The last year presented extraordinary challenges to our staff, clients, and local communities. For Kaptivate, now in our 12th year, living la vida virtual was not one of those challenges. Prior to COVID, we already managed a distributed office to support our national and global clients. The real challenge lay in committing ourselves to find opportunity in the midst of crisis. We returned to our origin story.
In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, Kaptivate launched a new experiment in consultative services: to empower organizations to pivot and thrive in a hyperconnected world. To support our clients' agility, resilience, and ultimately, relevance, we started with reimagining our value proposition. We always envisioned ourselves as Alaskan Huskies helping our clients muscle through the twists and turns of the Iditarod. But often clients told us they needed Bloodhounds to find the trail back to customers and new markets. They needed Sheepdogs to persuade internal stakeholders to join the journey. And of course, Lassie to help communicate complex value propositions into simple messaging for customers, constituents, problem solvers, partners, and the media.
There’s no easy labeling for the versatile (and adorable) mutt we’ve become, and we have a lot to offer. We can fetch some innovation, listen to your pain points, guide you to your destination, and modulate our barking to win over hearts and minds. In many ways, Kaptivate channels Underdog. We save the day with an astounding mix of superpowers and poetic command of communications.
With the arrival of our 12th year, we mourn the pandemic’s devastation, yet we’re thankful for our team’s tremendous resilience and a surprising year of growth. Looking back, we celebrate sustaining old relationships by extending our national outreach and communications work on behalf of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the world’s largest workplace fundraising campaign. We also celebrate new connections with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) providing strategic communications support for the Safety Band program, and the General Services Administration (GSA)'s Technology Transformation Services component where we’re broadening awareness and providing consultative and digital support for the federal government’s Open Innovation program. Two new procurement vehicles--GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) and Human Capital and Training Services (HCaTS) Pool 2 8a--created these opportunities and they’ll offer an easy on ramp for future federal clients.
Looking to the year ahead, we’re excited by the potential of a post-pandemic world. Our new relationships, our work to build and sustain innovative communities, and over 40% growth in staff, all promise an extraordinary year ahead. Embracing our inner Underdog, we start this 12th year announcing, “When help is needed, I am not slow, It’s hip-hip-hip and AWAY I GO!!!”