Hartford Business Journal

6 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 19, 2024 Startups, Technology & Innovation Cheshire-based Creative Dimensions, now Pinnacle, creates studio sets for major television networks. The Dallas Cowboys football team has been a client. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Cheshire-based company builds broadcast stages, mobile sets for ESPN, MLB Network and Court TV; after recent sale, it has even higher ambitions higher-quality set. Creative Dimensions also invented a product called the Versa desk, which can be assembled and dismantled quickly without any power tools or pieces "getting lost on the 50-yard line." The trademarked design creates sets that can be stored in a travel case and accommodate up to five people. It features swappable fabric graphics, with options for dimensional signs and sponsor panels. "Because we know how things go apart and ship, and because you can't have a 12-foot-wide desk that goes in the front door, you have to build it in parts," Roy said. "So, our knowledge of exhibits led us to make efficient set pieces for television for sports sets." Creative Dimensions built Versa desks for ESPN, and took the product to a broadcasting trade show in Las Vegas, where it caught on. The company soon got hundreds of orders and took on more high-profile clients — broadcast and mobile sets grew to 50% of the business. Over time, Creative Dimensions expanded from a 4,500-square-foot shop with seven workers to its current 73,000-square-foot Cheshire facility with 48 employees. Roy declined to reveal the compa- ny's revenues. It still does work on installations, exhibits and trade shows. Cheshire Economic Develop- ment Director Andrew Martelli said By Hanna Snyder Gambini hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com C heshire-based Creative Dimensions is a growing company with humble begin- nings that was recently acquired by a national experiential marketing agency, which could further raise the profile of its work. The company is located in a nondescript, high-bay warehouse on McCausland Court in Cheshire, but its products have been seen by millions of sports fans and television viewers nationwide. Creative Dimensions was founded as a local sign manufacturer, but evolved into one of the top broadcast set design firms in the nation, said Joel P. Roy, who owned the company prior to its recent sale. Creative Dimensions has built broadcast stages and mobile sets seen on ESPN, MLB Network, YES Network and Court TV programs. Other notable clients have included BIC, Dairy Queen, PepsiCo and IKEA, Roy said. Creative Dimensions has also served numerous professional sports teams such as the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens, as well as the United States Golf Association and Travelers Championship, for which it does all signage and decor, Roy said. The company was recently acquired by Oregon-based experi- ential marketing firm Pinnacle, which has five other offices in San Fran- cisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, North Carolina and now Connecticut. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Creative Dimensions is taking on the Pinnacle name. The Cheshire location will serve as Pinnacle's Hartford area head- quarters, securing a key connection to the Northeast market, Pinnacle leaders said. Roy, 63, said he wanted to sell Creative Dimensions as a path toward retirement, a decision that came into sharper focus during the pandemic. Key to making the deal happen was a commitment by Pinnacle to maintain the Cheshire location and its employees, said Roy, who is staying on with the company for now as Pinnacle's Hartford division president. Humble beginnings, growth vision Founded by Bill Violette in 1987, Creative Dimensions was then a three-person, custom-exhibit designer serving a few key customers, including Farmington-based Otis Elevator Co. Roy founded a boutique sign shop called Ultra Graphics that designed, built and installed signs for clients such as Bristol-based theme park Lake Compounce. Roy said he collaborated for years with Violette on many projects until the two companies merged in 1992 as Creative Dimensions; Violette eventually retired. Much of Creative Dimensions' work early on focused on making signs and trade-show exhibits, but Roy said he focused on trying to differentiate the company from competitors. It wasn't until a partnership with ESPN, and the emergence of high-definition television, that Creative Dimensions got on the map. Roy said he noticed that sports broadcast sets suddenly looked shabby on HD TV channels, and with ESPN right down the road, he collaborated with the Bristol-based sports media giant on building a AT A GLANCE Creative Dimensions/ Pinnacle Industry: Signage/broadcast set design/experiential marketing Top Executives: (Local) Joel P. Roy, Pinnacle Hartford Division President; Brad Hogan, Pinnacle CEO CT Office: 345 McCausland Court, Cheshire CT Employees: 48; 350 nationally Joel Roy

• Cover