Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Modea ... up-and-coming ad agency will expand in SW Virginia

Cross-posted at the Washington Examiner....

When Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell recently announced the expansion of Modea, one of the country's top up-and-coming advertising and marketing companies, and their investment of $10 million into a corporate headquarters in Blacksburg, it spotlighted the young enterprise.

Modea was highlighted in Inc. Magazine in 2010 who ranked it 221st among the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the country with revenues growing 1,335% ($3.3 million) the past three years. Within the advertising and marketing industry, Modea ranks 27th in the country.

This dynamic five-year-old company was co-founded by Virginia Tech graduates David Catalano and Aaron Herrington in 2006, and markets itself as a full-service digital agency that offers strategic, marketing, creative, and technology services. When they decided to expand, the decision was made to stay in Virginia even though they were wooed by Illinois, North Carolina, and Texas who wanted the high tech company and its jobs.

Responding to the governor's announcement, Herrington commented, "We are thrilled to be able to locate our headquarters in downtown Blacksburg, one of the most well balanced places to live in the country. This long-term commitment will allow Modea to take our agency to the next level."

Catalano added, "A lot of the recruits are coming from pretty major metropolitan areas so we want to give them as much of the urban vibe as Blacksburg has to offer."

Made up of the brightest and best from a field of energetic and positive professionals, Modea offers fun casual working conditions in contemporary surroundings with good pay and benefits. They look for the best and are able to recruit them from large cities such as Atlanta and New York.

After starting with three employees and then expanding to the current seventy, the plan is to add 200 more jobs to the Virginia work force over the next two years as Modea moves to six acres that will incorporate re-purposing of an existing site at the former Blacksburg Middle School.

Their clients are among some of the most recognized brand names ... Verizon Wireless, T Mobile, Levolor, Lenox, Graco, and Advance Auto Parts, to name a few. It's a blending of Smalltown USA and national clients in a win-win situation for Blacksburg, Montgomery County, and southwest Virginia.

Indeed, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the county to convince Modea to stay in Virginia. Jim Politis, chairman of the Montgomery Board of Supervisors, was happy at the result.

"We are extremely pleased that Modea is expanding and bringing additional high-paying jobs to this area," Politis said. "The sale of this property will benefit our schools at a critical time when the County is seeking to return non-productive assets to the tax rolls. We are also pleased to be working with the Town of Blacksburg on the Master Plan for development and rezoning of this property."

Think of it as another seed for Silicone Valley East.

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