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In 1987 Julie Olthoff and her future business partner discussed a mutual desire to break out on their own over a cup of coffee. With little capital and a lot of faith, they struck out in search of their shared dream. They began with an Itek typesetting machine (an antique by today's standards), a copy machine and a typewriter.

The business began in a home office, and in just six months, moved to larger space in Merrillville, Indiana. In 1989 it moved again, to a newly constructed 1200 sq. ft. space in Marshall Square on Route 30 in Merrillville.

In July 1992, with seven employees on the payroll, Julie became sole owner and president of VIA Marketing, Inc. She was motivated! She prepared a plan, positioned the agency as curator of the integrated marketing mix, and the following year VIA grew 34 percent.

In 1994, with the lure of natural light and larger space, the agency moved one space west in the same complex. As space expanded, so did VIA's services and number of talented staff members.

VIA purchased Carl Communications, a public relations firm in Hammond, Indiana, in 2003. The client list grew while VIA gained a public relations specialist.