DCM Back in Business

Just five months after his business burned down on Easter Sunday, Franco Rizzo is back in the game, opening the doors of new premises just a few blocks from his last storefront.

Rizzo, an Italian immigrant who took over his family’s restaurant business with his brother at the age of 21, now owns Direct Contact Marketing, an advertising company that has worked for small businesses and national corporations alike.

DCM’s new offices on Calle Laureles are hardly spacious, but Rizzo says having a consistent physical location to see clients has made all the difference. “It was very nice opening up the doors and having customers coming in and placing orders,” Rizzo said.

After the fire, Rizzo said he tried to stay afloat, serving clients online and sometimes working from the home he shares with his wife and three daughters. After operating at a temporary location on State Street, Rizzo found, leased, and completely remodeled the Calle Laureles office space. Though several of his employees were forced to find other work during the business’s recovery period, Rizzo said every one returned to the company on September 4, excited to put the team back together again.

Fortunately, DCM’s road to recovery was not a one-man trip. Rizzo said the support of his family, clients, and the surrounding community was vital to pulling his business back together. His oldest daughter, Francesca, is now the company’s creative director.

According to its website, DCM tries to fulfill the needs of local and international businesses quickly, professionally, and on a budget that accommodates shrinking promotional funding and rising advertisement costs. They offer a full range of marketing, printing, and graphic design services from posters, signs, and T-shirts to logo and website design.