project is taking him to Pennsylvania for a client who found him online and wanted to work with him.
“Architecture really can change people’s lives, and that is what this is about,” Stanfield said.
The prize package includes a brand script content strategy session, a custom-built mobile-responsive website, a free year of website hosting, a 90-second custom video, a content writing package and a traffic boost/ad campaign.
The five other finalists were:
- Bartter & Sons of Jeromesville
- Discovery School in Mansfield
- Richland Academy of the Arts in Mansfield
- Miller Overhead Doors of Millersburg
- Linda’s Mobile Grooming Palace of Shelby
The judges rated the entries based on four criteria:
- Potential for success
- What’s at stake?
- Is there an interesting story?
- Can Spire really help?
The judges for the contest were Kris Hovsepian, marketing professor from Ashland University; Barrett Thomas, director of economic development at Richland Community Development Group; and Jason Hummell, the assistant vice president and commercial lender at First-Knox National Bank in Millersburg.
Last year’s winner was HYSight Technologies, a Mansfield company that specializes in unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones.
