Minority-Owned Printer Credits Her Comeback to Robert Kashan of EarthColor

Arita Nicholas' growing commercial printing business showed great promise, but it also had a pretty big problem. It was 2003 and her Houston firm was landing big orders from big clients — so big that she couldn’t afford to buy the paper or additional machines to get them done.

To raise cash, she and her husband Bob Nicholas had already mortgaged their house three times. With payroll to meet, hefty ongoing expenses and an order from a big oil company that required her to buy $850,000 worth of paper with money she didn’t have, she realized she was at the end of the line.