Saying a company was established in the 1900s isn't so weird anymore since we now live in the onset of the 21st century. What if you went all the way back, however, to almost the beginning of the last century - 1902 to be specific - to find the creation of one of Fort Wayne's most enduring companies. Now that would certainly be an anniversary worth celebrating.

A company soon to begin its second century in business - Fort Wayne Printing Co. Inc. - effectively blends an old-fashioned work ethic and dedication to its customers with state-of-theart technology and equipment.

Gary K. Bastin and his wife, Kimberley, co-owners of the company they purchased from her father, Darrell Huntley, in 1994, will celebrate the printing company's 100th anniversary in 2002. The company provides a wide range of multicolor and four-color printing services, from business cards and brochures to multipage catalogs, and everything in between.

In December 1997, Fort Wayne Printing moved from its downtown location at 340 E. Berry St. to 909 Production Rd. on Fort Wayne's north side. With the move, the company now operates in 14,000 square feet of space, almost doubling the size of the previous location. While Fort Wayne Printing is the operating company, Mulhaupt Printing serves as the holding company and owns the company's building and equipment.

Fort Wayne Printing Co. provides premium quality service to its customers. While some people talk customer service, others deliver it. It's one thing to hear a company president define his mission in glowing, service-oriented terms. However, when crunch time comes for the customer, the printer that gets them through a tight spot and helps them save money will be the one they rely on again and again.

That is the type of relationship Gary Bastin seeks to develop with his customers. "We try to sell more of a team concept in printing," he says. By introducing each customer to at least two other members of its staff, Fort Wayne Printing Company lets the customer know that several other people are familiar with their project and can assist the customer when their sales representative is not available,

"We've always said we want to make it a pleasant experience (for our customers)," Bastin says. "Taking a proactive approach and going the extra mile sets Fort Wayne Printing apart from its competition.

"You want to treat your customers and your employees with respect and cooperation," he adds. "The whole business philosophy is to build relationships with your employees and customers." Fort Wayne Printing employs 22 people. Some of them have been with the company for over 25 years. One bindery department employee had worked for the company 50 years when he retired several years ago.

While the location and ownership of the company has changed over the years, the commitment to quality has remained the same. An advertisement from the company's early days describes Fort Wayne Printing as "the business man's department store." Another early advertisement boasted that the company operated "the largest retail stationery store in the city."

sWith 20 presses, the company was said to have the capability of printing anything "from a candidate's card to a fine threecolor catalog or a lithographed label." The company no longer has a retail store, but now focuses entirely on its graphics, printing, bindery and shipping services.

Gary Bastin and Kimberley Huntley met in 1986 in Indianapolis. Both had attended and graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, but they didn't meet until they were living in Indianapolis. Kimberley had received a degree in economics and was working at a film production company. Having earned a B.S. in forensic studies, Gary was working for the FBI doing background investigations.

After getting married, the couple moved to Fort Wayne, and responding to an invitation from his father-in-law, Gary went to work for Fort Wayne Printing as a salesperson. In time, Bastin's responsibilities with the company grew, as did his family. The Bastins have three children: Garrett, 9; Grayson, 7; and Grant, 5.

By joining the company, Gary continued a family tradition of sorts. His father-in-law, Darrell Huntley, began working for his father-in-law Clifford Brockmyer in the 1950s. Huntley's brother-in-law, Bud Vosmeier, also helped Brockmyer run the company. Brockmyer sold the company he'd purchased in the 1940s to Vosmeier and Huntley in the 1970s, and Huntley bought out his brother-in-law a decade later.

Now retired, Huntley spends about six months a year in Florida and the remainder in Fort Wayne. He serves the company on a consulting basis and helps with special projects. "I work mainly as an assistant to Gary to whatever extent he needs me," he says.

A sister company to Fort Wayne Printing, Fort Wayne Graphics, works closely with the printer and provides all of the company's graphics and prepress work. The company provides state-of-the-art prepress services including direct imaging, fourcolor scanning and separations, and awardwinning design and layout services. It also provides full graphics services on a standalone basis. Darrell Huntley is the president of Fort Wayne Graphics. David Volmerding, manager of Fort Wayne Graphics and vice-president of Fort Wayne Printing, has worked in the graphics business since 1965 and has seen the many changes that have occurred over the years. "In today's market, we don't have as much time. Customer expectations are greater," he says. While a twoweek turn around on a job once was typical, he says customers now expect most jobs to be turned around in a week or less.

Volmerding's wife, Donna, heads up an affiliated business, Words & Company, that provides Fort Wayne Printing and Fort Wayne Graphics customers with professional writing and editing services. David's father, Henry Volmerding, worked for Fort Wayne Printing in the 1930s.

The graphics department uses a wide variety of software applications, but Volmerding emphasizes that they will obtain any software needed in order to complete a customer's job. Customers can bring in work on a floppy disk, a 100MB zip disk, CD or DVD. To save their customers added expense, the Kodak digital color-proofing system allows customers to see what their job will look like before the final film is made.

Fort Wayne Printing Company's commitment to quality workmanship has earned it recognition beyond their customer base. Fort Wayne Printing has won various awards for the excellent quality of its work, including an Addy Award in 1999 in the print production category.

Fort Wayne Printing's customer base includes many Fort Wayne area businesses, as well as national and international clients. Unusual perhaps for a mid-size printer in the Midwest, a number of its clients are in Manhattan and include: Sony, Advertising Age International and Crain's New York Business. M.J. Snyder, company representative for Crain's New York Business says Fort Wayne Printing provides them with terrific work. Fort Wayne Printing has worked with Crain's for about 10 years. The New York connection began when a local graphic artist moved to New York. Because of the high quality of their work, Fort Wayne Printing has developed a number of clients in the Manhattan area. Part of Fort Wayne Printing's exemplary service is not only doing quality work but also saving customer's money For businesses that deal with large volume press runs, the savings can be substantial. A Fort Wayne Printing representative may suggest a few minor changes on a job that may end up saving companies thousands of dollars.

Back in Indiana, one of Fort Wayne Printing's largest customers, an international fund-raising company, has used Fort Wayne Printing's services for over 20 years.

Typically, this customer's printing orders include posters, brochures, envelopes, direct mail pieces and glossy comic books. Fort Wayne Printing not only prints the pieces, but stores them and provides product fulfillment, by shipping the materials throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.

In fact, besides pre-press, digital offset printing, and complete, state-of-the-art bindery services, Fort Wayne Printing also provides in-house UPS shipping with computerized tracking, labeling and direct bill capabilities for any of their customers who request it. This allows customers the option of storing finished jobs at the printer and having them directly shipped at a later date.

Besides local and already-established clients out of state, Fort Wayne Printing seeks to increase its business through its website as well.

With four-color, two-color and one-color presses, offset and letter presses, and precision die cutting, Fort Wayne Printing can effectively meet the printing needs of any customerwhether large or small.

Over the years, much has changed at Fort Wayne Printing Company, but a great deal has remained the same-like quality craftsmanship and, according to their customers, some of the best customer service available in the industry. "In the printing business, you have to stay on the cutting edge," Bastin says.