(Victoria, British Columbia – October 17, 2006) The four young enterprising owners of Neverblue Media Inc. have taken the online advertising world by storm, delivering customers by the millions to major corporations and realizing phenomenal business growth. For their success, Todd Dunlop, 27, Dave Arnsdorf, 29, Jordan Visco, 26, and Greg Bate, 26, are being recognized with BDC’s Young Entrepreneur Award for British Columbia which they will receive tonight at a ceremony in Moncton, New Brunswick.
Neverblue Media Inc. was founded two and half years ago. “We were working together in another segment of online marketing when we saw an opportunity and decided to venture out together,” explains Todd, of the company’s beginnings. The opportunity they seized was web-based search marketing, whereby clients pay to advertise on search engine pages such as Google and Yahoo. “Since then we’ve just kept on seeing new opportunities and moving up the food chain,” he adds.
In the short time since it was formed, Neverblue has grown by over 10,000%, and has created six different business divisions offering services such as co-registration campaigns, affiliate marketing and specialized, lead generation campaigns. Typical clients include national-scale American Fortune 1000® corporations in the automotive, education and financial sectors. In December, 2005, Neverblue spun off a second enterprise – PhoneInterviewed.com – a direct contact company that provides leads who have been interviewed by phone. Today, Neverblue employs 45 people with an average age of 28, and Phone-Interviewed.com employs 30 people.
Taking the lead
“We were all hoping to be successful, but if you’d asked us two and a half years ago where we’d be today, I don’t think we would have projected this far out,” says Jordan. Neverblue was founded at the tail-end of the internet crash when online marketing was looked at with scepticism. “It’s grown into a very hot industry again,” points out Dave, “but a hot industry backed by solid business plans and rational thought. Our growth so far has been outstanding and I don’t see any reason why it will slow down.”
Neverblue is also making a name for itself in Victoria by sponsoring sports teams and local race cars, and participating in charitable events and causes. In addition, the company offers an internship program and mentoring to students. “We allow interns to really show their potential,” points out Dave. “Some have been hired into entry level positions and moved up pretty quickly from there.”
“Todd, Dave, Jordan and Greg stand out as role models for young Canadian entrepreneurs,” says BDC President and CEO Jean-René Halde. “They have built a thriving business that produces jobs for many talented and creative young people. It’s a pleasure to recognize their passion, drive and excellence with this award.”
For Todd, the four-person partnership has been one of the keys to the company’s success. “The kind of teamwork we had right from the beginning has really allowed us to take on all these opportunities,” he explains. “One individual wouldn’t have been able to scale up this quickly. We were willing to take a risk together and we continue to bank on ourselves and just keep doing it.”
Recognition for young entrepreneurs
A major feature of Small Business Week, BDC’s Young Entrepreneur Awards recognize the entrepreneurial spirit and business success of Canadians between the ages of 19 and 35. The winners – one from each province and territory – are selected by a committee based on criteria including success, growth potential, innovation, participation in new economy activities and community involvement. The committee also considers export performance, the entrepreneur’s age when the business was started and any special challenges overcome.
Small Business Week partners
National partners help make Small Business Week a success. Western Economic Diversification, WestJet, Rogers, Export and Development Canada, CFIB and Intuit Canada are official partners of the 2006 Small Business Week and Young Entrepreneur Awards. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has been a privileged partner of the event since 1981.
About BDC
BDC is a financial institution wholly owned by the Government of Canada. BDC actively supports the development and growth of Canadian small and medium-sized businesses through its complementary financial, investment and consulting solutions. For more information visit www.bdc.ca.
About Neverblue Media
Based in beautiful Victoria, BC, Neverblue Media Incorporated is a leading online marketing company that specializes lead generation. Neverblue Media offers clients an array of effective marketing solutions through the Neverblue business units: NeverblueADS, CrossPub Network, Neverblue Properties, CoregSolutions and Neverblue SEM. To learn more about Neverblue Media Incorporated please visit www.neverblue.com
For more information or to arrange for an interview on October 17:
Media Room:
1-877-330-4343
506-857-2117
After October 17:
Eva Boucher Hartling
Media Relations Manager, BDC
514-283-7929
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