BOARDMAN, Ohio – Canfield agency 898 Marketing marked its 10th anniversary by giving back to the community.
Flanked by more than 20 members of the award-winning marketing agency’s staff, Jeff Ryznar, president and CEO, presented a $10,000 check Tuesday to the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley at the organization’s Volunteer Resource Center.
“In honor of our 10-year anniversary, we talked about how we can celebrate and how we can really do something big,” Ryznar said. “And rather than focus on accomplishments and accolades, we’re founded on serving others, so we decided to do something that paid back the community that allowed us to serve this community for the last 10 years.”
The agency opted to achieve that through the United Way with which it formed a partnership when 898 was established. The funds came from the agency’s overall budget.
“We decided to repurpose that and give it to someone who can do something good for our community,” Ryznar said.
Bob Hannon, United Way president, said 898 does all of the marketing for the organization, but it’s been a donor for a decade.
“We just appreciate them and all they do for us,” he said. “We partner with them on a lot of initiatives, including a car giveaway with Greenwood Chevrolet. They do a half hour TV production, and we partner with Trumbull [County] United Way.”
The donation will be used over the holidays for United Way’s Christmas giveaway to nearly 500 families, Hannon said. The agency supports those families each month throughout the year, but on the third Saturday in December, United Way will make sure they have a special Christmas.
“We’re going to have hams, and we’re going to really load up with a lot of food,” Hannon said. “We’re going to make sure it’s more than what we give these families monthly. These are people in the Valley where it’s unsafe for them to be out. We take food to them. … So with this $10,000, we can really add to Christmas.”
898 employees performed a community service project, spending part of Tuesday morning assembling hygiene kits for the United Way’s Care Closets program. The program provides essentials to local school students in need.
Besides marking its 10th anniversary, 898 is celebrating another milestone – being named to Adweek’s Fastest Growing Agencies list for the second time in the past three years. It ranked 39th internationally, 26th in the United States and first in Ohio with a 107% three-year growth rate.
The agency started working with United Way first with Ryznar participating in the Workplace Giving Campaign. Now 37 employees participate.
“But we’re involved in numerous events that they hold, opportunities to serve through Day of Caring, through the Women’s United program, the report card mentoring,” he said. “All of that is ingrained in what we do, and we donate our time, our talents and our treasures as partners of theirs, including our marketing services.”
Ryznar said the United Way is an integral part of the Valley.
“They work with so many organizations,” he said. “They work with so many individuals who are in need, and they have a way of communicating, connecting and delivering upon that mission of Live United and serving others. And we’ve found that that was one of the ways that we could get involved and have the greatest impact.”
Pictured at top: Jeff Ryznar, president and CEO of 898 Marketing, and Bob Hannon, president of the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, hold a $10,000 check from the marketing agency. They’re surrounded by 898 and United Way staff members.