Terry Terry
Owner of Message Makers
Terry Terry, owner of Message Makers was the recipient of the 2008 Outstanding Small Business Award. He has been the owner of a local small business since 1977 and has a long track record of meeting the criteria of stability, innovation and commitment to community, perseverance and commitment to diversity. After receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees from Michigan State University, our recipient traveled to Europe, India and Nepal, where he began to apply his craft in the international marketplace.
Terry originally located his business in downtown Lansing, but moved to Old Town in 1982. The company now has satellite operations in Chicago, Portland, Oregon and Berlin, Germany.
Terry’s business has grown into a recently expanded 7,000 square foot Old Town Facility that includes high-end media production, including four high-definition video edit suites, multiple high-definition cameras, motion graphics productions suites, and an array of other resources. The newly acquired 10,000 square foot warehouse in Old Town Houses event production operations, including state of the art projectors, staging, sound and lighting gear.
He has received over 30 industry excellence awards and the company’s list of clients is an international roster of widely recognized organizations including the Harley Davidson Motor Company.
Terry has served as a catalytic force behind the renaissance of Lansing’s Old Town commercial district. When he bought his first building in Old Town, our recipient designed and restored an 1860’s building. Since then our recipient has been personally involved in restoring seven buildings in Old Town. When no one else thought the north Lansing area could make it, our recipient saw potential with a handful of other artists, created art shows and music events that drew attention and more importantly— people to Old Town. In 1984 Terry co-founded and currently serves as president of the nonprofit Old Town Business & Art Development Association, which produces the BluesFest and the JazzFest. Both festivals bring about 15,000 people to the area in August and September.
