Vision Graphics Opens New Facility
CHEYENNE, WY—Vision Graphics, a 47-year-old commercial printer headquartered here, recently made headlines—twice. The first news was that the 65-employee company grew 41 percent in 1998, generating a total of almost $7 million in annual revenues.
Vision Graphics also received publicity when it opened a new, 24,000-square-foot facility (expandable to 42,000 square feet), about 50 miles south of its headquarters, at Colorado's Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport.
Officials reveal its increased growth meant the company needed another plant to keep up with its booming Rocky Mountain business.
"A second plant will solidify the presence of Vision Graphics in Colorado and the surrounding states," says Mark Steputis, president and CEO. "The combination of our new facility, our cutting-edge technology and equipment, and the experience of the Vision Graphics team will allow us to service every city of the Front Range of Colorado and Wyoming, as well as our national clientele."
Interestingly, many of those clients are in the software business, which is one of the fastest growing industries in the Front Range—and the bulk of Vision Graphics' printing business.
In addition to its traditional commercial work, which includes a wide range of products from business forms to trade publications, Steputis says Vision Graphics does a lot of business with high-tech computer software companies for both documentation and marketing.
"There are several large computer software companies located in the Front Range area: three Hewlett-Packard facilities, IBM, Sun MicroSystems and Star Tek [a service provider for America Online and Microsoft]."
While Steputis won't say that these major corporations are Vision Graphics clients, he won't deny it, either. Due to client-privacy protocol, he's not naming names. However, with approximately 85 percent of his printing business being computer product-related—PC manuals, CD booklets, license agreements, registration cards, etc.—one could safely assume that at least some of them are.
"We're aggressively seeking new clients," he explains, noting that, in light of the recent $3 million investment in the Fort Collins facility, he fully intends to continue growing this high-tech computer niche.
The new, full-service facility, which is currently staffed with 10 employees, but is expected to have up to 50 by the year 2000, includes complete electronic prepress, pressroom and bindery departments, as well as a customer relaxation room with Internet access, a fax machine, phone, etc.
While the prepress department boasts a Heidelberg Prepress Signasetter imagesetter, DeltaTechnology and Vision Graphics' own VisionLink system (a high-speed Internet file-transfer software program), it's the pressroom that houses the centerpiece of the operation: a new six-color, 41˝ MAN Roland 706 perfecting press with coater .
With a new facility and the latest in printing equipment, will Vision Graphics be able to beat its own sales record?
"I'd be surprised if we didn't," claims Steputis. "Our 41 percent growth was not a freak; it was our objective. We're not a boutique printer, but we do good work at a competitive price. We run the ship as ethically as possible, putting ourselves in our customers' positions, trying to build long-term relationships with them and trying to develop better systems to serve them.
"The software industry changes by the minute, not by the day," Steputis concludes. "These companies are big players. They purchase lots of printing, and they're very demanding. If we can develop systems that will allow us to perform for demanding clients such as these, our other [non-software] clients will be thrilled."
By Cheryl Adams
