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About Town: Growing brand agency boosts Black-owned business cluster
 
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Baby Grand principals Dan Price (left) and Ben Colar (back) along with Creative Punch founder Chris Porter on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. Porter is now partner in Baby Grand. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
 

Baby Grand principals Dan Price (left) and Ben Colar (back) along with Creative Punch founder Chris Porter on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. Porter is now partner in Baby Grand. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Welcome to About Town, where we take a deeper dive into one neighborhood each week while also highlighting the latest news, developments and back stories from Memphis’ communities. This week’s focus: The Edge District.

Last week, we highlighted a story of two longtime Memphis-area nonprofits joining forces.

Well, as autumn begins, collaboration appears to be firmly in the air as two local, Black-owned brand agencies recently made a similar decision.

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Eight years after starting Creative Punch Marketing Group, Chris Porter is now a partner in another branding agency, Baby Grand. The two organizations plan to partner up as part of the new arrangement, reported in a story by The Daily Memphian’s digital desk manager Elle Perry.

For the full story: Baby Grand brings on new partner

“There are some commonalities,” Perry said of the two companies. “Relatively younger people at the helm. Obviously, both have Black ownership in the company. ... They were friends.” 

Baby Grand principals Ben Colar and Dan Price founded their company in 2018. Baby Grand creates logos, brand guidelines, web design and physical experiences for several notable clients including Baptist Medical Group, Tone and the Overton Park Conservancy.

Creative Punch previously has created visual storytelling and campaigns for a client list that includes B.R. Distilling Company, Beale Street Blues Company and Boxlot.

The leaders of the two companies discussed the possibility of joining forces over the summer after both grew, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

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Now that the change is official, Baby Grand is looking for new office space in the Edge District. It’s currently located on Marshall Avenue, so it’s already in the Edge.

In addition to Baby Grand, there are several other Black-owned businesses in the neighborhood, including Slim & Husky’s, Chef Tam’s and, soon, Sweet Magnolia Gelato. 

“There’s a lot of activity going on there, and I think it will be interesting to see how it continues to grow with Black-owned businesses and just generally,” Perry said.


More About Town:


Board approves Downtown Mobility Center

The DMC hopes the transformative parking hub will solve most of Downtown’s parking needs. 

Nonprofit leader wins community award for North Memphis work

Whole Child Strategies is a Memphis-based nonprofit utilizing a holistic approach to improve educational outcomes in impoverished communities. Currently, the nonprofit is focused in on Klondike and Smokey City neighborhoods.

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Residents exit a MATA bus that transported them from the Klondike and Smokey City neighborhood to the Downtown Farmers Market on July 24. (Lucy Garrett/Special to the Daily Memphian file)

More MATA service changes coming this fall

More than 20 routes will be impacted by MATA’s new slate of changes.

 
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