New owners change name from Stratecom to SHiFT, move firm to Longmont

LONGMONT – Rapid growth in northern Boulder County and beyond is attracting the attention of many businesses including SHiFT Inc., an advertising, marketing and public relations company.

The creative agency has shifted its location and structure to take advantage of that growth.

The 16-year-old PR firm, previously known as Stratecom under the leadership of Bill Obermeier, was renamed ShiFT and moved to Longmont when Stratecom employees Louie Williams and Mike Veeder purchased the company.

According to Williams, a managing partner, they decided to change the name to SHiFT because they felt it reflected a personal theme for the agency as well as what the agency can do for its clients.

“We are very good at shifting perceptions for our clients among target audiences,´ said Veeder, also a managing partner.

Veeder and Williams saw a void in agencies from North Boulder to Fort Collins and is targeting growing businesses in that area.

SHiFT serves clients of various sizes from a variety of industries. The company has a strong history in the financial, health-care and educational sectors and lately has done more government work.

Its client list includes the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the CSU School of Human Nutrition, GO Boulder and Aztek Networks.

“We really like doing work that has some meaning to us,´ said Joe Smith, a partner at the company. “We can see our energy level and interest is stronger when we are doing something good for the community or society.”

He cited the company’s recent campaigns on traffic safety, smoking cessation and preschool nutrition as examples.

“As an agency you generally try to put yourself in certain niche, but we have a wide range of experience and backgrounds,” Veeder said. “We can translate our experience across many different industries.”

SHiFT found an artistic space for its creative activities in Longmont’s old lumberyard building on Main Street. The original wood flooring, ceilings and brick walls provide a sense of history, while its modern and open design promotes a fun and collaborative environment.

In addition to loving the space itself, Williams said it is exciting to be on Main Street and be a part of the lower downtown revitalization.

“We can help make more of a difference here,´ said Smith of the Longmont location. “There is more potential for us to get involved.”

According to Veeder, the company is profitable and growing, although he declined to disclose revenues.

“We are being strategic about growth,” Williams said. “We want to have a consistent level of work that we can continue.”

SHiFT is in the process of hiring for two positions now, and Veeder expects to continue growing this year.  

SHiFT currently employs nine people. Veeder would like to double or perhaps triple the size of the company, but not get bigger than that. If an agency gets too big, he said it changes the personality.

“When you’re a certain size, everyone stays involved and wears many hats,” he said.

“We’re all responsible,” Williams added. “Everyone has a job to do, a function to perform, but everyone contributes. We really feel like a family.”

For that reason, the owners of SHiFT place an emphasis on working face-to-face in a world where so much has gone virtual.

Although the agency does work with some outside contractors, the focus is on growing the core office staff. Veeder and the others place an emphasis on forming relationships, both with the employees of the company and with the company’s clients.

According to Smith, much of SHiFT’s business development has been through word of mouth. Not only has the agency gotten business from former clients and their contacts, about half of the agency’s clients come from the competitive bid process due to the agency’s reputation, Smith said.

“One of our strategic advantages and something we’ve always felt good about, and that has also been important to our clients, is that we have always offered a smart, seasoned staff,” Smith said. “Who the clients see when we’re out selling the work is who they are going to work with.”

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