Syracuse, N.Y. — Digital Hyve, a digital marketing agency founded in Syracuse in 2014, is ranked 52nd in the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
The agency is one of five Syracuse-headquartered companies to make this year’s list, which is based on a three-year revenue growth rate. The other local companies are SecureIt Tactical (#1,818), CXtec (#2,597), Liberty POST (#4,163) and Critical Link (#4,166).
In addition, Bankers Healthcare Group, which has its corporate headquarters in Davie, Fla., but its financial headquarters in Syracuse, made the list at #4,410.
The magazine has been compiling the list since 1982.
Founded by business consultant Jake Tanner, 28, and former CNYCentral sales manager Jeff Knauss, 32, Digital Hyve has grown its revenues from $102,000 in its first year to $5.2 million in 2017, a rate of 5,000 percent. (The company does not disclose profits.)
Digital Hyve has gone from having just two employees (Tanner and Knauss) in its first year to 31 (all full-time).
“I’ve been reading Inc. since I was 22,” said Knauss. “To be the 52nd fastest growing company in the country is an honor, and we’re doing it right here in Syracuse.”
Digital Hyve’s headquarters are in a 7,500-square-foot office at 126 N. Salina St. It also has a 1,500-square-foot office in Rochester, where up to six of its employees work.
Knauss credited much of the agency’s growth to its staff.
“We really focus our time and energy on hiring very smart people,” he said.
Digital Hyve (“hyve” is Finnish for “virtue”) is focused on digital marketing, including building websites and offering search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, search engine marketing and online public relations services.
“We take a brand and message and target very specific people online,” said Knauss.
Tanner, of Clay, and Knauss, a native of Seneca Castle near Geneva, formed the business in July 2014, three years after meeting at an event at the Syracuse Technology Garden, a business incubator in downtown Syracuse, at which Tanner was speaking about digital marketing.
“We struck up a friendship,” said Knauss. “For three years, we’d meet up and have lunch and talk about marketing.”
Right from the start, they decided to focus their agency on the constantly changing world of digital marketing rather than trying to compete with larger agencies that offer a broader range of services. Knauss works directly with clients, while Tanner oversees the technical side of the business.
“We only focus on digital,” said Knauss. “That’s all we do.”
Tanner said they also concentrate on producing results for their clients, not just “clicks” on a website.
“They’re putting money in, so we want to make sure they get a call (from a customer) and are able to follow up,” he said. “We want to generate sales.”
Knauss said most of the agency’s business has been built off referrals from existing clients.
The agency has 180 of them, including the Destiny USA mall, Syracuse University, Byrne Dairy, del Largo Resort & Casino, SUNY Oswego (where both attended college), Onondaga Community College and Vision Automotive Group in Rochester.
Digital Hyve has moved to larger offices each year of its existence to accommodate its growth. It started out at 499 S. Warren St. downtown, then moved to Plum Street in Franklin Square, then to another office on Plum Street before moving to the fifth floor of 126 N. Salina St. in November.
Knauss and Tanner said they plan to open an office in Buffalo within a year but will keep the agency’s headquarters in Syracuse.
“If you put in the work and find the right people, you can do it here,” Knauss said. “We anticipate expanding in this building.”
SecureIt Tactical, based at 6691 Commerce Blvd. in DeWitt, makes gun storage safes. Founded in 2007, it employs 15 people and had revenues in 2017 of $7.9 million, for a three-year growth rate of 248 percent.
CXtec, based at 5404 S. Bay Road in Salina, is a secondary market network hardware provider that employs 400 people. Founded in 1978, its 2017 revenues of $196.7 million represented a three-year growth rate of 164 percent.
Liberty POST, headquartered at 1045 James St. in Syracuse, employs 320 people and offers therapy and special education to children with disabilities in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, the Hudson Valley and Manhattan. Founded in 2011, its 2017 revenues of $14.5 million represented a three-year growth rate of 83 percent.
Critical Link, of 6712 Brooklawn Parkway in DeWitt, employs 40 people developing embedded systems, system on modules and imaging systems for a variety of electronic applications. Founded in 1997, its 2017 revenues of $11.7 million represented a three-year growth rate of 76 percent.
Bankers Healthcare Group, which makes loans to healthcare professionals, had revenues of $160.3 million in 2017, which gave it a three-year revenue growth of 75 percent. The company employs 413 people, including 187 in three offices in Syracuse’s Franklin Square.
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