Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1067738
22 Worcester Business Journal | January 7, 2019 | wbjournal.com F O C U S M u l t i m e d i a E x p e r t s BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Curry Printing has learned to diversify I n the early days of Curry Printing nearly four decades ago, the business was a retail copy shop, where people would stop in with photos of what they were looking to have printed out. Times have changed. And for its survival, so has Curry Printing. Fewer businesses or individuals are looking to print items these days as more presentations, listings and brochures go online. Because of that, Curry focuses heavily on direct mail for commercial clients and has begun making trade-show displays and other items to adjust. "What's changed is, everything has," said Peter Gardner, Curry Printing's president who joined the company two years after his brothers bought it in 1981. "We do have to diversify. There's certainly less print now." The company, which once had four retail shops, eventually outgrew its Worcester operations and moved to a new headquarters in Westborough in 2006. It rarely has customers show up at the door of its Westborough offices or a satellite sales office in Worcester, but instead has a sales staff go out to businesses, including helping custom- ers design their brochures or posters. The company can mail fliers on its own BEST COMMERCIAL PRINTER Curry Printing* Westborough & Worcester, CurryPrinting.com Top executive: President Peter Gardner Founded: 1978 Employees: 35 BEST WEB DESIGN FIRM Applied Interactive* Worcester, appliedinteractive.com Top executive: President & CEO Joshua Rothschild Founded: 2008 Employees: 7 Applied combines web design with mar- keting principles to help clients achieve goals in the most cost-conscious way. The IT firm creates high-quality content or deliver them to businesses itself. Curry works with a lot of the area's medical device companies, nonprofits and colleges, and manages the print shop for Assumption College in Worcester. Curry serves a roughly 50 mile radi- us from its office and has 35 employ- ees, many of which have been with the company since the start. Gardner attributes Curry's longevity to those longtime employees, the adjustments the company has made and a commit- ment to growing the business. "We've always reinvested back into the company," Gardner said. As for Curry's future, the company has more potential to expand, Gardner said. It is hoping to attract enough additional sales to add a third printing shift at its headquarters. The company has a goal of extending its presence beyond Worcester and the I-495 corri- dor to include the I-128 belt, which includes a denser cluster of medical device and other large companies. "We have a lot of room to grow," Gardner said. for a technical audience and has begun offering services to support client pain points like talent acquisition and training courses. Notable runners-up: Pagano Media, PENTA Communications BEST IT SERVICES Cinch IT, Inc.* Worcester, www.cinchIT.com Top executive: President Richard Porter Founded: 2004 Employees: 28 Cinch has designed its company structure around creating long-term relationships with its clients, including offering technology road maps and proactive support. In 2018, the company opened Cinch University, offering training for clients and employees. Notable runners-up: ClearCom IT, Machado Consulting The Westborough headquarters of Curry Printing Peter Gardner Applied CEO Joshua Rothschild (center) leads a digital presentation in the company's conference room. Richard Porter BEST VIDEO PRODUCTION Pagano Media* Worcester, paganomedia.com Top executive: President Joe Pagano Founded: 1981 Employees: 10 With more than 35 years of experience, Pagano understands how to enhance storytelling with the latest digital tools, in order to create engaging results. This latest technology includes augmented reality, virtual reality and digital application development. Notable runners-up: Davideo, Applied Interactive The inspiration wall at Pagano Media W