Updated: January 8, 2024
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2024 Best of Business Awards
Best of Business 2024: Best Multimedia
Photo | Courtesy of Makin' It Marketing
Tara Ostromecky, founder and CEO of Makin' It Marketing
Best New Business: Makin' It Marketing
If it seems surprising Tara Ostromecky, founder and CEO of creative marketing firm Makin’ It Marketing, is 22 years old, consider what she was doing as an elementary school student while browsing the aisles at big-box retail stores.
“I’d be in Walmart looking at buy-one, get-one deals,” Ostromecky said. “I was always trying to deconstruct what those sales and marketing tactics meant.”
By age 15, Ostromecky considered how to wed her love of art with her passion for marketing to launch her career early. After taking classes in marketing and entrepreneurship at Wachusett Regional High School, the Paxton native knew she wanted to attend college locally and quickly landed on Nichols College in Dudley.
Ostromecky chose the school for its strong focus on business education and found a network of professors who hired her for digital marketing projects or referred her to other clients. And so, Makin’ It Marketing was born in 2020 while Ostromecky was still a student and became a full-time business in October 2022.
At any given time, Ostromecky works with a team of three to six freelancers, and she’s in the process of hiring a full-time staffer. With clients across the U.S. as well as Greater Worcester, her niche is service-industry businesses.
“Anyone selling a service and not a product,” she said.
Makin’ It Marketing services include social media marketing; website design and maintenance; search engine optimization; copywriting; and email marketing and newsletters.
“The biggest thing I say to everyone is, ‘We are the strategists and then we execute,’” Ostromecky said.
A fully remote company, Ostromecky still considers the business Worcester-based. She’s never lived anywhere but Greater Worcester, and she’s usually in or around the city. Local clients, she said, include Dorr Aviation Credit, a Paxton lender, and Skilled Trades Partners, a construction recruitment agency in Sturbridge. But Makin’ It Marketing serves dozens of clients of all sizes and from further flung locations. One example, said Ostromecky, is the largest casino in Texas, which found her services through a social media post.
It’s proof she practices what she preaches to her clients. Ostromecky said she’s dogged about networking, both online and in person. Whether it’s sharing marketing tips through a LinkedIn post or speaking at a conference, Ostromecky said personal branding is at the heart of her business and client strategy.
“Your personal brand is so important, and my business wouldn’t exist and be what it is today if I didn’t have such a strong personal brand,” she said.
Ostromecky has set her sights high. Her goals include becoming one of the top marketing firms in New England, and then in all of the United States.
- Story written by Emily Micucci
*denotes repeat winner
Best IT Services Provider: ClearCom IT Solutions
Photo | Courtesy of ClearCom IT Solutions
Rob Cleary is CEO of ClearCom It Solutions in Sturbridge. Reach him at rob@clearcomit.com.
Sturbridge, www.clearcomit.com
Top executive: CEO Rob Cleary
Founded: 2001
Employees: 24
In 2023, ClearCom IT made a strategic shift and removed employees not aligned with team goals and values. The result was a more cohesive and productive team, leading to increased success and achievement of its organizational objectives. ClearCom IT remains committed to proactive, client-centric IT support, with rapid response times and tailored solutions.
Notable runners-up: Cinch I.T.
Best Web Design Firm: PENTA Communications*
Photo | Courtesy of PENTA Communications
PENTA Communications in Westborough
Westborough, www.pentamarketing.com
Top executive: Founder & CEO Deborah Penta
Founded: 1989
Employees: 16
PENTA’s approach to website design and development integrates technology with results-driven strategy to optimize visitor experience, elevate client websites, strengthen analytical approaches and tracking data, integrate video, and achieve real-time results for clients of all sizes.
Notable runners-up: Ladybugz Interactive Agency, Worcester Interactive, Jade.
Best Video Production Company: Munq
Photo | Courtesy of Munq
Munq co-founder Tim Hally (left) at a video shoot
Shrewsbury, www.munqcreative.com
Top executives: Tim Hally and Justin Matsen, co-founders
Founded: 2020
Employees: 2
Munq provides solutions to branding and marketing challenges with creative approaches, starting with a strategy of extensive research and discovery to tailor those solutions to clients’ needs. In 2023, Hally and Matsen committed to building up the Munq business, by developing processes and systems in order to bring the company closer to their long-term vision.
Notable runners-up: Pagano Media, Jade
Best Commercial Printer: Curry Printing*
Photo | Courtesy of Curry Printing
Curry Printing in Westborough
Westborough, www.curryprinting.com
Top executive: President Peter Gardner
Founded: 1978
Employees: 30
For more than four decades, Curry’s approach has been to make sure all clients get what they need, when they need it. In 2023, Curry achieved its goals of streamlining its operations, making it more effective and efficient while still offering competitive prices, despite rising costs from its suppliers.
Notable runners-up: AlphaGraphics, Miles Press
Best Awards & Promotional Products: Crown Trophy*
Photo | Courtesy of Crown Trophy
Andy Gleckel, owner of Crown Trophy in Northborough
Northborough, www.crowntrophy.com/store-28
Top executive: Andy Gleckel, owner
Founded: 1996
Employees: 10
For 27 years, Crown Trophy’s motto has been, “No Problem.” The company does what it can to make customers’ events happen, focusing on order accuracy, promptness, and fair pricing. In 2023, Crown expanded its product line into new applications of color awards and apparel.
Notable runners-up: All Star Incentive Marketing, Engravables
WBJ Web Partners
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