EXTEND GROUP Celebrates Ten Years In Business

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Shawn Collins, CEO EXTEND GROUP 812-760-1811 [email protected] Evansville, Indiana, August 23, 2017 – EXTEND GROUP has reached a milestone this year and is celebrating ten years in business. This award-winning company has grown from a small operation, once known as EXTEND INTERACTIVE, which focused on website and mobile application development. Today, EXTEND GROUP is a professional consulting company that builds result-driven experiences for its clients and can help businesses with a broad range of projects beyond a website and mobile app development, including social media management, content marketing, email marketing, brand development, and much more. “We are celebrating ten years in business! We are proud to work with many satisfied clients from multiple industries since 2007. We believe that this is a result of our goal to plan and run dynamic campaigns with integrated strategies that generate leads, build loyalty, and create results. We appreciate your trust, and we’ll continue to give the kind of service you and your brand deserves. Here’s to more years of growth and success for all,” Shawn Collins, CEO. EXTEND INTERACTIVE once consulted with local agencies in the Interactive Media discipline for a couple of years before the formal name changed to EXTEND GROUP in 2009. This change opened the door for direct-to-client relationships. In the years since EXTEND GROUP has created several consumer-focused business entities within EXTEND GROUP—EXTEND PERFORMANCE, EXTEND COMMUNITY, and Technician.Academy—to focus more on the why they do what they do rather than concentrating on pure profit alone. In October of 2011, EXTEND PERFORMANCE was created to serve those in the automotive industry. EXTEND PERFORMANCE is passionate about leading automotive aftermarket brands to performance excellence and has helped lead many brands to industry awards since its establishment in 2011:

2012-2013 National Catalog Managers Association (NCMA) President’s Award for Catalog Excellence in the Web Category – FuelPumpU.com
Five AAF Addy Awards in 2013 for Fuel Pump Manufacturer
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer VIN Scan App – Print Ad
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer VIN Scan App – GPS & Location
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer VIN Scan App – Email
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer VIN Scan App – Integrated Campaign
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer QR Code – Integrated Campaign
2014-2015 National Catalog Managers Association (NCMA) President’s Award for Catalog Excellence in the Web Category – FuelPumpU.com
2015 Automotive Communications Awards, awarded by the Car Care Council Women’s Board
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer – PUMP•ED
- Bearings Manufacturer – Pinterest
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer VIN Scan App – Mobile App
- Bearings Manufacturer VIN Scan App – Mobile App
- Fuel Pump Manufacturer – Facebook Customization
- Bearings Manufacturer – Facebook Customization
2015-2016 ACPN President’s Award in the Mobile Catalog Category – Thermostat Manufacturer
2015-2016 ACPN President’s Award in the Mobile Catalog Category – Bearings Manufacturer
2016 Automotive Communications Awards, awarded by the Car Care Council Women in Auto Care
- EXTEND PERFORMANCE – “Race To The Top” Newsletter
- Technician.Academy – Facebook Customization
- Thermostat Manufacturer – Facebook Customization
- Technician.Academy – Website
- Thermostat Manufacturer – Website
- Technician.Academy – Car Care Clinics

EXTEND PERFORMANCE and CEO Shawn Collins has also participated in many industry presentations over this ten year period. These unique speaking opportunities include:

2014 Featured Speaker at AASA Tech, where Shawn Collins presented “Building Your App on a Promise.”
2015 AASA Vision Speaker, where Shawn Collins presented “Brand Building Online through Social Media and Training.”
2016 AASA Emerging Leaders Speaker, where Shawn Collins shared his insights on the importance of Online Reputation Management and Social Media Monitoring for brands.

In 2013, EXTEND COMMUNITY was formed to help local non-profits and community municipalities connect, protect, and serve their constituents. EXTEND COMMUNITY is a proud member of many community organizations and played a vital role in building the Evansville VOICE, which received many awards in the years since, such as the Excellence in Innovation Award, won in both 2015 and 2017, and the 2015 Community Achievement Award. EXTEND COMMUNITY partnered with Leadership Evansville to make this initiative happen. EXTEND COMMUNITY also created and maintains the website for the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office utilizing their EXTEND Community Manager Software. Today, the VCSO Community Manager serves as an excellent case study for how the utilization of digital and mobile technology can positively impact a community. Here’s a look at the numbers:

Over 900,000 page views per month
Services over 89,000 unique visitors per month
89% returning users
Has viewership from all 50 states
And reduced office calls by half
And is a showcase for how local law enforcement can Connect, Protect, and Serve their communities.

EXTEND COMMUNITY has helped numerous local nonprofit organizations grow their reach in their communities in measurable ways. Some of these organizations include Leadership Evansville, TEDx Evansville, the Greater Evansville Ball Halls of Fame, The Learning Garden, Jacob Ball Wish Fund, Dubois County Museum, Evansville East Youth Baseball, The African American Museum, The Darrell Ragland Foundation, and more. In April 2016, Technician.Academy was created to provide automotive technicians of today and tomorrow with valuable training opportunities and resources to further grow their skills and expertise in an ever-changing industry. Technician.Academy offers personalized onsite and online training with no sales pitch and provides many opportunities for manufacturers and distributors to partner with Technician.Academy to reduce product returns and increase brand loyalty. Technician.Academy believes Respect is Learned and strives to provide award-winning training solutions for technicians of today and tomorrow. During his time as Founder and CEO of the EXTEND GROUP Shawn Collins has also been recognized for the company’s many accomplishments. These community accolades include:

2011 – Leadership Evansville Alumnus of the Year
2012 – EBJ 20 Under 40
2013 – Optimist of the Year – ENOC
2013 – Celebration of Leadership Outstanding Innovation Award

EXTEND GROUP has worked with numerous successful clients, whom they are proud to have helped over the years. EXTEND GROUP is excited about its future and stands ready to tackle the challenges ahead for many more years to come. Look for forthcoming news releases on past, present, and future projects and accomplishments as they continue to celebrate this business milestone throughout 2017 into 2018. ABOUT EXTEND GROUP: EXTEND GROUP is based in Evansville, Indiana. EXTEND GROUP began in 2007 with a goal to make positive changes for brands. Their skilled professionals integrate strategies – branding, content, training, web, search, social, and more – all strategies are results-driven and tailored specifically to organizations and their customer base. For more information, please contact EXTEND GROUP at 855.306.8818 or [email protected].