JOHN W SMITH
Jeff Corirossi and Paul Straits
By Ed Avis
Sometimes the best solution to a problem is right in front of you. That appears to the case with IRgA-member firm Vesco Reprographics in Montgomery, Illinois. Paul Straits, who has run the company for about 45 years, was seeking an exit strategy last year but was not having much luck finding another repro-related business interested in buying.
“At my age, I'm 67, I had to find some way to exit the business,” Straits says. “I'm not going to do this when I'm a hundred. I had looked for suitable buyers in our industry and really never got anything worth pursuing.”
But then Straits brought up the issue with Jeff Corirossi, who owns ADC, an IT-related firm with which he had been doing business for many years. ADC was located nearby and Straits and Corirossi knew each other well. Even though the firms are not exactly in the same business, they do share some clients and have a similar focus on supporting local enterprises.
Furthermore, ADC employs two service technicians who work with small-format printers. They could fill an important need for Vesco.
“I've known Paul for quite a long time, he was actually an ADC client,” Corirossi says. “Their business kind of fell under our umbrella. Really the only difference was that he deals with large-format printing, but we were always doing small-format printing.”
Serious merger conversations started last summer, and the deal closed on December 13. The new company is called ADC Vesco.
ADC Vesco, which has 15 employees, operates from the building Vesco has called home for the last 30 years. A construction company previously also was located in that building, but it had moved out, making room.
“It's a very nice building, and Jeff's gone through and pretty much remodeled the entire building,” Straits says.
In addition to renovating the building, ADC Vesco is in the process of upgrading much of the equipment Vesco has been using, something Straits was reluctant to do given his shorter time outlook. Among other things, Corirossi hopes to grow the company’s scanning business and is upgrading the digital planroom.
Corirossi says clients of either previous company should have a seamless transition to the new entity. They also will see a broader service offering. For example, ADC had an IT client that is celebrating a 25th birthday this year; if they ask to have banners printed to celebrate that milestone, the new joint company will be able to print those for them using the skills and equipment Vesco brought to the partnership. Likewise, if a previous Vesco client needs IT support or printer repair, they will easily find that with ADC Vesco.
Vesco, which was originally named Valley Engineering Supply Company, was founded in 1957. Strait’s father, who owned an engineering firm, purchased Vesco from the original owner in 1975. Straits took over when he graduated from college in 1979.
Straits says he is not quite ready to retire. He plans to remain with ADC Vesco for probably two years, focusing on sales. One area he hopes to grow is fine art scanning and reproduction. The neighboring community of Aurora, Illinois has a thriving art scene that he would like to support.
“Now I'm account rep full-time, which I really enjoy,” Straits says. “I don't do payroll, I don't hire and fire. I can concentrate simply on my account list and working with my client base. So it really is working out nicely.”
Corirossi agrees with that assessment: “Paul really is able to focus in on sales, something he is very good at. He's out there actually finding these little niches, too. We're not trying to go down the path everybody else is. We're trying to figure out where the cracks are on the system, if you will, and fill those.”