Open house at an Indiana digital-imaging business
You've got to love America's small-business owners because, in most cases, they're like a Baja 500 off-road racer – victory is the result of planning and determination wired into a complex game of impossibility and chance. A difference, however, is that small-business owners face the green starting flag every damn morning.
TKO Graphix – a digital and screenprinting service bureau located in Plainview, IN, just west of Indianapolis – is, I'll bet, cleaner and more organized than your grandmother's pantry. I know, because the company invited me to its 21st Anniversary Open House event on June 23, and my first thought, upon entering its reception area, was that doctors could perform surgery in the place.
True, the company had been in its new building for only two years, and it was an Open House day, so the workforce had surely scrubbed endlessly to make the place shine like a full moon. But, cleanliness — and organization — isn't something you put together in a day. To be this clean, a shop has to start clean and stay clean, and organized, day after day.
What's more, it's a handsome place. The outside signage is articulate and modern, the reception area large and spacious, and, get this, an entryway fountain's water cascades over a digitally printed TKO Graphix logo.
But it's not all office glitz. The shop reminds one of a NASA hangar — large, spacious, well lit and busy. Even on this open-house day, uniformed staff produced contracted work.
Once inside, you know you're in the hands of professionals.
Tom Taulman II is the company president and the "T" in "TKO." His cousin and company VP, Kent Smith, is the "K." The "O" represents a third partner, Tom Taulman Sr., also known as the "Old Man."
Tom and Kent both started early in the sign and imaging business. At age 14, Tom worked part-time for Kurt Hillock at Indiana Trailer Services (ITS), mowing the lawn and completing small jobs. Kurt's dad, "Red" Hillock, taught Tom how to letter trucks. Kent came on a few years later. He and Tom began repairing trailers and handpainting signs on trucks and trailers.
I talked with Tom at the open house. I'd read a brief on the company history and knew it was another unorthodox success story, based solely upon the owners' determination. I wanted a first-hand account.
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