FAST TRACK FIRMS -- Sailing Against the Wind
"Moving into one facility, with room to grow, will bring numerous benefits to our organization and customers, including greater control, workflow and cost reductions," owner Bob Lothenbach says. "A major part of sustaining this growth will be the development of our national sales force. In addition to our local sales presence, Challenge currently has sales offices in six cities and plans to double that number in the next two years."
Solisco Printers
Scott, QC, Canada
2003 Ranking: 96
Most Recent Fiscal Year Sales: $65M
Previous Fiscal Year Sales: $54M
Founded in 1991, Solisco's main thrust is web printing, but the company also dabbles in the sheetfed arena. It produces magazines, books and flyers for a variety of markets.
Solisco has been very active on both the equipment and business acquisition fronts. In the past 18 months alone, the printer has installed a new Heidelberg Sunday web press and a Muller Martini Prima saddle stitcher. But its crowning jewel is the 2003 acquisition of The Delta Group, a newspaper and coldset printer based in Toronto.
"This gives us a foot in the door with target marketing," notes Luc Grimard, plant manager. "It opens up more business opportunities and gives us more of a presence in Toronto."
Integria Inc.
Saint-Laurent, QC, Canada
Ranking: 213
Most Recent Fiscal Year Sales: $26M
Previous Fiscal Year Sales: $20M
Another north of the border printer, Integria, produces annual reports, POP/advertising materials, corporate communications pieces and bank passbooks for the financial, marketing, pharmaceutical and corporate markets. Among its services are a full range of offset print production, digital variable data printing, multimedia and Internet-based services, and e-learning.
The biggest boon for Integria has been the August 2003 acquisition of Scabrini Media's customer base, according to Jamie Barbieri, president and CEO. "We are very pleased with the transaction and are equally excited about the impact of Scabrini's clientele on our operation. The increased volume will enable us to cope with some difficult capacity utilization issues currently facing all printers in the industry."
