Horizontal Digital accelerates Middle East growth with expansion into new regional headquarters
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 9th March 2023 – Horizontal Digital, the leading experience-forward consultancy, is pleased to announce the opening of its new Middle East and Africa (MEA) headquarters in Dubai, UAE. The new space, located in Dubai Media City, will serve as the company's hub for operations in the MEA region, marking a significant milestone in the company's continued growth. 

The new office features a modern and dynamic working environment with state-of-the-art technology and a full suite of amenities to enhance productivity, creativity, and collaboration. The space will support the significant growth in talent the company has seen over the past few years and further grow its capabilities to serve clients in the region.  
 
The new office space was officially inaugurated on the 4th of January with a celebration attended by company executives and team members from Horizontal’s global offices. Horizontal Digital Regional Managing Director, George Smith, said, "This move marks a new chapter in our agency’s growth and success. We are extremely proud of our continued commitment to bringing the latest Sitecore and Salesforce innovations to brands across the region.” He added, “Our new space is a true testament to the hard work and dedication of all our employees and the unwavering support of our partners and customers. We look forward to welcoming our clients and partners to our new office and showcasing our capabilities.” 

Sabin Ephrem, Horizontal Digital Co-Founder and CEO, added, “We are confident that this expansion is a significant step towards our vision of being at the forefront of the region's digital innovators. Our partnerships with Sitecore and Salesforce have been instrumental in delivering cutting-edge solutions to our clients and a catalyst in growing our physical office environment. We strive to continue on this road together to provide exceptional customer experiences to brands across the region.” 

Horizontal Digital is well-positioned to continue its expansion into the EMEA region in 2023 and beyond. They kicked off 2023 with five Sitecore product specializations, which only a handful of partners can boast globally. 14 Horizontal Digital team members were also awarded Sitecore MVP status globally. In addition, Horizontal continues to participate in notable industry events such as Leap 2023 Riyadh, expanding its presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

About Horizontal Digital  

Horizontal Digital is an experience-forward consultancy that builds exceptional website, mobile, e-commerce, and portal experiences that meet customers with the right message at the right moment. We deliver on this promise by fusing every digital touchpoint with customer data from sales, service, e-commerce, and marketing programs we design and implement. These connected experiences create and continue conversations for customers across all departments and channels – empowering organizations to build stronger relationships with them. Our unwavering focus on delivering meaningful digital experiences at every touchpoint has allowed us to solve complex challenges for some of the world's most recognizable brands. Learn more at horizontaldigital.com. 
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Horizontal Digital accelerates Middle East growth with expansion into new regional headquarters

Horizontal ranked as a fastest growing firm for 2022

Consulting magazine has announced the rankings for the 26 consulting firms qualifying as the Fastest Growing Firms for 2022.Horizontal ranked 17th on the list of Consulting Magazine Fastest Growing Firms 2022. Moving up 9 places from the previous ranking. Each firm has a well-earned place on this year’s list, and it should be noted that 11 returned as fast growers from Consulting magazine’s Fastest Growing Firms survey conducted in 2020. This means that 42% of this year’s ranked companies are in the midst of a 5+ year run of continued, and in some cases, accelerated revenue growth.
Read the full news release here
About Horizontal

Founded in 2003, Horizontal is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) with two key service lines: Digital Consultancy and Talent Agency. The Horizontal Digital team offers unmatched depth and breadth of experience with the most complex, enterprise-level Sitecore CMS implementation and enhancement programs via full-service digital marketing expertise in strategy, user experience design, content and technical development. Having this expertise allows the company to deliver sites that are intelligently built and give a tailored experience to each visitor. The Talent business offers temporary and permanent IT, digital and creative talent needs, with over 500 active billing consultants. Horizontal Talent specializes in connecting talent with the best companies on a contract, contract to hire or permanent basis. Because of the digital agency side of its business, Horizontal fully understands the digital and creative needs of its clients. Learn more
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Horizontal ranked as a fastest growing firm for 2022

Horizontal Digital is a 2022 Sitecore Experience Award Winner in EMEA 
Minnesota, September 28, 2022 – Horizontal Digital today announced it has won a Sitecore Experience Award (SEA) in the EMEA region for its work with Emirates NBD. The entry was selected from nearly 100 submissions, winning with an entry in Seamless Commerce Operations and Experiences for the Emirates NBD More app, which works to add More value to customers’ lives, building loyalty and boosting their engagement with the brand to ultimately increase spending.   
 
