Fine Print – Small Business of the Year nominee makes quiet but indelible impression

Ray Ash is co-owner and vice president of Witt Print Shop, a finalist for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award.

For more than six decades a small, family-owned print shop nestled in a beige-brick building on the south end of 8th Street has survived among the printing giants by developing and serving its niche.

Witt Print Shop stays competitive with a staff of only four people: co-owners Brian Kirmse and Ray Ash and pressmen Gary Bunton and Terry Walker. The long-time Columbia business is one of five finalists for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award, which will be presented on May 8.

Kirmse said the nomination was a surprise and an honor, but he hesitated while filling out the lengthy questionnaire the chamber sent him. “I wasn’t sure how to answer some questions, but I didn’t want to let down the person who nominated us, whoever that was.” So he plugged along. “I’m happy this has happened, but if you knew us… this isn’t what we’re used to. We’re just a couple of rednecks.”

The business began in 1941 and was bought by Harold Nichols in 1967. In 2000 Nichols retired, and Ray Ash, his son-in-law, and Brian Kirmse, his nephew, purchased the print shop.

“Our monthly total sales has doubled—and, some months, tripled—since 2000,” Kirmse said.

He and Ash attribute the growth to several factors, including personal attention.

“When somebody comes here, they deal with the same person. They know the same pressman is running their job every time. Once they come here, they don’t go anywhere else,” Kirmse said.

Kirmse calls Witt a one-stop shop. “Anything one-color, two-color we can handle and are very competitive in the industry,” Kirmse said. The shop also can run four-color work, but most four-color projects with quantities under 2,000 or over 7,000 are outsourced in order to get the best pricing for customers. Typical jobs include letterhead, business cards, envelopes, calling cards, newsletters and forms. “We pretty much do anything 11 by 17 [inches] or smaller in-house,” Kirmse said. “Anything larger than that we can send out.”

Witt performs offset commercial printing, which differs from the toner-based printing of digital presses. Kirmse explained that “offset is typically better or higher quality at a cheaper price…it just takes a little longer. The more we run, the cheaper the price per piece—and the resolution is typically higher.”

Printing with toner-based machines, he said, may be quick and easy—and may offer a low per-print price for small orders—but the images tend to lose detail. However, digital imaging has improved productivity and quality for both types of printing, he said.

“Bottom line: If you want the product faster, you pay a higher price and get less quality,” he said. “But if you want a better product, it takes a little longer, and you even get it at a better price.”

Technology is both a challenge and a blessing that has allowed the shop to take on more work over the years. When Kirmse joined the company, there was one computer—mainly for billing. “I’d spend nine hours a day sitting in the dark, hand-processing film and hanging it to dry, hand-opaqueing every negative that came out,” he recalled. “It’d be two to three days before we’d get it back to the press. Now it takes two to three hours.”

In addition to print-specific obstacles, the Witt team finds that running a small business in itself presents challenges—especially in retaining employees. “It’s tough for a small business. We can’t offer the insurance/health packages that other, large companies do,” Kirmse said. Witt does offer bonuses as well as flexibility for employees to attend their kids’ baseball games, care for sick family members or deal with other life circumstances.

“Our policy is as long as they get the work in and out, we don’t care when they show up,” Kirmse said. The family-oriented approach has contributed to low turnover, especially compared to other printers in the industry. Kirmse also said the company doesn’t require overtime work from employees. “If we have overtime, it’s our fault, so [Ash and I] take the brunt and put in our time,” he said. “On the other hand, guys might ask for overtime.”

Growth isn’t a high priority for the shop, though it did recently expand into the building next door for storage. Good customer service, however, is top goal. “We bend over backwards to please them,” Ash said. Both Ash and Kirmse agree on their marketing strategy: word of mouth. Their low-key approach has even brought in out-of-state customers. As for what sets them apart from the crowd, Kirmse said, “I’d like to think it’s us—that people like dealing with us as people.”

In filling out their questionnaires, candidates for the Small Business of the Year award were asked to address community involvement and environmentally sensitive practices. Kirmse said, “We’re pretty much behind the scenes” in the community, though the shop offers donations and discounts to clients involved in charitable causes. “We’re not much on social events, that kind of thing,” Kirmse said.

They are big on recycling. “We literally have one bag of trash a week—with trash from lunch—because we recycle everything: every piece of paper, film, plates, chemicals, everything,” Kirmse said. “The funny thing is, according to EPA, we could throw everything into a trash bin, but we decided we’d do our part and recycle.”

Both co-owners are confident they can survive by maintaining their niche and continuing the teamwork that has served them well since 2000.

“With Ray’s knowledge of what goes on back there [in the pressroom] and keeping track of quality-control issues—and I’m keeping up with technology and customer service,” Kirmse said, “the future doesn’t scare us.”