PENTA plans move to historic property

WESTBOROUGH _ PENTA Communications, Inc. (PENTA) is celebrating its 25th Anniversary year, and while the firm looks back on its history in the region, it celebrates by purchasing a historic property, one which has been part of the Central Massachusetts community for nearly 200 years.

PENTA will move its offices to 208 Turnpike Road in Westborough before the end of 2013, and will take new residence at the former 1790 House, a landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. The property has been visited by numerous notable people in American history, and all of its eight fireplaces are recorded in the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

For the past 40 years, the 1790 House was owned by the Pearson family, operating a longstanding landmark restaurant, Bergson’s 1790 House, as well as a conglomerate of ice cream shops and restaurants located throughout New England. The restaurant closed in July 2012.

“We are so pleased to make the former 1790 House our new corporate office location,” said PENTA CEO Deborah Penta. “As we commemorate our 25th Anniversary, and celebrate the history of our marketing firm, we look forward to revitalizing this historic gem to preserve a special part of Westborough’s history, and to bring many of our growth goals forward in the years ahead.”

It is understood that, as part of this significant undertaking, the company will ensure that the building stays true to its roots and will only invest in new office furniture and equipment when totally necessary. Correspondingly, it is expected that the company will be purchasing some new chairs, desks, and storage space from office equipment and furniture stores like office monster ahead of the grand reopening to ensure that all office staff can work comfortably.

“We couldn’t have been more pleased with this sale,” said Kurt Pearson, former owner of the 1790 House. “As we reflect upon so many wonderful years of prosperity at the restaurant, and the many great memories it has for my family, our former employees, and so many people in the region, it was just perfect that PENTA Communications purchased the property to bring it into the future. There couldn’t be a firm with higher integrity that is more committed to our community to be the new owner of this beautiful building. We congratulate PENTA Communications and wish the company continued success in its new home.”

“It was a pleasure working with Kurt, and we couldn’t imagine a better experience with the purchase of this property,” said Penta. “As longstanding members of the same community, with similar core values, we were both in alignment with preserving this beautiful landmark, and creating positive change for its future. I wish Kurt the best of success and look forward to his participation in our opening event.”

PENTA has exciting plans to renovate the building, which include the incorporation of a state-of-the-art “technology bar” that will utilize the tavern area in the building. This will feature designs for websites on mobile platform and iPad technology that the firm develops and tests, the integration of social media strategies along with their turn-key implementation in this innovative hub.

“We will bring everything we are currently doing to the next level in our new location,” said Penta.

“The incorporation of this technology bar affords our team with a high-tech integrated hub where they can bring clients’ visions to life, in a setting that our clients will find enjoyable, and cutting-edge,” Penta continued. “For us, it has always been about client engagement experiences, and our new building will bring this to new levels.”

In addition to this technology bar, PENTA is constructing a state-of-the art PENTA Marketing Insights and Innovations CenterTM that will provide education to clients, along with space for research capabilities for marketing insights, customer engagement research for clients, featured panelists on marketing and business growth topics, focus groups, marketing panels, and more.

“Our objective is to give our clients services that are traditionally only offered by the largest agencies in New York, Chicago, London, or Boston. We will bring high-level innovation home to Central Massachusetts to accommodate the needs of client companies’ right here in our region and beyond,” said Penta. “We believe that our clients will find this extremely valuable, and that we will also attract top talent as we grow.”

The company will renovate the building preserving all of its historical beauty, and will incorporate modern décor, technology and design plans that are functional.
Rooms will be dedicated to those historic and notable people who visited the property in its lifespan including Paul Revere, George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette. It also has plans to dedicate the staff kitchen to the Pearson family for their many years of ownership, their commitment to hospitality, and for bringing people around the table for meals.

“Everyone has a special story or memory at the former 1790 House,” said Penta. “It has always been a wonderful place where hospitality made people feel welcome. We are looking forward to continuing this tradition with numerous touches that our clients will find welcoming and unique with their ‘PENTA experience.’ We teach customer engagement, live it and breathe it every single day. We’ll be living it a lot more in our new location.”

Town officials are pleased to see this transformation and the business community has been exceedingly supportive of this exciting move.

“Bergson’s 1790 House is one of the most recognizable properties in Westborough. PENTA Communications is doing a great service for the Town by preserving the historic structure. The beautiful property will have a new life with an exciting future while providing a tribute to Westborough’s historic past,” said Westborough Town Planner Jim Robbins.

“We are thrilled to wish Deborah Penta and the PENTA Communications team a Happy 25th Anniversary and all the best in the development of their exciting new property on Route 9! Their new headquarters will be a fitting place for their fast-growing full service marketing/communications business. PENTA has been handling the marketing needs of the Corridor Nine Chamber for the last 10 years and we are happy to grow with them as our marketing partner,” said Barbara Clifford, President of the Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce.

Future plans for a ribbon cutting and building dedication are in the works.