Connecticut

Hartford Prints!

Location: Hartford, Connecticut
Website: https://hartfordprints.com/
30% MoM growth

Hartford Prints! has gone through a few iterations in its 14 years of life: What began as an educational space to teach high school students letterpress printing morphed into a custom stationery business and, finally, a gift shop. Run by Rory Gale, the shop still offers stationery, but they’ve added home goods, accessories, and apparel, much of it Hartford-themed. “It’s about giving people from Connecticut a way to show pride for their state,” Rory says. “So much of what we do is about showing love for this place that raised us.” Local customers returned that love by helping Hartford Prints! emerge from the uncertainty of the 2020 economy stronger than ever. They’ve seen 30 percent month-over-month growth since reopening, which allowed them to launch a second location in 2022 at Bradley International Airport.

Digital tools have played a part since day one, particularly Google Business Profile, which has directed over 2,500 people to the Hartford Prints! website in the last six months. Google Ads helps Rory reach the right audience, and Google Analytics helps her understand her customer base to tweak marketing and increase conversions. “We were having a little bit of brand confusion as a gift store from people calling about printing services,” she explains. “I put new keywords in my Google Ads, and it’s really helped us find our customers. Now that I have all those keywords in place, we're coming up in Google Search.” Rory now looks forward to sharing her success with new neighboring businesses in what was once a struggling downtown. “We've been an island all by ourselves, and now all these other artists and small businesses are going to be able to open,” she says. “It takes small businesses and the community to support them to bring a downtown back to life, and that's what we're seeing here in Hartford. It's magical to be on the other side of it.”

Good Boy Studios

Location: Greenwich, Connecticut
Website: https://www.gbs.pet/
16 employees

When Viva Chu adopted his labradoodle, Coder, he was the typical proud dog dad, oversharing photos of his fur baby on social media. Ever the entrepreneur and with a background in gaming and coding, Viva came up with an idea to gamify the experience, and Pet Parade was born. The app lets users create a profile for any pet, share photos, and enter cuteness contests to earn gift cards. But Viva soon realized that his idea had greater potential. “As we started talking with sponsors, we understood that there was a much bigger opportunity around data,” Viva explains. “We launched Good Boy Studios in 2017 as the world’s first Pet Demographics Audience Platform, so marketers can reach pet owners and fine-tune their advertising spend based on demographics like size and age.” Today, Good Boy Studios is rapidly growing its advertising base, with major brands like Purina and Zoetis among its clients.

On the end-user side, Pet Parade Android users make up approximately 50% of its user base. The company has been using Google Ads from the beginning to help drive app installs, and they A/B test to optimize the app using Google Firebase and Google Analytics data. “Google has been a great partner for us, and they make their tools easy to self-manage and fund at our own pace,” Viva says. About a quarter of Pet Parade’s user acquisition comes from Google Ads, and Viva conservatively estimates that 20 to 25 percent of the company’s overall growth comes through Google channels. Good Boy Studios is now focused on its second app, Pet Star, a subscription-based service that lets users create music videos starring their pets. “Whereas Pet Parade is only available in the U.S., Pet Star is our international app,” says Viva, “so we’re excited to grow our user base and take our Pet Demographics Audience Platform global.”

Rug Pad USA

Location: Bridgeport, Connecticut
Website: www.rugpadusa.com
75 employees

Rug Pad USA manufactures padding used to keep area rugs in place. As their name suggests, all of their products are made in the U.S. “This gives us full control over what goes into them,” says Co-founder and CEO Will McDonald. “We use high-grade materials, such as 100 percent natural rubber, which not only grips better, but also lasts longer, stays plush, and doesn’t damage your floors.” Founded in 2013, Rug Pad USA began as a small operation working out of a vacant retail space. Will and his business partner, Karl Froehlich, spent nights personally cutting and shipping each order. They brought on their friends, Anthony Liso and John Drozdz, shortly thereafter, and together the four-person team grew the business to a 1,600-square-foot facility, then 8,000, and eventually to their current 220,000 square feet of warehouse space. Their business is “super niche and not glamorous,” describes Will, “and that’s why we like it.”

