Lisa and Neal Larsson are the new owners of New England Reprographics. But their dog Stella is the real boss.
By Ed Avis
Neal Larsson, the new owner of New England Reprographics, lacks something most repro firm owners have: experience in reprographics. But he brings something equally important: experience in sales and marketing.
Larsson bought NER, which is located in Yarmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, from Bob and Dee Kesten about a month ago. The Kestens have been helping during the transition.
“I was like a deer in the headlights for the first couple of weeks,” Larsson says. “But Bob and Dee have been incredible to work with and I’m forever grateful to them for their time.”
Larsson spent the last 21 years as general manager and director of sales for On the Water, a fishing and boating magazine. He started at the publication when it was just launching; today the company has television and radio programs, a website, and even two clothing stores. “It really evolved from a magazine to a lifestyle product,” he says.
He left publishing because he was looking for a new challenge. He learned that NER was on the market and it seemed like a good fit.
“My dad was an interior business designer in Boston, so growing up I was exposed to blueprints and printing. And at On the Water we had a large-format printer and I regularly worked with our commercial printers, both for the magazine and our marketing materials, so there was some familiarity there. But it’s a little different when you’re actually faced with doing the work. Bob’s been teaching me every aspect of the business right from the ground up.”
Larsson inherited an office employee and a couple of parttime production and graphic design employees, but he is committed to learning how everything works.
“I feel it’s important to know the production side of the business inside and out,” he says. “My plan is to get my feet under me here for the first three to six months and then look to grow the business. Once I know the business, I’ll get out on the road to do the sales and marketing, which was really one of my strengths.”
Residential construction on Cape Cod has grown during COVID because of people fleeing urban areas, so the reprographics business has been solid. And Larsson hopes to secure new clients from among the advertisers in On the Water, such as boat dealers and tackle shops seeking point-of-sale signage. And hopefully boat shows will resume before long, which could lead to printing of trade show graphics.
In the meantime, the new job is fulfilling his expectations.
“My wife Lisa is helping out on the business side of things, and the other day we were saying to each other that we both feel revitalized. We’re learning something new every day and it’s invigorating. I’m exhausted at the end of the day, but it’s a good exhaustion.”