Giving businesses in Philadelphia the power to grow

Vitris, a 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award winner in Philadelphia, is providing digital marketing services to help build small businesses and opportunities.

By Gina Gallagher | Citizen Contributor

No one needs to tell 26-year-old Jack Perrotta about the importance of making connections. With his digital marketing firm Vitris, he helps business owners connect with their customers and prospects every day.

But not long ago, Jack made a different kind of connection — one that's prompted him to use his company’s technology to create something even more powerful.

It all started with a business introduction he made on LinkedIn to Maleek Jackson, a personal trainer in Philadelphia. After 15 years of waiting, Maleek had finally realized his dream of owning a boxing gym. Maleek had a harder road than most budding entrepreneurs because he had to start from a tougher place — a broken home. Then he spent 10 years in prison, and during that time, two of his brothers died.

“In prison, I thought a lot about my life’s milestones and my goals,” Maleek says. “One of my goals was to become a personal trainer when I got out.”

When Jack heard Maleek’s story, he wanted to meet him in person — and then help him.

“I was so inspired by how he turned his life around,” Jack gushes. “I couldn’t believe I had the chance to work with him.”

Jack helped build Maleek’s business Maleek Jackson Fitness Boxing Gym by creating a website and providing digital marketing — all at no cost. That support not only provided an online presence for the gym, but also inspired Jack to support other business owners in the same way. It’s that work to help fellow businesses that earned Vitris a $20,000 first-place prize in the 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award contest for the greater Philadelphia market.

RELATED: Community Champion Andreoli Restoration Bringing New Life to Cleveland Neighborhoods

Making powerful business connections

Even though he’s only in his mid-20s, Jack knows how to build businesses. What he doesn’t know, however, is what it’s like to have a boss.

Jack has been working for himself since he was a young boy, cutting grass and doing landscaping for his neighbors in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. In 2015, his sophomore year at Temple University, he launched a cellphone repair business which he named Vitris, a Latin word that means “his/her glass.”

Though cellphone repair businesses were common, Jack used digital marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) to gain an edge and generate business.

“People usually don’t know a cellphone repair person. The first place they look is Google,” he explains. “So, if you can win on Google by having your business show up, you’ll win business.”

In 2015, Jack scored another win: his friend Cameron Spencer, a computer science major at Drexel University, decided to join Vitris. Cam used his talents to develop a software platform that would allow Vitris to have a repair shop marketplace, appointment booking, and an inventory management program all online.

Vitris is a digital marketing firm in Philadelphia.

Soon they expanded their software platform to assist other types of electronics businesses and, eventually, services businesses like home improvement professionals, business coaches, and real estate and law firms.

Today, Vitris offers software that includes a website builder, which allows businesses to easily create their online storefronts. Once their websites are up and running, Vitris helps collect data about visitors and brings qualified leads right to the business owners.

Maleek Jackson has seen firsthand the power of what Vitris can do. “People reach out to us all the time on our website,” he says. “In the first three months, our sales increased 40%.”

Jack knows that by helping build small businesses, he’s helping create a stronger community. But he also understands that not every business owner has the money to invest in digital marketing. To help with that challenge, he decided to do more.

Earning recognition for giving back

Though he grew up in Bucks County, Jack has always felt at home in Philadelphia, where he now resides. Jack’s mother grew up in north Philadelphia as the 11^th of 12 siblings who lost their father at a young age. Despite the odds, each child went to college and built a successful life.

“They’ve all taught me not just to work hard and be successful, but to do whatever you can to help others as much as possible,” Jack shares.

So when he had the opportunity to help Maleek, Jack knew that he needed to do more by helping other business owners in similar situations. To make that possible, he submitted an application for the 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award contest through Citizens. Vitris was awarded the $20,000 first-place prize for Philadelphia.

With the money, Vitris will provide $3,300 in digital marketing services to 10 local businesses in the Philadelphia area. Those services include a website, web hosting, and digital marketing strategy guidance that will allow business owners to do their own marketing. Vitris has already launched the program, the Pay-It-Forward Initiative.

“When everyone gives back,” Jack says, “the impact on the community gets magnified.”

RELATED: See All Eight Winners of the 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award Contest

Staying connected in challenging times

Despite its growth and success, Vitris has faced some challenges, including the challenge that’s impacted nearly every business: COVID-19. Some of the company’s clients, like Maleek Jackson Fitness Boxing Gym, have been temporarily closed as a result of shutdowns, while others have had to close their doors altogether. Jack admits that COVID-19 has also limited the ways he can interact with his customers during the quarantine. He does believe, however, that digital marketing offers a valuable opportunity to stay connected.

“Rather than spend money on advertising, many of our clients are using this time to create content and podcasts that provide value to people right now or in the near future,” he says. “It’s just a great way to reach out.”

Though their business is in technology, Jack and Cameron have shown that staying connected goes far beyond just software and artificial intelligence. It’s people who really make the difference.

“We’re so excited to help business owners,” Jack says. “We know it will have a real impact on the community.”

We're made ready to help small businesses

Vitris is one of eight winners of the 2020 Small Business Community Champion Award contest. First- and second-place winners in the Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland markets received $20,000 and $10,000 prizes, respectively, to support their community initiatives.

Check out all the ways Citizens is supporting local businesses and our communities during the pandemic.