Top service, community involvement drive Ron?s Printing business growth

LONGMONT — Despite the sluggish economy and the influx of national printing shops into Longmont in recent years, Ron’s Printing Center has been steadily churning out copy from its location at 420 Main St. since 1978.

Ron Cheyney opened the business ?by renting the equipment from the owner of the defunct Longmont Ledger,? Cheyney said. ?At first, I thought this would never work.?

With little capital, Cheyney ?lived off nearly nothing for a long time,? he said. ?The first month’s gross was $400. Rent was $300 on the building, let alone the equipment. But we hung in there.?

Cheyney’s persistence paid off. In 2001, the 12-employee company’s revenue was nearly $1 million.

The company has changed considerably over the years. In fact, in the pre-desktop publishing days, the business was known as Ron’s Typesetting.

?That’s all we did — typesetting and layout,? Cheyney said. ?Back in those days, typesetting equipment was expensive, and a lot of small printing shops and advertising agencies didn’t have their own typesetting equipment.?

As technology developed, printing became more affordable.

?Customers asked if we could lay things out and get them printed,? Cheyney said. In 1980, Ron’s began offering printing services.

?I bought my first tabletop press, and I did a fair amount of printing on that,? Cheyney said.

Printing became so much a part of the business that the name was changed to its current moniker, and the shop offers a full range of services: printing, laminating, graphic design, commercial business services, faxing and laser-printed copies in color and black and white.

Listening to customers’ needs changed the company 20 years ago and is still key to the success of Ron’s Printing today, according to Cheyney. ?We have a policy that we never let a customer leave unhappy, even if the mistake is their fault,? he said.

He also frequently buys new machines ?to keep prices down for customers with better, faster, equipment.?

Cheyney attends numerous printing industry shows and reads trade publications to keep up with technological advances.

Although chain copy and printing shops have come to Longmont, Cheyney believes that his staff’s experience makes the difference.

?Competition is pretty stiff in the world of printing and copies,? Cheyney said. ?We don’t hire kids fresh out of high school. We hear all the time from our customers that we hire really good people. The staff cares about what we do.?

Long-standing business relationships also have helped Cheyney thrive despite chain stores’ encroachment.

?He’s incredibly well-connected in the community,? said Doug Cole, president and chief executive officer of the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce. ?He has maintained relationships over the course of many years in the community and that helps his business.?

The biggest challenge for Ron’s Printing is an industrywide issue: flawless jobs.

?There are so many ways errors can happen,? Cheyney said. ?We never want a job printed with a typo, but it happens sometimes.?

Cheyney realizes the importance of corporate responsibility.

?We’re very active in the community,? he said. Cheyney is on volunteer boards with Boulder County Crime Stoppers, Lion’s Club, Rollins Pass Restoration Association, YMCA, Longmont Human Society and Longmont Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber honored Cheyney with its 2002 Momentum Award, the organization’s highest honor. ?The criteria for the award is to have a significant, positive and long-lasting impact on the Longmont Chamber,? Cole said. ?Ron Cheyney is the quintessential Chamber of Commerce volunteer. He has supported many events, served on the board and has chaired the golf tournament long since before I was here.?

Ron’s Printing also donates or discounts its services to groups such as OUR Center and area high schools. ?He is very civic-minded and gives to countless causes,? Cole said. ?He’s a fixture in downtown Longmont.?

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