Article Tools

SHARE   Del.icio.us   Newsvine   Digg It

Ty Hallock, Founding Partner

As a founder and partner of TopFloorStudio, Ty has cultivated client relationships around the country that has not only exponentially grown the business of TopFloorStudio, but has also raised the profile of the region and created new permanent full-time positions as well as countless freelance assignments for creative workers in Asheville, NC.

Ty is someone who has an insatiable desire to learn about how the world works and how people relate and interact in that world. He has created a “learning culture” at TopFloorStudio, where each new project is an opportunity for the group to dive in and do something that has never been done before. TopFloorStudio clients are “innovation partners” who are concerned with evolving their business, not just growing it.

A board member of the Media Arts Project, the IT council of Asheville, and a pivotal player on the HUB tech team, Ty works tirelessly to connect local media artists and tech workers as well as to raise the national and international profile of Western North Carolina as a crossroads for creativity, technology, and economic development. Ty holds a degree in Digital Media from Full Sail.

Matthew Raker, Founding Partner

As an economic systems theorist, a student of ecosystems, a media artist and musician, Matt brings a unique perspective to his strategic work with clients and the internal creative direction of the team at TopFloorStudio. He views companies as organic entities that are capable of growth so long as the right conditions are present. He utilizes the resources at TopFloorStudio to create such favorable conditions. If Matt does not see that such conditions are possible or sustainable to cultivate, he will not take on the client at TopFloorStudio. Knowing this, the clients who do work with TopFloorStudio are confident that their investment is being made at the deepest level of engagement.

Matt serves on The City of Asheville’s Sustainable Economic Development and Advisory Committee and works with numerous regional non-profits. He also works directly with Fortune 500 companies, challenging them to invest in long term media and marketing strategies that grow their profits while sustaining the natural world and its attendant local culture. Matt holds degrees in Economics and Natural Resources Management from the University of North Carolina Asheville.