Digital Print & Design

 “You have to run the business instead of the business running you, and you’ve got to remember to have fun.”

It all began in 1996 when a former employer (Les) and his employee (Jessica), of Cumming’s Ceramic, needed a new career choice. With Jessica’s background being in printing, when they saw the old Copy Place was for sale for the price of 1 machine (which was still a whopping $75,000) they felt that they hit the jackpot.

After applying for a loan at a bank and being turned down, Jessica and Les were feeling rather gun-shy and were very nervous about trying to find anywhere else to get money from. Their banker, who didn’t believe in the bank’s decision, referred them to Marc at 3CORE (Tri County EDC at the time) where they received a loan and matching funds, which gave them the ability to buy the business.

18 years, a name change, and lots of happy customers later, Jessica and Les are now married and happier than ever. The business is what they always wanted it to be, although they had to wait for the technology to catch up to their visions. They started off being on top of technology by being one of the early web adopter and strongly believe that the fact that they have always embraced technology, and reinvented themselves and the business (while still holding onto the core meaning of the business) to guide it where they have wanted it to be has been the key to their success.

Right now the focus of the company is helping small businesses, emerging entrepreneurs, and freelance designers. They love working with businesses and helping them be successful. Their goal is to help them look like a Fortune 500 company, but without the expense. They also continue to nurture the relationships that they have with their long-term customers. Several of their customers are from over 3 generations of the same families who began coming since the very first day the doors opened.  With a large variety of customers, they say that they are trilingual – man, woman, and geek – to keep up with what everyone wants.

Jessica and Les are looking forward to the future with the company. They can’t wait for the next technology to come out and to help the new entrepreneurs coming in trying to make something of themselves. Les is considered retired but still spends a majority of his free time in the store with Jessica and their two giant but lovable dogs. Jessica says that she technically has 15 more years until retirement, but doubts she ever will. They love what they do and truly believe that they could not have done it without the help from 3CORE. “Having 3CORE as a resource is wonderful for the community, but the community needs to know that it’s there”.

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