History of The Wilson Group
My name is Jim Wilson and I started this marketing firm in May 1979, my senior year at the University of North Texas. This was my second business start-up; my first was a yard service I started when I was 15. In 1971 there were other companies doing yards, but I did them a bit differently. I "manicured" yards to perfection and I was dependable, showing up on the same day each week, at the same time. My customers loved what I did and how I did it, and within two years of startup word-of-mouth had provided me 20 accounts (four each day, Monday - Friday). I couldn't do any more. I kept these same accounts throughout high school and college. Through this business I tasted what it is like to solve customers' problems and make them really, really happy. I learned bookkeeping, money management and pride-of-workmanship. Of course it was very profitable, but money wasn't my purpose.
So my senior year at UNT I was about to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a double-minor in Art and Business. During my last semester the head of the Journalism Department, Dr. Douglas Starr called me to his office to encourage me to hang a shingle and start a public relations (PR) firm. He gave me a lead on an account that resulted in three clients, R-TEC Systems, a manufacturer of telephony equipment; Paul Tadlock, an internationally known wildlife bronze sculptor; and Nautical Interiors, a boat seat manufacturer. These relationships opened many doors. I could write well and the services I provided my first few years were traditional PR. This included press relations, feature stories, and production of collateral material such as newsletters, brochures and catalogs. The name I gave my company was Wilson & Company and I located it in a 9 X 12 office suite on Northside Drive in Fort Worth.
In 1981 I moved Wilson & Company to a larger 15 X 15 office suite on Fort Worth's east side and hired our first employee. We added advertising and media services and served clients like Wells Boot Center, Jack Williams Chevrolet, Colonial Manor Nursing Home, Jones Hearing Aid Center, a carpet retailer, two politicians and a few medical doctors. Within a year we had outgrown our second office and moved to 801 West Magnolia just across from Fort Worth's famous Paris Coffee Shop.
We were here two years and picked up a few large accounts including Circle J Meat Company, a supplier to Dairy Queen; Mrs. Crockett's Kitchens, a national maker of salads, spreads and deserts; Mayford Seed Company, a national distributor of flower and vegetable seeds; Del Norte Technology, a manufacturer of walk-through airport metal detectors and security technologies; and Schooler-Gordon Pre-need, a group of 11 funeral homes in the Texas Panhandle.
By 1985 we had outgrown our office again and purchased a building on Airport Freeway just east of downtown Fort Worth, where we are now. New accounts included Plastics Manufacturing Company, makers of melamine institutional dinnerware; Johnstone Supply, wholesale distributor to the HVAC, refrigeration and property maintenance industries; the National Bank of Texas; and a few hearing aid dispensing practices: Livingston Hearing Aid Center of Lubbock, Beltone Hearing Aid Centers of San Antonio, and Miracle Ear Hearing Aid Centers of Baltimore, Md.
From 1987 until 1993 Wilson & Company provided government affairs services to clients needing influence with state agencies and the Texas Legislature. The legislature meets in regular session every other year, in odd calendar years. During the 140-day sessions I would be at the capitol three or four days each week. Our firm co-authored a professional licensing act and successfully lobbied its passage.
While serving the marketing needs of clients in a wide spectrum of industries Wilson & Company was becoming a known brand within a handful of private-pay specialties. We began producing campaigns for the Key Eye Center, the Carter Eye Center, The North Texas Center for Dental Implants, Personique Plastic Surgery Center, and for the growing chain of Jones Audiology and Hearing Aid centers. Our work on these accounts began opening more opportunities in these same specialties throughout the United States.