Wauconda, Illinois-based Plastic Graphic Co. has remained a family-owned business for 40 years due to some simple, but straight-forward, business reasons, according to vice president of sales Brian Grimes.<\/p>\n
“We stayed family-owned by buying the most modern equipment, but mostly we have no debt and run a very lean operation,” he said.<\/p>\n
And, though the company runs a tight ship, he proudly noted Plastic Graphic did not lay off anyone or cut any salaries during the recession.<\/p>\n
Here, Grimes gets into more business basics, his background and the secret to his success.<\/p>\n
P<\/strong><\/em>rint Professional (PP)<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? What school did you attend, what is your degree?<\/p>\n Brian Grimes (BG):<\/strong> [I grew up in] La Grange, Ill. [I graduated from] Augustana College [with a] bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> How did you end up in the printing industry?<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> [I] worked in the food industry for 10 years and really wanted to get into some kind of manufacturing business of my own.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> Describe your business style.<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> We are family owned and are available to our customers regardless of the size of the customer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> What is the best business advice you ever received?<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> All orders are good orders regardless of size.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> What is your greatest business accomplishment and disappointment?<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> [My biggest accomplishment is] the ability to grow year in, year out and the biggest disappointment was having a “partner” in the industry steal a customer after assisting in the fulfillment of the job.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> What is the secret to your success?<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> To always be a family business [and to be] accessible to our customers’ needs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> What do you think is the most exciting, cutting-edge thing your company is doing right now? Why?<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> Our industry is almost completely owned by investment groups and we see our family business excelling where large investment groups fail.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> What do you think will be the printing industry’s biggest challenge in the next few years?<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> [The biggest challenge will be] to keep the foreign competitors at bay.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> What is the best part of your business day? Please explain.<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> Getting a compliment from a customer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n PP<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> What would people be surprised to learn about you—hobbies, special interests, etc.?<\/p>\n BG:<\/strong> I am color-deficient in browns and greens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wauconda, Illinois-based Plastic Graphic Co. has remained a family-owned business for 40 years due to some simple, but straight-forward, business reasons, according to vice president of sales Brian Grimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":6205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","coauthors":[29530],"class_list":["post-6204","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manufacturers","category-marketing-and-sales","tag-family-business","tag-investment-groups","tag-printing-industry","company-plastic-graphic-company","person-brian-grimes","location-wauconda-illinois"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/network.napco.com\/print-and-promo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}