40 Under 40 Class of 2009

Dan Bessette

Age 35: Marketing Director, GetSet Marketing

Everyone has a story of how they found their rhythm in life. Dan Bessette found his through music. In college and during the years after, he played drums with his brother in a blues band.

The Wayfarers, as the band was called, played in venues all over Springfield, with frequent appearances at the downtown club Theodore’s. Bessette, who earned a degree in Business Administration at UMass Amherst, managed and promoted the band, while his brother, a graphic artist, designed the outfit’s eye-catching posters, which became the envy of all the other bands in town.

To support his drum habit, Bessette held down various day jobs. He worked three years as a marketing director at Falcetti Music, a company that sells musical instruments, and later sold airtime at radio station WRNX, until one day he, his brother, and a Web developer friend decided to launch their own gig.

“We started working for the music market,” said Bessette. “I spun that into other businesses, and it grew from there.”

In 2003, the trio rented some hip office space in an old mill building in Springfield (where the first monkey wrench was made) and formed Get Set Marketing, a full-service firm that keeps prices low by printing multiple jobs on a single press plate. The company’s slogan, “Apart from the Herd,” is personified by a rubber cow that travels around the world.

Bessette is a board member for the Young Professionals Society of Springfield, and was an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts. “It’s something I’ve always been proud of,” he said.

While he may not be in the music business anymore, Bessette still keeps a set of drums in his office for whenever he needs to let off steam.

“My music,” he said, “keeps me sane.”

—Amy Castor