Seize the Future
When Scott Voris returned to his hometown of Aurora a few years ago, he hoped that one day he would own a local business and continue his family’s tradition of both serving the community and building the economy of the Fox Valley by providing jobs and producing a high quality product.
His dreams of business ownership came true recently when he became the owner and president of the local printing powerhouse, Kelmscott Press. The firm has deep roots in the community starting in 1936 when John Strotz founded Kelmscott. He ran the company until his death in 1941 after which his wife Olga continued operations. In 1963, William and Thomas Reeves became company officers and managed operations, eventually purchasing the Strotz family’s interests in the company in 1975. A decade later it came under the sole ownership of Thomas and Roberta Reeves who operated and expanded the printing company until this year when it was bought by Scott Voris.
The company has thrived over its many years, building a solid reputation throughout the Midwest as a high quality printer with exceptional customer service.
Throughout the 68 years that Kelmscott Press has been serving the Chicago area, it has concentrated on a customer and product base that requires the services of a fully integrated facility. Over the years the company has grown to a 25,000 square foot facility and acquired the equipment, technology and employee expertise to provide customers with a full range of services, including design and electronic prepress, flexible single-, two and four color offset presses, complete finishing, mailing and fulfillment services.
Kelmscott provides one-stop shopping for customers engaged in a variety of businesses including manufacturing, association management, insurance, and utilities and offers a wide range of products, such as newsletters, brochures, catalogs, informational booklets and directories.
“Our current business model is to serve the full needs of a marketing department,” noted Voris. “We want to help businesses reach new and retain old customers.”
Going beyond printing is very much on Voris’s mind as he plans for the future of the company. As a former marketing executive for General Motors R*Works, he understands the inner workings of the marketer’s mind and can relate to customer needs.
Part of meeting the needs of the 21st century marketing director is integrating “relationship marketing” into the mix of services. For Kelmscott, that means investing in new capabilities such as variable data printing wherein a potential customer reaches into his mailbox and receives a fully customized, demographically accurate direct mail piece designed to sell a product or service. In this new world, Kelmscott’s clients can talk to 40,000 different people, each with a custom message.
New technologies require capital investments, part of Voris’s plan. He’s looking at staging “new investments in the form of faster offset capabilities, more flexible digital press equipment, and the binding and mailing equipment to support our growth,” he said.
While Voris is on a fast learning curve as the new owner of an established business, he has discovered much to be proud of at Kelmscott. “What I’m most proud of is the work environment. It’s a very positive workplace with a great staff, production team and designers that take time to meet the tough demands of customers today. They are committed to getting the job done.”
Kelmscott’s outstanding workplace has been recognized for five consecutive years by the graphic arts industry’s Best Workplace in America (BWA) program. This award and recognition program is sponsored by the Master Printers of America, a division of Printing Industries of America, Inc. Kelmscott received top honors as a “Best of the Best” workplace - an honor bestowed on the top 24 companies for going above and beyond in the field of human relations. Companies are judged in six categories: recognition and rewards; health and well-being programs; financial security; personal/work-life balance; work environment and organizational culture; and training and development opportunities.
As he looks forward, Voris sees great potential in his company and in the city he calls home and believes Seize the Future is setting the tone for commerce for the next 50 years.
“I think it is one of the most important initiatives going on because the success of Aurora is going to be directly tied to having a strong business community. We need established businesses to stay, and new business to be attracted to the city. That’s the foundation that allows Aurora to be great.
“We’re very proud to call Aurora home, to be able to serve businesses in Aurora and throughout the Chicago area,” he said.
The City of Aurora is fortunate to have Kelmscott Press as one of its corporate citizens and a Seize the Future partner, and to have the next generation of entrepreneurs including Scott Voris making themselves at home in the City of Lights.
For more information about our available services or to receive a free quote please call 630-898-0800.