In-plant Profiles

Having turned an early interest in the graphic arts into a lifelong career, Gordon Rivera, coordinator of Campus Graphics at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif., is still a big believer in the printing process.

The first thing he noticed was the door. A thick, wooden, swinging door, it separated the print shop from its customers in Arapahoe County's government offices, sending the clear message that no one but in-plant staff was allowed to pass.

When you sit down and talk with Donna Horbelt, you immediately feel like you've been friends for years. So it's no wonder that her engaging personality and the interest she takes in her customers has led them to view her in-plant at the University of Texas Heath Science Center at Houston as a supportive ally, committed to their success.

When Karin Tarter first descended the stairway to the old fallout shelter that housed the print operation for Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), she passed a sign that read "Enter At Your Own Risk." It was July 25, 2000, and the former freelance marketing consultant and graphic designer was stepping into her first day on the job as manager of the district's in-plant, Graphics Enterprise Services.

A few years ago, veteran print manager Terry Oliver faced a situation familiar to many in-plants: an organizational review to justify the expense of her in-plant compared to outsourcing. While she prided herself on her ability to meet the needs of OhioHealth's internal clients, defending her in-plant meant she would have to quantify many of the intangibles of service that her five-employee in-plant offered.

Ask Chris Barclay how he became interested in the printing industry, and he points back to 1976, his freshman year of high school. He remembers being hooked after taking his first graphic arts class.

About five years ago, the San Joaquin Delta College Publication Center, in Stockton, Calif., retired its offset presses and moved to an all-digital production platform. This consisted of color and monochrome digital devices operated by the in-plant's staff as well as a monochrome digital press available for walk-up traffic.

For Gordon Ryan, director of design, printing and fulfillment services for the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), a career in printing is as much about communication as it is about ink on paper. For the past 31 years, the native Mainer has split his time almost equally between working face-to-face with customers and working the production floor. In fact, the diversity of his experience—partly a product of chance, partly of design—is what won him the job at NYSBA in the first place.

The snowstorm that shut down the University of West Georgia (UWG) and much of nearby Atlanta in January was nothing compared to the gale that nearly blew away UWG's in-plant a few years ago. Back in 2009, UWG administration floated a plan to shutter the school's Department of Publications and Printing and reallocate funding. The idea was to begin contracting for printing services with outside vendors.

It is not altogether clear whether Catherine Chambers believed in fate when it came to choosing her career as an in-plant manager.  As the director of Printing and Mail Services at Virginia Tech sees it, it just “kind of happened.”