CICERO — Amidon Marketing, a new marketing firm headquartered in Cicero, has acquired Customer Business Services, a marketing business in Auburn. Customer Business Services, also known as CBS Marketing & Development, operated at 360 Grant Ave. in Auburn. Amidon Marketing is located at 6250 South Bay Road in Cicero. Josh Amidon, co-owner of Amidon Marketing, […]
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CICERO — Amidon Marketing, a new marketing firm headquartered in Cicero, has acquired Customer Business Services, a marketing business in Auburn.
Customer Business Services, also known as CBS Marketing & Development, operated at 360 Grant Ave. in Auburn. Amidon Marketing is located at 6250 South Bay Road in Cicero.
Josh Amidon, co-owner of Amidon Marketing, had purchased CBS Marketing & Development in a transaction that closed June 14. Amidon declined to disclose the purchase price, but said he used his own cash for the acquisition.
Leaving then acquiring
Amidon had worked for CBS Marketing & Development for about two years.
Owner Kimberly Manrow, who also runs other businesses, had hired Amidon in 2015 to operate the marketing business, he notes.
Amidon earlier this year decided to pursue his own marketing firm to serve the Syracuse and Central New York area.
“There is a need for what we do here in the Syracuse area,” says Amidon, who spoke with CNYBJ on July 14.
After Amidon decided to depart Custom Business Services, Manrow offered to sell the business to him.
“She was wondering if I’d be interested in buying out the company … buying out the company contracts, buying out the files, buying out anything deemed an asset, and I jumped at the opportunity,” says Amidon.
He noted that Manrow is an accountant and tax preparer and preferred to focus on those areas, instead of marketing services.
After Amidon acquired CBS Marketing & Development, Manrow had to lay off a graphic designer, who Amidon has since helped land a new job, he says.
Besides its Auburn headquarters, CBS Marketing & Development also operated a satellite office in Camillus, which Amidon has since closed.
Amidon used the services of an attorney during the transaction process, but he declined to identify the individual.
Launching new business
Amidon acquired CBS Marketing & Development as he was launching Amidon Marketing, a venture that he and business partner Joe Scripa started discussing earlier in 2017.
Scripa owns his own real-estate firm, Scripa Group, and was a client of Amidon during his time at CBS Marketing & Development in Auburn.
They were meeting about a marketing plan when Scripa suggested they launch their own marketing firm.
Amidon “laughed it off at first,” as he was trying to launch a website for Scripa.
“He was serious and it became more of a real conversation as time went on,” says Amidon.
Amidon and Scripa share equal ownership in the firm, which leases its headquarters space from Scripa.
Besides the Cicero headquarters, Amidon Marketing on Aug. 1 will open another office in Brewerton near the Oswego County line. It also plans to open an additional office in Syracuse’s eastern suburbs, but the exact location has yet to be determined.
Amidon Marketing currently has 17 clients, including the Scripa Group, Skippy’s Ice Cream, and Auburn Leathercrafters.
Amidon declined to disclose his firm’s revenue information.
He describes Amidon Marketing as a company that provides “affordable marketing services geared toward the small-business owners of Central New York.”
It offers services that include consultation, branding, graphic design, social design, email marketing, direct mail, web design, search-engine optimization, and blogging and copywriting, according to its website.
About Amidon
Amidon is a 2003 graduate of Cicero-North Syracuse High School. He later earned an associate degree in business administration from Columbia College in 2008.
In 2005, Amidon started working for Pyramid Management Group, where he handled marketing activities before joining CBS Marketing & Development about a decade later.
While working at Pyramid, he also performed standup comedy during his free time.
Amidon developed his passion for marketing while working as a standup comedian. He’d call radio stations to request on-air appearances to talk about his shows, and passed out fliers near the hotels he stayed at to spread the word about his comedy shows.
“It’s really all about building your own brand,” says Amidon. “It became very apparent that I have a little bit of a knack for this.”