Feel the Love: The Abbi Agency is Named Family Owned Business of the Year

Our agency is proud to announce that we will be recognized as Nevada’s “Family Owned Business of the Year” for 2017 by the U.S. Small Business Administration. An awards ceremony will take place during the 2017 SBA National Small Business Week luncheon May 4 at the Gold Coast Hotel in Las Vegas.

“We are grateful that the SBA has selected our family-owned company for this important award,” said Ty Whitaker, our CEO. “This honor recognizes the creativity and hard work that our team members deliver to our clients every day.”

As mentioned in our anniversary blog post last summer, our founders started up this quickly-evolving agency back in 2008—then working at the kitchen table in Abbi and Ty’s Reno home.

Today, we proudly employ about 25 people who work hard for our clients each day in from east coast to west. We have offices in Las Vegas, San Francisco and New York, all of which support our homegrown operation in Reno.

Abbi Whitaker, our president, said clients range from large technology companies and renowned international resorts to small and medium-sized local companies. The firm provides fully-integrated public relations, creative and digital marketing services, and has more recently entered the realm of public affairs.

About our Growing Agency

In 2015, we invested in the acquisition and renovation of a two-story office building in Midtown Reno that serves as our headquarters. We’ve since secured working spaces in lower Manhattan and San Francisco to support the company’s upward trending national growth.

The SBA also noted that our agency is deeply involved in its community with contributions that top $100,000 annually. The company helped lead the Biggest Little City Movement and the Regional Outreach Co-op that helps highlight the Northern Nevada region in the national media. Its founders also are active in Nevada business groups statewide, including nonprofits such as Sky Tavern, the Nevada Women’s Fund and Entrepreneur’s Organization.

Abbi reminds us that the firm’s guiding principles are simple: “Believe in what you do, deliver excellence every moment of every day, be willing to pay for the best people and support their growth, and take time to kick back often and relax in one of Nevada’s hot springs.”

The top SBA official in Nevada said the awards spotlight the best of the small businesses in the state.

“National Small Business Week provides an opportunity for us to honor our local entrepreneurs for their hard work, innovative ideas, and dedication to community,” said Ben Raju, acting district director of the SBA’s Nevada District Office. “The honorees are prime examples of Nevada’s ingenuity and embody the spirit of why we celebrate National Small Business Week.”