As a direct-to-consumer e-commerce business, Rug Pad USA invests heavily in their online presence. They are frequently the number one search result for “rug pads” on Google. The company also uses AdWords, Google’s advertising program, to reach customers nationwide who are looking for durable and sustainable rug pads. “AdWords lets us scale our business. Nearly 40 percent of our online sales come through it,” says Will. Beyond search and ads, the team uses Google Analytics and G Suite tools, such as Gmail, Docs, and Drive, to manage their day-to-day operations.

Rug Pad USA ships roughly 2,000 packages a day and over 700,000 a year. In the last two years alone, they have hired around 60 people, mostly manufacturing professionals, to keep up with demand. The company’s growth has been positive for the broader community as well. The 19th-century buildings they occupy in Ansonia and Bridgeport had been vacant for years prior to their opening. Being able to infuse the cities with a renewed sense of energy is an experience that Will can only describe as “incredible” and “very humbling.” And with plans for steady growth, he hopes to continue spurring excitement for years to come. “We’re always looking to grow, but we want to do it ethically and at a sustainable pace,” shares Will. “That being said, I think we have a shot at doubling within the next few years.”

Junzi Kitchen

Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Website: www.junzi.kitchen
30 employees

Junzi Kitchen serves innovative Northern Chinese cuisine, but its culture reaches far beyond the food. Founded in 2015 by Yale University graduate students who missed the flavors of their hometowns in Northern China, Junzi “uses food as a starting point to bring cultures together,” says Events and Communications Director Reed Immer. Co-founder Yong Zhao sees Junzi as a model for “how a foreign culture can share its true values through a business in modern society.” It’s a “platform for collaborative projects between local chefs, artists, and entrepreneurs,” Reed adds. Connecting with today’s culture is core to Junzi’s business model, and they’ve found the Internet to be an indispensable tool for reaching their audience.

In terms of foot traffic, Reed considers Google Search a basic necessity. Junzi stays on top of their search results with Google Analytics, which helps them optimize both the discoverability and functionality of their website. Google Analytics also reveals how their site is performing as a channel for storytelling. “Understanding how users move from our menu page to our about page, which tells the deeper brand story, helps us understand how visitors get curious about the story behind our food,” Reed explains. As for their block parties, summer cookouts, and other community-wide events, Junzi relies on G Suite tools to keep the planning process running smoothly. “Google Drive is where all of our collaborative work with chefs, artists, and advisors from around the world happens. Google tools allow us to measure and create the things that we want. Without them, this would all be a dream way off in the future,” Reed says.

More Junzi dreams will be realized on the heels of 500 percent annual revenue growth. Junzi Kitchen plans to open two more restaurants in New York City in 2017 and more than double their workforce. As they grow into the new locations, they hope to highlight the “special aspects of each neighborhood, while tying in Junzi’s larger story.” From New Haven to New York, they will continue to be “a platform that features the creative work and ideas of awesome people in the community.”

The Treehouse Internet Group

Location: Seymour, Connecticut
Website: www.treehouseinternetgroup.com
85 employees

The Treehouse Internet Group began as the online marketing department for Basement Systems, Inc., generating sales leads for specialty home contractors across the country. The group renamed itself in 2010, and in 2013 began serving other, non-competing contractors outside their established dealer network. Employees enjoyed operating from what the website calls “the coolest work environment in Connecticut,” office space designed and built to look like a treehouse. “The workspace is not only unique, it’s a place that helps us attract the very best people to work here,” says Richard Fencil, Internet Marketing Director. It was also part of their rebranding as The Treehouse, distinct from their parent company.

The group uses a performance-based business model, meaning they only charge home-improvement contractors when they deliver qualified sales leads. Treehouse relies heavily on AdWords, Google’s advertising program, which produces about 40% of those leads. “AdWords gives us incredible control over that,” says Todd Hugo, Performance Director. They also see that their contractors use Google My Business, “a place for us to make sure that they are represented if somebody is searching locally,” Todd adds. Google Analytics helps them track the performance of contractors’ websites, particularly for mobile users. Treehouse employees use Google Drive and Google Sheets to collaborate and communicate internally.

The Treehouse now provides lead-generation services for seven dealer networks in the U.S. and Canada. Fifty to sixty percent of all the leads flowing through the contractor networks arrive via The Treehouse or their web program. They host two large dealer events every year, are the fastest-growing digital agency in Connecticut, and have been named one of the best places to work in the state. The group sees a healthy annual growth rate of about 20%. “But our main goal is always to drive our clients’ growth,” Richard says. “If they don't succeed, we don't succeed.”