Partners + Napier

About Partners + Napier: Brand marketing and integrated communications.

Rank on Top 100: 48

Top Executive: Ms. Sharon Napier

Employees: 102

Website: www.partnersandnapier.com

We asked Sharon Napier, CEO, to talk about her business.

Question: Who or what inspired you to start your own business?
Napier: My father, who immigrated to the U.S. from Italy as a very young man. He worked incredibly hard to support the family, and he instilled in my siblings and me not only a strong desire to succeed in our careers, but also to give back to the community. I started out in social work, but quickly realized that advertising was where I could have the greatest positive economic and social impact.

I knew that someday I wanted to run my own business, and it was another piece of advice from my father that helped me create a successful management strategy and grow an agency I could really be proud of. He taught us that no one is successful on their own, and that your handshake is your word. His advice helped me build strong relationships and showed me the key to successful management: the more you advance, the greater your responsibility to lead, teach, and guide your employees becomes.

Question: What differentiates Partners and Napier from its competitors?
Napier: The most important thing your business can do is to stand for something. Especially in marketing, you really have to know who you are before you can help your customers develop their identities and promote their companies. It's our purpose to identify the potential of our clients' businesses and help them fulfill that potential. We call it Liberating Promise. That purpose also helps us better serve our clients in another way: by helping our employees to identify and reach their full potentials, to liberate their individual promises, as well.

Our structure also differentiates us from our competitors. In 2006, we created the Partners Group, a network of independent, owner-managed agencies that includes Partners and Napier, Partners and Jeary (New York City), and Partners and Edell (Toronto, Canada). This network model gives the agency a new level of flexibility and efficiency, allowing the company to quickly adapt and scale resources to meet the needs of our customers. We're also a member of Interpartners, a worldwide network of independent agencies, which allows Partners and Napier to work on a global field.

Question: What does it mean to your business to be on the Top 100?
Napier: It means that we are an economic force in our community. And that makes me tremendously proud.

Question: What additional services can the Rochester Business Alliance provide to help your business?
Napier: The Rochester Business Alliance is a great business resource for us. Keep working to get taxes lowered (Unshackle Upstate) to make it easier to live and do business in Rochester.

Question: What would you like to see happen in our region, and in our state, to help business thrive?
Napier: Lower taxes. This would help talented people who are already here to set up and grow their businesses and it would also help attract new people and businesses to the area.

Question: What signs of optimism do you see in the local economy?
Napier: I think Rochester's experiencing a business renaissance. The evolution of our formerly dominant big businesses has inspired tremendous innovation and growth by the small- and medium-size businesses that are now driving our economy. Of course, this isn't a new phenomenon. Rochester has a long and enviable history of creativity and reinvention.

I also think that the affordability of our housing, our unique natural resources, and our strong cultural and arts assets make us more and more attractive as a destination for people and business.

Question: What are the biggest opportunities you see ahead, as well as the biggest challenges?
Napier: The biggest challenge in our region right now is recruiting and retaining talent. But answering that challenge is also our biggest opportunity. It is possible to draw and keep high-quality people by creating an environment where they know that their talents are respected and where they can develop to their fullest potential. Rochester's future lies in our ability to inspire very bright, well-educated people to carry on the tradition of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship begun by founding fathers like George Eastman and Chester Carlson.