The Sitecore Experience Awards (SEAs) recognize Sitecore customers who have transformed their organizations in innovative and impactful ways. The SEAs are awarded to Sitecore customers and their partners whose entries clearly demonstrate that their Sitecore solution is delivering ground-breaking customer experiences and great overall value to their business. The SEAs highlight best-in-class brands from across the globe in four specialized categories: Best Digital Experience Transformation, Most Intelligent Content Optimization, Best in Connecting the Experience, and Seamless Commerce Operations and Experiences. 
 
“We’ve been inspired by the Emirates NBD vision and passion for their More offering, which combines Sitecore Commerce technology with customer data and insights to deliver hyper-personalization through a new mobile app,” said Managing Director, George Smith. “It’s been a privilege to help them find further competitive advantage through this Customer Experience.”  
 
“Sitecore customers and partners globally are implementing digital-first strategies in unique ways to move their businesses forward at lightning speed and while building unrivaled customer engagement,” said Lee Miles, Chief Customer Success Officer, Sitecore. “Immersive and impactful digital experiences for customers are essential in today’s competitive landscape. We are proud to honor our customers’ achievements with this year’s Sitecore Experience Awards.” 
 
SEA 2022 winners were chosen as they have demonstrated their use of Sitecore solutions to make a significant and measurable impact for their customers and to their business. 
 
Through the rigorous selection process, each entry was judged by a panel consisting of Sitecore leadership from that entry’s region. There are three regions that evaluated and approved all regional selections based on specific selection and scoring criteria. 
 
Details about Sitecore Experience Awards can be found at Sitecore.com.
 
About Horizontal  
Horizontal Digital is an experience-forward consultancy that builds exceptional website, mobile, ecommerce and portal experiences that meet customers with the right message, at the right moment. We deliver on this promise by fusing every digital touchpoint with customer data from sales, service, ecommerce and marketing programs we design and implement. These connected experiences create and continue conversations for customers across all departments and channels – empowering organizations to build stronger relationships with them in the process. Our unwavering focus on delivering meaningful digital experiences at every touchpoint has allowed us to successfully solve complex challenges for some of the world's most recognizable brands.  
 
About Sitecore 
Sitecore is a global leader of end-to-end digital experience software. Unifying data, content, commerce, and experiences, our SaaS-enabled, composable platform empowers brands like L’Oréal, Microsoft, United Airlines, and PUMA to deliver unforgettable interactions across every touchpoint. Our solution provides the cutting-edge tools brands need to build stronger connections with customers, while creating content efficiencies to stand out as transformation and innovation leaders. Experience more at sitecore.com.
 
CONTACT: Dharmesh Harji, +971 56 1966880, dharji@horizontal.com 
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Horizontal Digital is a 2022 Sitecore Experience Award Winner in EMEA 

Horizontal Digital Wins Two Sitecore 2022 Partner Awards
United States, Minneapolis, August 2, 2022 – Horizontal Digital has been awarded Sitecore’s Partnering Excellence and Customer Value/Impact awards. The 2022 Sitecore Partner Awards recognize exceptional partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Sitecore-based experiences over the past 12 months. Honorees were chosen from more than 700 partners from across the globe.  

Leveraging Sitecore’s products to implement digital-first experiences, Horizontal Digital is recognized for demonstrating overall superior commitment to in-depth knowledge (enablement, training, certification, and specialization) and commitment to partnering with Sitecore. As a Sitecore Platinum Partner, Horizontal has a proven track record of delivering large-scale, digital transformation solutions for brands across the global including Advisory Board, Cushman and Wakefield, Grohe, DP World, Mahindra, Emirates NBD and Yas Island to name a few.  

