Scott’s father owned and operated a weekly newspaper and printing company, which he helped between the ages of 8 - 17. His father then sold the business and was eventually closed. Scott then went to work at another local small printing company that he managed for the owner for 5 years. In 1989 at the age of 23, Scott went out on his on and started Printing Impressions. Printing Impressions strives to provide high quality small format printing and copying services, while maintaining a pleasant working environment for their employees. The Martinsburg, West Virginia company has a small staff, but a big commitment to service.

Their equipment includes a complete copy center including several convenience copiers for customer use, a Xerox engineering copier, 2 high speed black and white copiers and a Canon CLC 700 color copier connected to a Fiery RIP. In their prepress department - Mac and PC workstations, a Linotronic Imagesetter, Tektronix Color Printer, platemaker and plate processor. In the pressroom - a Multilith single color press, 2- Multilith 1650’s with T-heads and a Hamada H234K two color press. Bindery equipment includes - programmable cutter, various types of binding, folder, shrink-wrap tunnel, numbering machine, inkjet addressing and custom die cutting ability.

Scott, how many employees do you have and what is your annual revenue?

This year we will do about $500,000 in sales. We are a small printing company with 3 full time and 1 part time employees plus myself. A part time outside sales person will start (this year.)

Do you rent your space and are you in a high traffic area?

In September of 2000 we completed the construction and moved into our own building. We had previously occupied space in a small commercial strip mall for 11 years. We had outgrown the space and no more was available, so the decision was made to custom build our own building in a new business park nearby.

What equipment have you invested in for 4-color work?

Also, recently we have purchased a new Hamada 2 color press that has allowed us to pursue the aggressively growing short run 4-color market of printing. We have also upgraded our pre-press department with a new imagesetter and processor and the bindery with a new programmable cutter, a coil binding system and an inkjet addressing system.

We currently use bluelines and color laser proofs for spot color orders and Color keys for 4 color jobs. We will be experimenting with Agfa’s Dry PressMatch proofs (this year.)

At this time no new investments are planned for 2001. The expansion and upgrades of the past year will allow us plenty of growth. As new products and services are developed we are continually re-evaluating and assessing these products to determine if there is a need to add them to our existing operation.

For your paper, ink and other consumables - do you have long lasting relationships with these suppliers?

I feel that we maintain very close relationships with our suppliers. We try to be loyal to all our suppliers so that when an emergency arises and we need rapid response for supplies or service our suppliers will accommodate us. We also have a good base of loyal customers that do the same with us.

You are obviously betting on more color work. What other trends do you see?

I see the use of color printing just exploding all over. Black and white or single color printing will continue to decline and be replaced with digital output from copiers or laser printers on an as needed basis by the customer. Run lengths will become shorter to accommodate multiple versions and changes. Personalization will become common for even us small printers.

How do you handle jobs that are sent electronically?

At the present time we are using Pagepath’s My Order Desk which seems to be working ok for us now. Most of our files we receive from customers come to us as email attachments of native files at this time.

How do you promote your company to area businesses?

We have used primarily direct mail from the very beginning, using a variety of formats from custom designed mailer, to some of the canned products from various companies. We also use, on occasion, newspaper and radio along with other methods of advertising. We also have a series of promotional items that we give away such as personally delivering a Printing Impression mug filled with Hershey kisses. Occasionally we’ll deliver donuts or a cake to some of our customers. We try to do these things randomly when they’re least expected.

At what point should print buyers consult their printer about a job they plan to produce?

Talk to your printer early in the design process, they can help you in making decisions concerning stock choices, colors and let you know their capabilities. They are also the best line of defense to help keep costs in-line and meet the budget of printing projects. All too often a job is created that the client cannot afford to have printed and then it has to be re-worked or cancelled all together


Thank you Scott and best of luck with your business.