For over 20 years Owners Don Shortman and Mark Carron have been providing the central Massachusetts and Rhode Island area with high quality, printing, signage, mailing, and campaign services.
Mark J. Carron
Mark J. Carron has served as a member of the Massachusetts Legislature. Mr. Carron, a Democrat from Central Massachusetts, served with distinction as a State Representative in the Massachusetts General Court from 1999 to 2007. During that time, Mr. Carron was an active and vocal member of the Committees of the Judiciary, Small Business and Community Development and Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. Mr. Carron also co-chaired the House Democratic Council, a group of colleagues that provided House members with greater access to information on policy and process, as they navigated through arguably the worst economic period in the state’s history.
Mr. Carron built a unique reputation over the years as an ally to both business and labor and was highly regarded as taking a no-nonsense, pragmatic approach to all issues. As a small business owner himself and with his vast legislative experience, Mr. Carron strengthens Capital Associates’ ability to advise clients and to interact with the numerous government agencies involved in health care regulation , business development and procurement issues.
Don Shortman
Don Shortman is the driving force behind the printing aspect of CampaignsThatWin.com. He grew up in the printing business. His parents bought one of the first PIP Printing franchise in the country in 1968. Don worked his way through the ranks until in 1976 he managed his first PIP store in Providence. In 1978 he became General Manager of the family businesses now 12 stores strong, stretching from Philadelphia, through Connecticut and Rhode Island up to Worcester Massachusetts. In 1980 Don bought the Worcester location and soon opened another in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He soon left the PIP system in order to avoid the confines inherent to franchises in general. He then called the business PrintSource. Don ran the Worcester location for 23 years before going into a new endeavor with his own self made business model. He called it Don Shortman.com is your PrintSource. The new idea freed him of the confines of dealing with the day to day operations and enabled him to use his now profound print and related knowledge in a consultative sales manner. Clients include Marriott, Crown Plaza, DoubleTree, municipalities , non profits and corporations large and small. It was in this role that Don met Mark Carron of Inquiry Systems. Mark and Don partnered with Don’s print and Mark’s direct mail abilities. In 2008 Don was approached by a client that was running a write in sticker campaign for Massachusetts State Representative. With just 14 days before the election exacting performance was critical, A special die was made to conform to state regulation and flown in over night from Kansas City. The die cut the stickers to size while Mark prepared the mailing list. Mark, having been a Massachusetts State Representative for 8 years, had the expertise in targeting voters. Envelopes were printed, letters were printed folded and all pieces inserted and mailed . The candidate lost by a 500 vote margin but CampaignsThatWin.com w as born. The candidate ran again in 2010 and won by a huge margin. The company worked with 65 candidates in 2010 with approximately 70% winning.
