Mark Jacobus, vice president and director of operations and business development, looks around the future office of Two by Four.• Name: Two by Four
• Location: Warehouse Row
• Contact information: 423-580-1752
• Products/services: Two by Four is a marketing and advertising company able to handle a variety of projects as simple as direct mailers and as complicated as multiplatform ad campaigns.
• Age: The Chicago-based company started in 1998 and opened a Chattanooga office in August.
• Why Chattanooga? Two by Four has several clients in the Southeast including Covenant Transport and EPB Fiber Optics. Setting up shop in Chattanooga made geographic sense for the company, and also meshed with its philosophy. "We've heard some really great stories about how Chattanooga is trying to make a creative culture and embrace technology," said Jessica Montrie, who's responsible for the company's new business development. "We just liked the attitude of the city. It seemed like a good fit."
• Target market: Two by Four plans to go after both local and national clients looking for small or large campaigns directed at clients or other businesses.
• Biggest hurdle: Finding an office space. The agency looked for a space where it could build an office that would both wow clients and stimulate employees' creativity, settling on Warehouse Row.
• Biggest reward: Adding regional expertise to the company's repertoire. The five local employees are from Chattanooga and had already established relationships with several of Two by Four's clients before they formed the Chattanooga office.
• Goals: Mark Jacobus, Chattanooga's business development director, hopes to double the number of local staff in a year to 10.