60-person Promotion Execution Partners joins minority accelerator - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Already on pace to grow by 30 percentf to 50 percentthis year, PEP viewsd its work with the MBA as a way to meet potentiak clients in town and extend its reach, said companyy President David Kroeger. The MBA prograk now has 31 companies inits portfolio. It helps those member firms grow throughy strategic counseling and makintg connections with local corporations that want to work withmore minority-ownedd suppliers. “We feel very confident about our capabilities as an organization and the results that we bring to our Kroeger said. “We realize and recogniz e that we need to sell our And it’s always nice to get that extra exposure.
” Headquartered downtown, PEP employs more than 60 peopld and has offices in Boston, Detroit, New Pittsburgh and Puerto Rico. The firm specializes in promotion strategy andproject management. Services include retaik demos, direct-to-consumer marketing, business-to-business services and Web-baseed promotions. Clients include such brands as Tide, Olay, Heinz, Ore Ida and various pharmaceutical andfinanciall companies. PEP is a certified minoritu business enterprise. Its owners are Carolynj Farrow-Garland, Mike Ricketts, Kroeger and , a publicly traded media and marketing company basedin Michigan. The companty was founded in 2004.
Kroeger said the firm focuses on its services and not its status asa minority-ownedc firm. Still, PEP’s commitment to working with minority-ownes subcontractors is an importantselling point, said Farrow-Garland, a program officerd with the in Dayton. “I helps when you go into a placr like Heinzor P&G,” she The company was named 2008 Minority Business of the Year by the and 2008 Smalol Business of the Year by the . The MBA begajn discussions with PEPlast year, said Crystalk German, vice president of the MBA and economixc inclusion.
“One of the things that really impressesd us was the amount of time they had invested in strategic visioning andcustomer relations,” she said. “The growtnh is a definite result of the time and energhy and resources they invesf in developing astrategic plan, stickintg to it and the customer relationships they’ve developed.” Kroeger declineed to release PEP’s revenues. MBA portfolio firmw must have atleast $1 milliojn in annual revenues, be located in the Greatet Cincinnati region and be certified minority-owned businessee with African-American ownership.