The Customer Value/Impact award is a testament to Horizontal’s commitment to consistently delivering value to Sitecore customers, as it demonstrates excellence in implementation strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on solving the customer’s challenges.  

In 2021, Horizontal received Sitecore's Global Excellence in Product Expertise award, a flagship accolade amongst Sitecore partners. The award is given to the highest performing partner worldwide and recognizes their commitment to becoming experts in Sitecore products through training, certifications and enablement.  
 
“I couldn’t be prouder of what Horizontal and its customers have achieved over the past 12 months. Sitecore is and always will be core to our business and as we continue to strive to be the very best Sitecore partner in the world, these awards are a testament to the technology we use to deliver exceptional experiences and our team who continue to break boundaries of what good looks like” said Sabin Ephrem, Co-Founder & CEO at Horizontal Digital.  

“What I am incredibly proud of is that this award is global. Our teams spanning the US, Middle East and Asia pacific have worked tirelessly to ensure our customers achieve their goals; from Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates through to Worldwide Express in the US. Our customers can be proud that together we are delivering award winning solutions.”  

“Together with our partners, we have fulfilled an enormous variety of use cases across the world’s most recognizable brands. In doing so we have repeatedly demonstrated how partners delivered Sitecore Solutions support organizations in exceeding their customers' expectations time and time again.” said Owen Taraniuk, SVP Global Partners at Sitecore. “Our formula is simple: Sitecore + great partnerships = customer success. When you add Enterprise solution partners, like Horizontal, to this formula, the magic really happens. They have certified technical resources, specialized domain expertise, and the proven track record of delivering amazing outcomes that bring our mutual customers’ digital ambitions to life.” 

More information about the Sitecore Partner Awards can be found at: Sitecore.com
About Horizontal Digital
Horizontal Digital is an experience-forward consultancy that builds exceptional website, mobile, ecommerce and portal experiences that meet customers with the right message, at the right moment. We deliver on this promise by fusing every digital touchpoint with customer data from sales, service, ecommerce and marketing programs we design and implement. These connected experiences create and continue conversations for customers across all departments and channels – empowering organizations to build stronger relationships with them in the process. Our unwavering focus on delivering meaningful digital experiences at every touchpoint has allowed us to successfully solve complex challenges for some of the world's most recognizable brands. Learn more at horizontaldigital.com.
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Horizontal Digital Wins Two Sitecore 2022 Partner Awards

