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Portland, ME (February 20, 2007) – When Ace Hardware brought aspiring entrepreneurs from 40 states to New York City this weekend to compete to win a fully-stocked hardware store valued at $1million, it chose Portland, Maine-based event marketing agency emg3 to coordinate the event. Ace’s “Dream Ace” tour began recruiting contestants this month at the company’s locations around the country, and the tour culminated with the New York event hosted by Bill Rancic, star of Donald Trump’s inaugural “Apprentice” television show . While in New York, the 40 contestants were pared down to 12 with a variety of tests that were judged by Ace Hardware store owners. The 12 remaining contestants will travel to Ace’s headquarters in Chicago later this month for more interviews, and a winner will be chosen next month in Las Vegas at the annual Ace Hardware sales conference. emg3 provided strategic management, creative development, and logistics for the tour and subsequent events. “Presenting a new store to a budding entrepreneur dovetails nicely with the Ace culture,” says Steve Woods, emg3 president. Ace Hardware isn’t a franchisor, it’s a cooperative, where corporate profits of the national organization are distributed to store owners. “Involving local store owners in this tour is a cornerstone of the event – they’re welcoming a new member into an 80-year-old, world-renown family,” says Woods. For its part, emg3’s management included “wrapping” vehicles with Ace-brand graphics, organizing venues, and marketing the contest. The company was recently recognized by Event Marketer Magazine as one of the fastest-growing event marketing agencies in the country, being founded in 2003 and projecting $20 million in top-line revenue for 2007. emg3’s current client list includes Wal-Mart, Olympus America, Levi Strauss & Co., and GlaxoSmithKline. |
