After working in product design for large companies for several years, Wayne R. Blatchley 10 years ago decided to head out on his own and launch Fuzion Design Inc. in Pawtucket.
He founded the company with former business partner Joe Cacciola. Each had a different expertise.
“He did product development and I did branding and packaging,” Blatchley said.
Together, they started Fuzion and focused on bringing products from concept, through branding, to finished packaging. After a few years, however, they found most clients didn’t necessarily want the entire spectrum of services.
“We ended up [as] almost two separate companies,” Blatchley said. “Sometimes they just wanted product design and sometimes they needed branding.”
The company, nonetheless, grew and Blatchley bought out Cacciola last year. Fuzion has since shifted more of its focus to brand-driven design, digital services and packaging. Clients range from large companies, such as Hasbro Inc., to small “mom and pops,” as Blatchley describes them.
In 2015, a client approached them with an idea to launch a teething biscuit for babies. Fuzion helped the client launch “Nosh” in 2016. The company started selling the organic baby munchable in 400 of the now-closing Babies “R” Us. Today, the company is selling in more than 4,000 stores in more than 10 countries.
“The look we came up with was very artisanal and organic,” Blatchley said. “It was immediately a successful product with no advertising.”
Nosh has since come out with 10 additional products in the last year and a half.
For packaging, Blatchley recently purchased a CAD cutting table, which allows it to do several package mockups. The work previously needed to be done by hand.
“Yesterday, I’d say we did [more than] 100 different package mockups, where before we could only do a half-dozen,” Blatchley said.
The specialized services are hard to come by in the area, Blatchley said, so he expects packaging could help grow top-line figures for the company.
Blatchley also said he’s recently benefited from graduating from the 10,000 Small Business Program, a Goldman Sachs-sponsored business-development program run out of the Community College of Rhode Island.
“It has given me great exposure as far as knowing there are so many people who are also running small businesses and you realize a lot of the things you’re struggling from are things other people have also gone through,” Blatchley said.
After having a banner year in 2016, Fuzion’s business tapered modestly, especially after Cacciola exited with his expertise in product development. But Blatchley is bullish sales are on an upswing in 2018.
“Having your own business is trial by fire,” Blatchley quipped. “Design and brand development is a constantly challenging and growing business. It’s fun and I love working with my designers.”
OWNER: Wayne R. Blatchley
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Design and branding
LOCATION: 161 Exchange St., Pawtucket
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2008
EMPLOYEES: 10
ANNUAL SALES: WND