Re-imagining yasisland.com’s CX to deliver a connected digital destination
Regional Managing Director (MEIA) for Horizontal
The result is a slick e-commerce experience that takes the complex technical packaging of park tickets, hotels, events, and services, and orchestrates the seamless curation of a holiday with the magical simplicity of world-class UX
George Smith
Sitecore is the global leader in customer experience management. The company delivers highly relevant content and personalized digital experiences that delight audiences, build loyalty and drive revenue. With the Sitecore® Experience Platform™, marketers can own the experience of every customer that engages with their brand, across every channel. More than 4,400 of the world's leading brands – including American Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, easyJet, Heineken and L'Oréal trust Sitecore to help them deliver the meaningful interactions that win customers for life. For more information, visit: sitecore.com
Horizontal Digital is an experience-forward consultancy that builds exceptional website, mobile, e-commerce and portal experiences that meet customers with the right message at the right moment. We deliver on this promise by fusing every digital touchpoint with customer data from sales, service, e-commerce and marketing programs we design and implement. These connected experiences create and continue conversations for customers across all departments and channels — empowering organizations to build stronger relationships with them in the process. Our unwavering focus on delivering meaningful digital experiences at every touchpoint has allowed us to successfully solve complex challenges for some of the world’s most recognizable brands. 
Learn more at horizontaldigital.com.
Yas Island (yasisland.com) is one of the world’s fastest growing leisure and entertainment destinations, located on the golden shores of Abu Dhabi - just 20 minutes from downtown Abu Dhabi and 50 minutes from Dubai.  Yas Island offers holiday makers a diverse mix of award-winning leisure and entertainment experiences, from one-of-a-kind theme parks, world-class shopping and superb dining, to a links golf course, exciting water and motor sports, and spectacular musical, entertainment and family events… all within the 25 sq km Island. Today, Yas Island is home to the award-winning theme parks Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi, Warner Bros. World™ Abu Dhabi, the record-breaking CLYMB™ Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit (home to the FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX™), Yas Marina, the award-winning Yas Links golf course, as well as Abu Dhabi’s largest mall, Yas Mall, Yas Bay Waterfront - Abu Dhabi’s vibrant day to night destination featuring Pier71, a three-kilometre Boardwalk, and a variety of world-class dining, leisure and entertainment brands.  With ten hotels, including W Abu Dhabi - Yas Island, Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island, The WB™ Abu Dhabi, the World's first Warner Bros. themed hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island Residences, Crowne Plaza Yas Island Abu Dhabi, Yas Island Rotana, Centro Yas Island by Rotana, Radisson Blu Hotel Abu Dhabi Yas Island, Park Inn by Radisson Hotel Abu Dhabi Yas Island and Staybridge Suites Abu Dhabi Yas Island,  plus more than 165 dining experiences, the destination also features indoor and outdoor concert venues including WHITE Abu Dhabi and Etihad Arena - all of which are complemented by a range of visitor services that connect all attractions to one another.
About Yas Island
About Horizontal
About Sitecore
Yas Island Abu Dhabi, one of the world’s leading leisure and entertainment destinations, has unveiled its new digital experience which puts the customer at the center. The new website delivers a new benchmark in user experience (UX), allowing holidaymakers to search, browse and book personalized and specially curated holiday packages with record-breaking speed. Powered by the global leader in Digital Experience Management, Sitecore, and award-winning Experience led digital agency Horizontal Digital, Yasisland.com delivers a digital experience out of this world. 
Yas Island gave Horizontal, a Sitecore Platinum Implementation Partner, the challenge of designing a commerce-ready site that embodies the excitement of the physical destination to entice local and international holidaymakers to book island packages and return visits.

The new experience of yasisland.com goes far beyond standard UX and digital principles. Instead, the UX and visual design is driven by deep data and insights that incorporate the psychology of holidaymakers and what they want to see and how. As a result, it delivers personalized, bespoke holiday packages, which can be booked and fulfilled in less than four easy steps.

Working closely with the Yas Island team and harnessing the power of Sitecore and TravelBox, Horizontal  drastically reduced checkout times and created a click-to-checkout flow that rivals some of the world’s biggest booking engines.
Yas Island offers a diverse mix of award-winning leisure and entertainment experiences, including one-of-a-kind theme parks – Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld and Warner Bros. World™ Abu Dhabi – world-class shopping and superb dining, a links golf course, exciting water and motor sports, and spectacular musical, entertainment and family events, in addition to ten leading hotels and over 165 dining experiences. Holidaymakers are spoilt for choice at the destination, so Horizontal had to make it as easy as possible for Yasisland.com visitors to navigate the site and book a trip, while offering the sophisticated personalization they expect.

Horizontal Digital implemented Sitecore Experience Platform™ (XP), a best-of-breed Digital Experience Platform (DXP) hosted on Microsoft Azure and successfully integrated it with Yas Island’s existing booking platform, TravelBox. Sitecore delivers personalized, cross-channel experiences by combining customer data, analytics, AI, and marketing automation.

All of this was achieved whilst also leveraging Yas Island’s wider platform investment in Sitecore to offer reusable components and infrastructure for speed of deployment and security.
Yasisland.com re-designed delivers a new benchmark for user experience and transformed customer experience
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Re-imagining yasisland.com’s CX to deliver a connected digital destination

Star Tribune names Horizontal a 2022 Top 200 Workplace
St. Louis Park, MN June 19th, 2022— Horizontal has been named one of the Top 200 Workplaces in Minnesota by the Star Tribune. A complete list of those selected is available at StarTribune.com/topworkplaces2022 and will also be published in the Star Tribune Top Workplaces special section on Sunday, June 19.

