LOCAL BUSINESS FEATURE
By JOHN JENNINGS
Reporter

Perhaps it’s the quality, professional
staff President Dave
McNeer has assembled. Perhaps
it’s the historical elegance of the
building in which they work that
stimulates creativity. Whatever
the reason, Maxim Advertising in
Newton has grown from a promotional
advertising business with
three employees in 1984, to a
full-service advertising and marketing
agency today, with a continuously
growing list of national
corporate clients.
McNeer began his company
shortly after receiving his business
degree from Central College
in Pella, with his new wife Sandra
and his mother Mary. When he
saw that the enterprise was outgrowing
his duplex, the search
began for alternative office space.
Luckily, about five years ago, the
historic Mershon Mansion on
North Third Avenue East was for
sale and McNeer made it the new
home of Maxim Advertising.
The company has tripled in
size since those early days, now
employing 12.
“I realized that if I wanted to
expand my customer base, I
needed to hire more people,”
McNeer said. “You can’t fall
behind in this business.”
Dan Livengood joined Maxim
about a year and a half ago,
because, he said, “I saw that
Maxim is about building relationships.”
He now serves as marketing
director at Maxim. Livengood
said his philosophy coincides
with McNeer’s.
“You’ve got to be able to turn
on a dime. We move quickly but
we look for the next step above
and beyond — to see what’s
working and what’s not.”
McNeer said that the advertising
business has changed a great
deal over the years, getting more
hectic and demanding in its time
constraints.
“Twenty years ago, your lead
time may have been four or six
weeks. Now, it’s maybe just a
matter of days,” McNeer said.
Larry Norcross, sales manager
at Maxim, agrees. “There are
plenty of people behind you hungry
for the business,” he said.
Livengood added, “You have to
be very diverse in your learning
curve. You have to be a sponge
and learn all you can about your
client very quickly.”
For that reason, Maxim
invests time in research of their
clients, digging into corporate
histories, their demographics,
their appeal to different age
groups.
In addition to providing promotional
advertising, Maxim can
provide its clients with warehousing
and fulfillment, printing
and embroidery services, collateral
print, design and production
services and in-house art and
graphic design.
For that “garnishing of the
plate” with something extra for
the client, for that ability to “turn
on a dime,” Maxim has garnered
a number of high-profile corporate
clients throughout the country,
including Hy-Vee, Iowa
Realty, Wells Fargo, and of
course, Maytag, and through
Maytag’s dealer network, retail
chains such as Best Buy, Lowe’s,
Home Depot and Sears.
Livengood feels that Maxim
strives to fill three important
niches in the company’s efforts
as a full-service agency. Sales
training, employee recognition
and employee retention programs
are all within Maxim’s
scope of expertise and can benefit
a company’s overall morale
and profitability.

For example, to create a recognition
program for a company,
Maxim may research a company’s
history, focusing on nostalgic
items in the corporate past,
such as old logos. They may take
that design and incorporate an
historic logo in a clock. In that
way, the employee feels a connection
with the corporation’s history
and has a wonderful collector’s
item. McNeer said Maxim is currently
working quite a bit with die
cast replicas, such as race cars
or vintage trucks and autos, tailoring
them with company logos
for promotional pieces.
“If we can position ourselves
as part of a company’s marketing
department, then they’re ahead
and so are we,” McNeer said.
Another key to Maxim’s success,
according to McNeer, is
working with quality vendors.
“We work with a small group of
vendors and send them a lot of
work,” McNeer said. “That doesn’t
sacrifice quality.”
Working in a relaxed, elegant
atmosphere is conducive to
enhanced creativity, McNeer
believes, and the Mershon
Mansion has been a focal point of
conversation for Maxim since its
location in the historic building.
“It’s been a real icebreaker,”
McNeer said.
Occasionally, a cookout will be
held on the porch, and clients
will drop by for lunch. Other
times, curious visitors will drop
in asking for a tour, which
McNeer is happy to give.
Built in 1867, just 10 years
after the founding of Newton, the
mansion boasts 16-inch thick
brick walls, and tall, narrow windows
with sills and caps of limestone
slabs.
The house fell into a state of
disrepair around the turn of
the century, but was restored
in the 1920s. Conversion to
modern apartments was
undertaken later, but thankfully,
much of the original interior
woodwork, as well as two of the
original fireplaces, still remain.
Utilizing such a graceful structure
as business headquarters,
McNeer believes, stimulates the
creativity of his employees, and
puts his clients at ease.
Livengood agrees.
“Every company has its glitches,
but at Maxim the working
environment is absolutely fun,”
Livengood says. “Creativity
should be fun.”
In the frenetic advertising
world today, one has to look for
every angle to stay on top. By
being a full-service agency, with a
quick turnaround time, and continuously
offering the client a little
something extra, Maxim has
managed to gain that competitive
edge so vital for maintaining
clients.
McNeer sums up his business
philosophy this way: “We’re not
selling a product. We’re selling
ideas.”
Maxim Advertising focuses on ideas
Maxim’s staff pictured above,
include front row, from left, Dan
Livengood, marketing director;
Macy Martinson, part-time; Linda
Cahill, accountant; Leah Kruse,
fulfillment; Sandra McNeer; and
Mary McNeer, bookkeeping. Back
row, Larry Norcross, sales manager;
Joyce Beckham, graphic artist;
Deb Simmons, customer service;
Teresa Holton, program development;
Kurt Kruse, fulfillment and
shipping and receiving director;
and Dave McNeer, president.
At right, Maxim Advertising’s
headquarters at 1111 N. 3rd Ave.
E. The Mershon mansion, built in
1867, has been a conversation
piece for the company.