Fast-Track Firms: Bucking the Trends

"We're fairly well-diversified," says John Berthelsen, president and CEO of Suttle-Straus. "While printing is still the main core of our business, our diversified range of products and services has allowed us to maintain growth and stability."

Suttle-Straus has a number of large clients that utilize all of the printer's capabilities, essentially single-sourcing agreements. This speaks to customers' growing desires to cut down the number of vendors they're dealing with, according to Berthelsen.

Some of Suttle-Straus' investments have been aimed at reducing its own outsourcing. Given the recession, all short-term capex initiatives will be directed at improving efficiency and productivity, from the plant back into the administrative offices. Return on investment is gaining more attention than ever before.

Is there a way for Berthelsen & Co. to get ahead of the pack as the economy improves? The 1998 Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame inductee isn't so sure.

"There will be survivors and those who don't survive, but I don't see too many companies making giant leaps forward," Berthelsen notes. "Besides the economy, there's a fundamental change with customers greatly decreasing their demand for ink on paper. So, we have to find other ways to capture a larger share of their marketing dollars."

The Garvey Group
Niles, IL
Most Recent 
Fiscal Year Sales: $52.45 million
Previous 
Fiscal Year Sales: $45.70 million
Change: 15 Percent

Single-family ownership has taken a beating in recent years, but some firms have been able to more than "tough it out" during the difficult period. Add The Garvey Group to that latter list. A provider of commercial and package printing since 1919, The Garvey Group augments its print offering by linking it to data, fulfillment and distribution, information systems and marketing services.

Its primary markets include large-format lithography for packaging and signage; specialized commercial printing products that utilize UV inks and coatings, like plastics and high-gloss packaging; and grand-format digital for signage. This is in addition to traditional commercial printing work.