Produced by the same team that compiles the 31-year-old Star Tribune 100 report of the best-performing public companies in Minnesota, Top Workplaces recognizes the most progressive companies in Minnesota based on employee opinions measuring engagement, organizational health and satisfaction. The analysis included responses from over 79,000 employees at Minnesota public, private and nonprofit organizations. 

The rankings in the Star Tribune Top 200 Workplaces are based on survey information collected by Energage, an independent company specializing in employee engagement and retention.

Star Tribune Publisher Michael J. Klingensmith said, “The companies in the Star Tribune Top 200 Workplaces deserve high praise for creating the very best work environments in the state of Minnesota. My congratulations to each of these exceptional companies.” 

We're thrilled to have been included on the list and are very thankful to all our employees who helped make this happen.

Star Tribune names Horizontal a 2022 Top 200 Workplace

SearchStax Partner Spotlight
During the month of March, we want to shine the spotlight on Horizontal Digital, a SearchStax partner headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota that offers experience forward consulting services that deliver meaningful digital experiences and address the marketing needs and opportunities of their clients. 

As a certified minority-owned business, Horizontal Digital is part of Horizontal Inc., a corporation that knows that every day is an opportunity to raise the bar through talent acquisition and digital experiences. With an exceptionally diverse team, Horizontal builds outstanding websites and apps that meet customers with the right message at the right moment.
 
Horizontal is built on equal parts empathy and hustle and since its inception in 2003, they have always prioritized working together while making an impact that sustains change. For that reason, in 2020 the Horizontal Cares Program was established following the company’s guiding principle of serving the communities around them for the greater good and allowing employees to donate their time and talent to causes they care about.

Taking A Stand During Times Of Crisis 
2020 was a year that flipped the whole world upside down with the spread of the COVID-19 but Minneapolis, the home of Horizontal, was also the focal point of the social justice movement that swept major cities across the country. This situation resulted in an unsettling time for Minneapolis and its residents. Horizontal was inspired to take action and find a tangible, impactful way to give back. That is how the Horizontal Cares Program came to be. 

Through this program, Horizontal believes that authentic investment in communities benefits everyone and that positivity fuels possibility. In Minneapolis, those principles were materialized by purchasing meals and supplies from struggling local small businesses and giving them to those in need. By doing so, Horizontal Cares was able to help two groups of struggling community members – individuals and businesses alike.

Other noteworthy activities that took place during these times of crisis in Minneapolis as part of the program include delivering tacos to the Twin Cities’ first responders, feeding 100 families during Ramadan, and putting together a charity campaign that brought lunch to frontline staff at St. Therese of New Hope. The goal was to do as much good as possible while providing relief to the communities and local businesses.
Making An International Impact 
Minneapolis was not the only community positively impacted by Horizontal Cares. In Jaipur, India, where one of Horizontal’s international offices is located, the program made a donation to The Blueberry Foundation dedicated to helping India’s underserved children pursue STEM education. The program also donated a total of $21,000 across three other nonprofit organizations that represented groups hit the hardest by the pandemic: Aflatoun International, Common Future and She’s the First.  

In addition to that, Horizontal was one of the original partners of Habitat for Humanity’s Entrepreneur House, a community service project where a group of companies join up to raise funds and ultimately build a whole Habitat house for a family, making a lasting social contribution. To this day, Habitat remains one of several organizations that receive annual support from Horizontal in the form of funding and volunteer time. 
Read the original article here
Horizontal: Putting People At The Center of Everything They Do
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2022 Sitecore MVP
Elite distinction awarded for commitment and dedication to the Sitecore community

MINNEAPOLIS — January 31, 2022 —Horizontal Digital, a global digital consultancy that creates greater possibilities between brands and their customers, today announces that 12 members have been honored with Sitecore’s 2022 Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award, an elite group chosen by Sitecore®, the global leader in digital experience management software. Five of the awards came in Sitecore’s Ambassador category, four in the Technology category and three in the Strategy category. 

Recognizing professionals within the Sitecore community who actively apply their talent and expertise to help others best utilize Sitecore products to deliver premier customer experiences, the MVP program is now in its 16th year. Of more than 16,000 certified developers and over 30,000 active community participants, the 235 MVPs are truly an elite group. This year’s MVPs were selected for the quality, quantity and impact of the contributions they made in 2021, including the sharing of product expertise and mastery of the Sitecore platform to support both partners and customers.

