Founded in 2007 by CEO Haj Carr and based in Portland, Maine, Trueline is a marketing consultancy specializing in graphic and web design, content management, SEO, and business development. The company’s clients include everyone from Fortune 500 executives and national nonprofits to local businesses and entrepreneurs.
Trueline’s publishing arm includes six publications, each covering a different industry: Vanguard (law); Blueprint (construction); Toggle (technology); Vision (executive leadership); Equity (finance); and Terra Firma (agribusiness). Companies featured in Trueline’s publication include Dell, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Ford, GE and AON.
The company also boasts a full-service marketing division, offering everything from social-media content writing to large-scale web-development and graphic-design projects. While many of Trueline’s clients are based in Maine, the company also services large nonprofits, businesses and individuals.
Trueline is known for taking a collaborative, hands-on approach to client projects—one where writers, editors, artists and business-development experts all play a role.
In 2007, the year Trueline was launched, the U.S. was suffering from the greatest recession in decades. At the time, the company’s flagship journal—U.S. Builders Review—was focused on one of the country’s most beleaguered sectors: construction.
It took some work (and plenty of coaxing), but Trueline was able to sell these companies on the power and importance of custom media: well-told stories that capture the mission, values and real-world impacts of their subjects. Rather than abandon their marketing efforts, these companies were shown what was possible when they embraced their brands.
Before long, the magazine took off. In the years that followed, more journals were added to the Trueline roster. By 2010, the company had moved to Maine, and quickly emerged as one of the state’s most innovative and dynamic marketing firms.
Ten years later, Trueline’s growth continues apace. In 2019, the company moved to a new downtown office (561 Congress Street—the onetime home of the SALT Institute for Documentary Studies). Each month (except during the winter), Trueline hosts a First Friday art show, showcasing art from local and regional creators.
Every summer, company employees are invited to participate in a weekend rafting trip in Northern Maine. In addition, Trueline hosts an annual holiday party, along with occasional happy hour events and monthly town halls.
Trueline has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Maine” four straight years. Along with great pay and strong benefits, employee perks include on-site parking, a dedicated ping-pong room and one of the best office environments around.