Changes at the top of BluFish Consulting in Marshall

Bill Traver didn’t have to cast his net far to catch his replacement at BluFish Consulting, LLC.

Traver’s son Ryan, and John Thompson, formerly the firm’s principal associate, will lead the Marshall-based marketing and branding agency, which is celebrating 11 years in business.

Although Traver will continue to consult with key clients, he says he wants to spend time on other pursuits.

“When you start to hit your 60s you start thinking about how you’d like to do other things. I want to travel and I love to flyfish,” Traver says. “You want to be able to enjoy the grandkids and go here and there.”

Ryan Traver, who has worked with his father for eight years, has slowly been gaining more of an interest in ownership of the company, says his father. The younger Traver has the majority share of the company while Thompson has a minority share.

BluFish has a staff of about 20 — five at its offices in Marshall and eight at another location in Traverse City with creative teams spread throughout the United States. Muhammad Ali Enterprises, The Mike Furrey Foundation, Kellogg’s, Starr Commonwealth, Oaklawn Hospital, Chicago Better Boys Foundation, National Resource Center for Healing of Racism, Marshall Economic Development, Progressive Dynamics and NeoMatrix are some of the company’s clients.

Traver said technology has changed the way agencies like his are able to do business.

“Clients can be anywhere,” he says. “You don’t have to be there across the street from them all of the time. Creative teams could be spread out — and they are — and I think that’s a huge benefit. Today even larger agencies are now scaling down into more smaller, creative units which are far more efficient and lower the cost of overhead which is good for the client.”

Writer: Jane C. Parikh
Source: Bill Traver, BluFish