More than 25 years ago, when the first residents were moving into Issaquah Highlands, Ashland Park served as the center of the community. As the first and only park in the community at the time, residents would gather for celebrations, live shows, barbeques and fun with neighbors.
Longtime Ashland Park resident Patrick Byers remembers walking to shops like Remy’s, Sweet Additions and Sherm’s BBQ Bistro in the neighborhood. However, due to a lack of foot traffic, each business eventually closed or relocated.
In 2010, following the news that Sherm’s was moving, Patrick saw an opportunity to move his company from its office building in Factoria to Issaquah Highlands. Outsource Marketing, otherwise known as Outmark, has lived there ever since.
“We just hit our 12th year in October,” he said. “And we just renewed our lease.”
While living in Seattle in 1997, Patrick founded Outsource Marketing in an effort to provide a better way for organizations to get marketing done. In fact, it’s one of the first companies in the world to offer outsourced marketing. Outmark celebrated its 25-year anniversary in 2022.
As a marketing instructor at University of Washington at the time, he viewed this model as a “secret weapon” to connect all the disciplines of marketing in a strategic way, while also offering clients a proven way to achieve results.
Outmark is a one-stop shop for effective marketing resources. They manage everything from research, analysis, strategy and planning to the execution of branding, advertising, public relations, direct marketing, communications, social media, SEO, paid search, photography, illustration and animation—whatever is needed.
Instead of pulling it all together themselves, their clients receive a well-oiled marketing machine right from the start.
Outmark has worked with a wide range of businesses, including large companies like Starbucks, T-Mobile, Microsoft, Farmers Insurance Group and others.
“We have clients all over the country, but we choose to be here,” Patrick said. “There are no plans to leave Issaquah Highlands—we love it here.”
Outmark is also responsible for leading the Issaquah Highlands rebranding project. After more than 200 hours of research and design, Outmark delivered a strong, integrated and extensible brand system that will grow with our community.
While roughly 15 people work out of the office in Issaquah Highlands, the agency has drawn from hundreds of sub-contractors across the United States. Patrick said his staff is mostly hyperlocal.
Andrea Moretsky, marketing integrator at Outmark, has been with the company for just over 10 years. She moved to Issaquah Highlands in 1999 and lives in Ashland Park. Jennifer Kodosky, operations manager and swag strategist at Outmark, moved to Kirk Park nearly a decade ago and joined the team in 2018.
Over the years, they have both enjoyed making memories with people in the community. The company and its staff are passionate about giving back to local schools, organizations and donation drives.
“We try to do as much good as we can,” Andrea said.
Patrick said it’s the culture of the company to give back. Outmark has hosted a range of donation drives for items such as school supplies, diapers, food and clothing, pets and much more. Additionally, staff has served as DECA judges for local high school competitions.
In the warmer months, the marketing agency has hosted interactive community events like “chalk the walk” or gatherings at the gazebo across from Ashland Park.
Jennifer encourages residents to drop by the Outmark office and say, “hello.”
“Our door is always open,” she said. “Come visit us.”
