Running The Business Of Print

For a quarter of a century, Jerry Grouzard has been using his business expertise to make Allstate's printing operation one of the country's most respected.

By Bob Neubauer

The Allstate Print Communications Center is a true in-plant success story. Ranked second on the IPG Top 50, the $100 million operation has won numerous leadership awards and is a model for in-plants everywhere.

For the past 25 years, one of the primary engines behind the operation's growth has been Jerry Grouzard, print communication manager. His understanding of the business end of printing has helped propel the in-plant to where it is today.

Born and raised in Chicago, Grouzard was not looking for a career in printing when he enrolled in Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, to study business. But he found his way into printing anyway when, after three years at the university, a relative told him about Allstate's tuition reimbursement program.

Grouzard started working in Allstate's print production area while finishing school at Elmhurst College. He received technical training in printing, prepress and bindery. In the process he saw that, while Allstate's in-plant had plenty of good technical managers, it didn't have a lot of business managers. He realized that, if he could develop the business side of printing, he could create opportunities for himself.

At the time, Allstate had nothing close to the 375 employees it now has, employing more like 75 people and running smaller duplicating equipment and a conventional prepress department. Grouzard's first step up the ladder was as a line manager overseeing the press and prepress areas. In 1984 he become a division manager and moved to the fulfillment and distribution side of the operation, where he stayed for about five years. He next became the division manger overseeing operations. In 1996 he moved into his current role, and is in charge of customer service for print projects, estimating, scheduling, planning, project management, internal sales and external commercial sales.

Through the years, Grouzard stressed that it made good business sense to upgrade the operation's technology. Under his direction Allstate digitized its prepress area, first bringing in an imagesetter, and then moving into computer-to-plate. He helped justify the in-plant's first five-color, 28˝ press, as well as its move to high-speed copiers and roll-to-roll printing.

Grouzard says one of his biggest projects has been conducting an annual commercial cost comparison, a task he has been responsible for since 1990.

Another of his toughest challenges, Grouzard says, was increasing the amount of Allstate's work the in-plant handled. In the 1980s, he says, the in-plant was doing only about 40 percent of Allstate's printing.

"We built that up to close to 95 percent," he says, proudly. The secret? "We've always run [the in-plant] like a commercial printer," he reveals.

Perhaps that's why the in-plant's commercial printing business has been so successful. In the late '90s, Grouzard was charged with expanding the in-plant's insourcing efforts. With one salesperson/estimator, the in-plant saw $81,000 in revenue in 1997. Now, with six sales people, the division (called Northbrook Services) brings in $8.8 million.

Grouzard's newest challenge is overseeing the NBS sales/revenues of a 19-employee commercial printing operation in Jacksonville, Fla. That shop was formerly the in-plant of a company Allstate purchased.

Grouzard says he and the management team at Allstate are looking ahead at new markets, and working with marketing to understand its requirements for personalized direct marketing. He says the future may also bring the opening of an Allstate-run quick printing operation in Dallas.

Jerry Grouzard's leadership has not only benefitted Allstate. He joined the board of the International Publishing Management Association's Chicago chapter in 1994, and served as events coordinator, secretary and (for three years) chapter president. In 1996, the same year he earned his Certified Graphics Communication Manager designation, he was named IPMA's International Member of the Year.

In 1994, he became active in the National Association for Printing Leadership, and since then Allstate has won seven consecutive NAPL Gold Awards, as well as the coveted William K. Marrinan Hall of Fame award.

When asked what his biggest accomplishment has been at Allstate, Grouzard harks back to his very first years with the company, when his manager sent him to a six-month training program. It was there he met his wife Cheryl, who was working in Allstate's purchasing department.

"I guess you could say I not only found a career, I found a wife," he says. The couple has two boys, and Grouzard is heavily involved with them as a coach for their baseball and basketball teams.

"It keeps me pretty busy," he admits. IPG