Horizontal Digital’s list of 2022 MVP’s include:

    Sheetal Jain (10th year) – Ambassador MVP
    Kiran Patil (10th year) – Technology MVP
    Sabin Ephrem (5th  year) – Ambassador MVP
    Dave Michela (4th year) – Strategy MVP
    George Smith (4th  year) – Strategy MVP
    Mitch Talbot (3rd year) – Ambassador MVP
    Arvind Gehlot (3rd year) – Technology MVP
    Anne Norman (2nd year) – Ambassador MVP
    Khushboo Sorthiya (2nd year) – Technology MVP
    Robert McGovern (1st year) – Strategy MVP
    Dharmesh Harji (1st year) – Ambassador MVP


    Yamini Punyavathi Muttevi  (1st Year) – Technology MVP

As one of a select few globally specialized partners across the entire Sitecore suite, we’re extremely proud of the hard work and dedication our teams put in every day to maintain the status as an elite among the elites — and the MVP award is a further affirmation of that,” said Sabin Ephrem, 5-time Sitecore Ambassador MVP and Co-Founder/Chief Executive Office of Horizontal. “The fact that we won Sitecore’s Global Product Expertise Award, for having the deepest level of platform knowledge and expertise, further affirms the work we do to push the limits of the platform and raise the bar for our clients in their journey to build connected experiences on a composable framework while staying cutting edge with their technology. We appreciate our tight-knit partnership with Sitecore and thank them for acknowledging the efforts of our truly exceptional team this past year and for over 2 decades.”

“The Sitecore community is one of our greatest assets. It’s a highly collaborative environment where members freely share their knowledge and insights across numerous channels and at events,” said Dave O’Flanagan, Sitecore chief product officer. “Sitecore MVPs stand out as community leaders who are dedicated to helping others build greater digital experiences for their organizations and customers. They are an invaluable resource and important part of the Sitecore user experience, for which we are truly grateful.”

More information can be found about the MVP Program on the Sitecore MVP site.

About Horizontal Digital

Horizontal Digital is an experience-forward consultancy that builds exceptional website, mobile, ecommerce and portal experiences that meet customers with the right message at the right moment. We deliver on this promise by fusing every digital touchpoint with customer data from sales, service, ecommerce and marketing programs we design and implement. These connected experiences create and continue conversations for customers across all departments and channels — empowering organizations to build stronger relationships with them in the process. Our unwavering focus on delivering meaningful digital experiences at every touchpoint has allowed us to successfully solve complex challenges for some of the world’s most recognizable brands.
Learn more at www.horizontaldigital.com.
Horizontal Digital’s Team Members win Sitecore Most Valuable Professional award
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2021 Fast 50: Horizontal Digital up two spots on The List 
Minneapolis, MN, October 28, 2021 – Horizontal announced today that it has been ranked No. 48 by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal at its Fast 50 Awards reception.  The rankings were published October 28, 2021.  To view the complete article, visit https://bizj.us/1qckuh.

The companies were ranked by growth rate.

This repeat Fast 50 honoree had a growth rate of nearly 22 percent. Last year, the digital-consultant and talent-solutions firm reported revenue of nearly 124 million dollars.

About Fast 50

To be eligible, companies must be based in the Twin Cities 24-county metro area and show revenue of at least one million dollars in the first of their three most recent fiscal years. And, the companies had to increase revenue during each of the following two years. To confirm the accuracy of submissions, accountants from Wipfli validated all of the audited revenue from the past three fiscal years.

About Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal is a multi-platform media company providing in-depth coverage of local business communities and breaking news reaching more than 491,000 readers each week. Through print, digital products such as its twice-a-day emailed news digests and face-to-face events, the Business Journal offers business leaders many avenues for making connections and gives them a competitive edge locally, regionally and nationally. Visit us at mspbj.com to learn more.
Horizontal ranked among fastest-growing private companies in cities metro-area by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
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