Local CEO among nation's 25 best under 25

Corvallis' Bryan Sims joins the ranks of the nation's top young entrepreneurs after BusinessWeek this week named him among its Best 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25.

Sims, 24, is editor and chief executive of Brass Media, which publishes Brass Magazine and works to educate young people about money by featuring young writers.
"It's nice to be recognized as a company for all the things we're doing out here in Oregon," Sims said.

Brass Media is the first company from the Pacific Northwest to make the list. The magazine's list is determined through a nomination process in which readers suggest rising small-business stars.

Sims is joined in the list by young founders of e-commerce, fashion production, software and investment banking companies, to name a few. Readers will vote until mid-November, when BusinessWeek will pick the top five and feature them in its Small Biz magazine

"So many of them come out of the Bay Area or New York," Sims said. "It's nice to be put on the map."

Started in Sims' dorm room and his parents' garage in 2003 when he was just 19, Brass Media now has formal offices in Corvallis and has grown to a staff of 35. Last year the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce named Sims "entrepreneur of the year," making him the youngest ever to receive the award.

First published in 2004, Brass Magazine is distributed through financial institutions. The institutions buy copies of the magazine for their members in exchange for advertising space. Essentially, Sims creates a specialized magazine for each client.

Last year, Brass Media started partnering with school systems in New York and Wisconsin to give students copies of the magazine and provide teachers with online tools to further lessons about money in the classroom. In August, Sims said his company will add Oregon schools to its student program.

Brass Magazine is now distributed to 450,000 people quarterly. With the addition of the Oregon schools, Sims expects circulation to top 500,000.

While he used to travel more than 100,000 miles a year finding new institutional partners and making deals, Sims said he is now doing less traveling as his business evolves and he prepares to position his business as a full-fledged media company.

"I'm driving the company to a model like ESPN," Sims said. "You can watch the game on ESPN, then go to the ESPN Zone to eat, get fantasy scores on your mobile phone, download podcasts or watch Web video. We're trying to break down the idea of just being a publishing company."