SPRINGFIELD — TSM Design, a marketing, branding, and design firm, will close on Dec. 31 after 40 years in business.
The firm was founded as the Super Market by Leslie Lawrence in 1985. Nancy Urbschat, Lawrence’s colleague, who joined the firm three months after its opening, became a partner in 1986 and purchased the company in 2005.
“Leslie was ready to retire, and she asked me to join her. My response was, ‘I’m not ready. I’m still having fun,’” Urbschat said.
This year, Urbschat is ready, as TSM Design celebrates 20 years under her leadership.
“It’s been a great run, and the time has come for me to close TSM Design,” she said. “We’re proud of the ups and downs we’ve weathered and the work we’ve accomplished as a small but mighty team. We have always brought the same degree of purpose and passion to every client and every project — and we’ve had fun doing it.”
TSM Design continues to work on client projects and is developing the means for a smooth transition at the end of the year. This will be made possible in part because Deb Walsh, Janet Bennett, and Brittany Arita, the TSM team, will continue their work independently.
Beginning her search for a new purpose, Urbschat said, “we’re deeply grateful to our clients, colleagues, and friends who have been part of our story. It’s been an honor — and a hell of a lot of fun.”
Urbschat’s decision follows decades of work with many of the region’s businesses, nonprofits, and Massachusetts government and quasi-government agencies. TSM Design has partnered with clients ranging from small startups to a Fortune 100 company the firm engaged with for more than a decade. TSM also held a state contract that brought high-profile projects across several agencies.
A fierce advocate for the city of Springfield, Urbschat has served on numerous boards, committees, and initiatives, and has donated countless hours of pro bono branding, marketing, and design expertise to organizations such as the branding of Springfield Men of Color Health Awareness, rebranding the Springfield City Library, and capital campaign materials for Friends of the Homeless.
In 2011, Urbschat and her team launched Pro Springfield Media, a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the conversation about the City of Homes, with a campaign asking residents and officials to “say something nice” about Springfield. An online publication called Speaking of Springfield featured good news about the city — uplifting stories about residents, businesses, and neighborhoods.
“We eventually dissolved the nonprofit when we didn’t have the bandwidth to run both a successful business and a nonprofit,” Urbschat said.
For many years, TSM Design was in the historic Stearns Building in downtown Springfield. The agency’s move from the suburbs in the early 2000s was inspired by Harvard Professor Michael Porter. He spoke about the importance of small businesses moving to city centers for proximity to major employers.
At the time, the owners believed they would be leading a major migration to Springfield. Over the years, Urbschat attended a few of Porter’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner-city Conferences in Cleveland, Detroit, Washington D.C., and Boston. She always left inspired and ready to share the innovative ways large corporations and institutions were successfully working with small businesses.
TSM Design decided to move from a brick-and-mortar location to become a virtual agency at the start of 2019. “After all, as a service business, the team traveled to clients,” Urbschat said. “March 2020 proved the move to virtual to be providential. We were able to help clients adjust to Zoom meetings and remote processes during COVID.”
As she prepares to retire, Urbschat said, “I’m grateful for the clients who have entrusted us and the talented bench of contractors we’ve cultivated over the years, many of whom have become friends.”
