A sort of long time ago, in a New England state not so far away…
It was a Saturday in September 2009, and Matt Cookson followed a sawdust trail around his front door. Never one to shy away from a project, he ripped out the sill underneath to uncover a massive ant nest. Just as he readied himself to Google “how to get rid of ants”, the phone rang, and it was… not an exterminator with ESP, but an agency owner and business associate. In addition to her agency, she ran the NH Tech Council (where Matt was a board member) and was exploring exit strategies from her ventures. She said, “I heard you might be looking for new opportunities.”
It was true, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Wanting to avoid dealing with ants, especially ones that can bite, Matt was all ears.
20 years in the making
With a 20-year history in executive communications, Matt worked through his robust rolodex (kidding, we’re talking ’09 not ’59, it was a Blackberry) and found an eclectic group of supporters. They included an arts college, a university system and the aforementioned NH Tech Council. Clients were just as varied, most notably manufacturers of towel warmers, faucets and kitchen sinks. A business model was hatched. In 2010, our company launched.
Our vision – build an integrated, purpose-driven communications agency with ethics and excellence.
Adding national and international clientele over our first five years, we expanded the team with powerhouse design and creative talent, bringing big-brand, national experience to complement our legacy communication craft. The vision grew.
Our clientele continues to be fun and diverse. We’ve tackled communications and marketing for culverts, drones, pipettes, organ transplant technologies, tap dancers, opera houses and geothermal energy (and that’s just the beginning). We’ve developed superhero characters, run campaigns on substance misuse, workforce development and youth empowerment, executed PR plans for colleges, and crisis communications for those we cannot name. And tying back to ants, we even branded a pest company.
This work helped us hone our processes for branding, design, website builds and strategic communications. To this day, we take an integrated approach to solving client challenges and building meaningful relationships.
In 2024, we migrated a half mile from our original headquarters in downtown Manchester into our own unique three-story “work house” built in the 1870’s. It represents our culture of having an in-person team of big thinkers who probe, question and collaborate to incubate ideas in a really cool workspace.
That brings us to now.
Technology and tools are changing. Rapidly. Here’s where we’re not changing. We continue to partner with like-minded organizations to deliver integrated services that connect and drive impact. We use new tools and strategies to increase client visibility. And we adhere to our golden rules – operate ethically, be purpose-driven and deliver excellence by staying curious and creative.
It’s been a great ride. Those ants in the sill on that long-ago Saturday morning are very much dead and dealt with, but our agency thrives as the Cookson team goes marching on and on, hurrah…
Our journey continues!
