DURANGO, Colo.— From rebranding a longtime nonprofit to helping a boutique expand its national reach and supporting a brewery’s 40th anniversary, Fort Lewis College students are making a measurable impact on organizations across Durango through the Katz Marketing Agency.
Housed in the Center for Innovation and supported the through the Katz endowment, the agency connects student consultants with regional businesses and nonprofits in need of professional marketing support. Through the agency, student consultants are paid to develop targeted strategies over seven weeks during the summer, working directly with local businesses to address real marketing challenges.
This year, students partnered with Manna, the Durango Parade of Homes, Mountain Bike Specialists, Sparrow and Carver Brewing Co., providing market research, branding strategies, and digital marketing plans.
“Our consultants are providing real-life expertise in marketing, helping local businesses stay current with evolving technologies and strategies while strengthening their outreach,” said Michael Valdez, Ph.D., the Bradley Family professor in the Katz School of Business. Valdez, along with Tomasz Miaskiewicz, Ph.D., associate professor of Marketing & Katz endowed professor, organize the annual program.
Expanding awareness for evolving nonprofits
For Manna, a nonprofit historically known as a food pantry, the challenge was shifting public perception.
The organization has expanded its services in recent years to include transportation and other support programs, but community awareness has not kept pace.
“Do people know about our services? And, like, if people still see us strictly as a soup kitchen,” said co-executive director of Manna Marissa Hunt. “We have a lot of work that we wanted to do to that end,” adding that Katz marketing consultants developed the brand positioning, messaging, and rebrand activation connected to Manna’s evolving identity and community role.
“Having the extra capacity and people with this fresh knowledge to be able to go out into the community, really understand where we stand among community knowledge, like, unlocked a lot that we were trying to achieve this year,” Hunt said.
“Being able to not only take that information but turn it into actual assets and plans that we can continue to keep using was just invaluable,” she said. “The deliverables we got were extremely thorough.”
Professional rebrand
For the Durango Parade of Homes, a volunteer-run organization, the need was foundational as leaders worked to relaunch efforts and establish a cohesive brand identity, audience engagement, and helping strengthen communication around a major local event.
“We just were starting from ground zero again,” a Parade of Homes organizer said. “Setting up all the marketing was kind of like a panic—what do we do? How do we do it?”
The organization needed updated marketing assets and a clearer strategy to reach distinct audiences, including contractors and homeowners.
“This was a great help,” she said.
Bringing fresh perspective to local businesses
At Mountain Bike Specialists, a busy shop with a small team, limited time had made it difficult to focus on long-term marketing strategy.
“There’s a lot going on, and all the employees are really busy,” said owner Elliott Saslow. “So having people who are directly focused on marketing let us do a lot of different things.”
Students developed a consumer insights report and a summer marketing plan aimed at engaging younger riders and reinforcing shop-local values.
“There’s some things that we’re doing today that I’m really excited about,” Saslow said. “We got a lot of value out of it.”
Translating trends into growth
For Sparrow, a boutique in downtown Durango, the focus was on expanding visibility and increasing sales beyond the local market.
“The opportunity to work with younger minds who are way ahead of me in all of what’s available as far as analytics, marketing, opportunity options, social media, trends was incredible,” said the organization’s spokesperson.
Students helped translate emerging digital trends into actionable strategies designed to grow the business’s reach.
Celebrating a milestone
Students working with Carver Brewing Co., a longtime Durango business preparing to celebrate its 40th anniversary, focused on building a campaign that highlights both the organization’s history and its deep ties to the community.
The consultants developed an anniversary marketing plan, including a social media content calendar and campaign strategy aimed at increasing engagement leading up to the celebration.
Their research identified opportunities to better showcase Carver’s legacy, community impact, and loyal customer base, while recommending more consistent storytelling, such as highlighting longtime employees, regulars, and milestone moments, to strengthen audience connection and boost visibility ahead of the event.
FLC-raised industry experts
Two Fort Lewis College alumni supported student consultants throughout the program, providing real-world perspective and mentorship.
Kent Gruetzmacher, Humanities with Philosophy ’06, who graduated with a concentration in Philosophy and an Entrepreneurship & Small Business minor. Gruetzmacher has built several marketing-related businesses, worked closely with student teams to help bridge the gap between academic concepts and practical application.
Khalil Ballenger, a marketing major at FLC who previously served as a senior consultant in the Katz Marketing Agency, also runs his own marketing company. He returned to the agency as a consultant introducing artificial intelligence tools to improve workflow and efficiency.
Experiential learning with real impact
Liz Cartier, Ph.D., dean of the Katz School of Business, said the program reflects the Katz school commitment to experiential learning and community partnership.
“Our students are applying what they learn in the classroom to real-world challenges while delivering meaningful value to organizations across Durango.”
For students, the opportunity to work directly with local business owners and nonprofits while gaining paid, provides a meaningful introduction to professional marketing work.
At the end of the program, consultants presented their work at an event held at the Center for Innovation downtown Durango.
Students said they appreciated the opportunity to work with local organizations, and the collaborations they built among each other.
“As the agency is largely student-run, collaborating to match strengths with assignments and bouncing ideas around within our cohort was a great experience and felt like valuable professional practice,” said junior consultant Zara Tucker, a journalism major at FLC. “Working with the external industry experts was a great experience to learn more about the current marketing world, as well as translating thoughts or knowledge from classes into actionable deliverables.”
“My favorite part of this program was seeing how information from my classes could be applied within a professional setting to tackle the concerns of local businesses in our community.”
In addition to Tucker, FLC participants included fellow junior consultant and Keegan Seymour, and Grady James.
Liz Cartier, Ph.D., dean of the Katz School of Business, said the program reflects the Katz school commitment to experiential learning and community partnership.
“Our students are applying what they learn in the classroom to real-world challenges while delivering meaningful value to organizations across Durango.”