No Place Like Home

AS SHE closes in on 35 years at the same in-plant, Debby Messina has absolutely no regrets.

"I've always loved my job," she proclaims. That job is print room supervisor for the Delaware Division of Research, Legislative Council. One of the reasons she loves it—besides having a lifelong fascination with printing—is that it gives her a chance to serve her beloved state of Delaware, where she has spent her whole life.

"I love everything about Delaware," she insists—its history, its recreational opportunities, its close-knit culture. Because of Delaware's small size, she says, everyone feels like family.

"We're on a first-name, close basis with almost every senator and representative that's here," she says.

That's because her three-person team works so closely with them from their compact in-plant in Delaware's Legislative Hall, in Dover. When legislators are in session, from January through the end of June, the in-plant is at their beck and call, ready to produce bills, resolutions and amendments at a moment's notice, so legislators can have them immediately. When they are preparing to discuss an amendment, for example, they send it electronically to the in-plant, where Messina and her staff have just minutes to print enough copies for each legislator.

"When we get it, that means they want it," she laughs. "I've never known that luxury of being able to schedule."

Early Days

Messina was born in Dover, the state capital, and had no particular interest in printing until she started attending Kent County Vocational Technical School while in high school in the '70s.

"I actually went for the photography, but I ended up liking the printing better," she reflects. "That letterpress hooked me."

It was there she learned to set type, shoot negatives and burn metal plates. Upon graduation, she took a job in the composition room of the Delaware State News. But she was itching to work on a press, so after nine months there, she applied for a job with the state Division of Research. She was hired as a part-time offset press operator, and was put to work on one of the AM Multigraphics 2650s—the same equipment the shop would use for the next three decades. After nine months, Messina was made a full-time employee.

"We printed all of our legislation on offset presses, one page at a time," she says—and then hand-collated everything. "It was very labor intensive."

Promoted to Supervisor

In 1993, after 16 years of hard work, Messina was rewarded with a promotion to supervisor of the shop. She began slowly upgrading the in-plant's bindery capabilities. Each year she would ask for small amounts of money in her budget, and invest it in folding, stitching, tape binding, shrink-wrapping and other equipment.

"It took a long time," she says. But she felt it was necessary in order to offer customers faster turnaround times.

"Everything we do here is really pushed by the need for a fast turnaround," she notes.

By far the biggest change she brought to the in-plant, however, was in 2006 when the shop finally went digital. She added two Xerox DocuTech 6115 printers with Freeflow workflow and a stacker/stapler/tape binding system. Suddenly, copies of 200-page documents were ready immediately, not after every page in the entire job had been printed, collated and bound. It was a major change.

Adding the equipment gave the in-plant a chance to reorganize the shop, to improve workflow and give staff more walking space. It also made the facility much quieter and cleaner, she notes.

In 2008, Messina installed the in-plant's first production color device, a Xerox 700. This is used to print tour packets for visitors and booklets for legislators to hand out when visiting schools.

In 2009, the shop put in a Xerox HLC 128 highlight color press, chiefly to be able to print images of the state's signature Blue Hen.

"It doesn't look quite the same when it's in black-and-white," Messina points out.

When legislators are not in session, the in-plant remains busy printing reports, letterhead, note pads, business cards and other items. Messina is always looking for new services the in-plant can provide, such as sign making, a task previously handled by administrative assistants.

"Any small thing that I can find that my staff can do as a service," she says. "We actually try very hard to be seen and be visible so they'll say 'hey, the print shop will take care of this.' "

In 1994, Messina joined the National Government Publishing Association and began making friends with government printers all over the country. She learned a lot from them.

"NGPA is probably one of the biggest reasons I went digital," she remarks. She served as NGPA president in 2006.

In 2007, Messina herself was the subject of one of the resolutions her shop printed, when the House of Representatives officially congratulated her for 30 years of state service. With her 35th anniversary in sight next April, she is now thinking about retirement. This would give her more time with her two daughters and grandson, and also to pursue her three favorite activities:

"Phillies, NASCAR and camping," she proclaims. "That's how I relax."

Messina lives just a few miles from the Dover International Speedway, where she gets her NASCAR fix. And she loves taking her 33-foot camper out on the road. And even though she's seen a lot of the country while attending NGPA conferences, there's still no place she would rather live than in her home state of Delaware.