All In The Family

J.T. and John Sarantakos have made in-plants a family business.

Back in the '60s, when John "J.T." Sarantakos was teaching high school printing in Harvey, Ill., he used to bring his young sons in to help out in the in-plant after school and in the summer. They would handle small tasks, like hand-collating jobs from piles laid out on a table—and Sarantakos worked out a sophisticated incentive plan.

"When they got to the end of the table they picked up a nickel or a dime and stuck it in a bowl," he recalls. "They got an instant reward."

For one of those boys, however, the reward was more than a pocketful of coins. That early exposure to printing sparked a lifelong interest in the trade for John Sarantakos Jr. Today, both father and son are in-plant managers at two major U.S. universities. The elder Sarantakos heads up Central Missouri State University's in-plant, while his son oversees the printing operation at the University of Oklahoma.

The novelty of father and son both ending up in separate in-plants has its roots in the similar paths the two followed. They both started as teachers and progressed into management.

For J.T. Sarantakos it all began in Bloomington, Ill., when he got a mailroom job at a local newspaper. He later moved into the composing room.

Though he didn't see the pressroom as his future, he didn't want to let it go either.

"I decided that I would like to teach, and the only thing I knew anything about was printing, so I decided I wanted to be a printing teacher," he says.

This led him to Illinois State University where he got his undergrad and graduate degrees. While studying, he worked in the school's in-plant, running duplicators and bindery equipment. He got his first teaching job in printing in 1962, and he taught in two schools before the job began to wear him down.

In 1980, the director's position opened up at Central Missouri State's in-plant and J.T. took it. Since then he has added spot- and four-color capabilities to his 17-employee shop and taken on mailing services.

Pleasant Apprenticeship

The younger Sarantakos says his days as a seven-year-old apprentice were a lot of fun. In addition to hand-collating, he and his brother Mark sorted type, did some padding, tended the folders and performed hand binding.

"When we got a little older we used to shoot film," he recalls. "We were a regular production team."

More than just printing skills, though, John Sarantakos says he picked up a good work ethic from his father's example during these formative years.

"He was always a very, very dedicated, hard worker," he praises.

When he entered high school he spent less time in the in-plant, and there were no printing classes offered to fuel his interest in the trade. Nevertheless, when he enrolled in Western Illinois University, John spent four years working in the in-plant there.

"It was there where I made the decision to get into industrial education," he says. He graduated in 1981 and taught in a central Illinois vocational school for four years. Then, again following in his father's footsteps, John Sarantakos decided to get his master's degree, and enrolled in Central Missouri State, where his dad was already working.

"When I graduated, I was hired on as a professor," he says. And there he stayed for the next five years. By then, though, he was having second thoughts.

"I loved teaching at the university, but I got to a point where I hadn't really achieved everything I wanted to in terms of management," he recalls. So in 1989, he took a job as associate director of Indiana University Printing Services. He spent nearly nine years there working with Director Joe Goss.

"Joe gave me a real good background in marketing," he says. This skill would help him immeasurably as he made his next move.

In 1997 John took his current job as administrator of University of Oklahoma Printing, Mailing and Document Production Services. Since taking over he has streamlined workflow, added networked printing equipment and expanded the operation. In the past two years his 84-employee in-plant has won numerous In-Print awards—an honor that Sarantakos attributes to his staff.

J.T. Sarantakos says he is more than proud of his son. He recently traveled to Norman, Okla., to see the operation for himself.

"He really made a difference when he moved down there," he lauds.

John Jr. quickly returns the praise.

"I'm proud of the profession I'm in, and I owe most of that to my father for exposing it to me," he says.

But what of the next generation? John has three kids, the oldest of whom is now 11. Is he a future printer?

"He likes coming in," John reveals—but child labor laws being what they are today, he hasn't yet been able to put him to work. As for his own early in-plant experience, though, he has no regrets.

"I've got over 30 years experience at 40 years old," he laughs. "I've still got 30 years before I can retire, too."