PrintingNews.com

Back in 2007, Printing News featured Network Financial Printing in New York City as one of the printers in transition. Two years later, President Chris Concannon's company is still strong and flourishing. This part-two story about his company will focus on the fact that, despite the state of the economy, he is taking on challenges that a lot of companies aren't willing to face.

Concannon recently signed a deal with Ricoh to add a showroom and become a distributor for the Pro C900. He said that this is the opportunity of a lifetime: "When you look at where the digital print market is going, notice how Ricoh came into the mid market and developed a machine that can print 90 pages per minute and doesn't slow down," he said. The addition of Pro Digital Solutions upstairs from his shop and the Ricoh equipment will be a significant part of his future.

He is currently launching Pro Digital Solutions and anticipating a possible open house in April. "I think this will be good for printers in the industry," he said.

"I've been working with Tim Vellek and Louis Villa from Ricoh. I'm going to be a distributor and Ricoh representative for the New York tri-state area. I'm very excited and grateful for this opportunity," he commented.

Pro Digital Solutions will be selling the C900 Color systems and all Ricoh PPBG machines as a Hybrid Reseller and Ricoh will be the Direct OEM (original equipment manufacturer) managing all the service on the machines.

Concannon said he plans on hiring two salespeople to work in the new showroom on the 11th floor. "Ricoh offers Trained Customer Replacement Units, where the operator takes an on-site training course so that he or she can repair the machine and no service tech is needed. That's a printer's dream, because it enables the printer to get back up and running quickly," he said.

Network Financial's Roots

Network Financial Printing is a boutique financial printer that has been servicing investment banks for more than 20 years. The company specializes in bank books, CIMs, lenders presentations, and other financial documents that require precise attention to detail and accuracy and must be completed in four to 12 hours.

"Normal turnaround time for a financial printer is 24 hours, but ours is four to 12," he commented. Financial printing requires being one step ahead of the game. Network Financial does all of its printing and binding in-house.

The fast turnaround times and top notch quality require hard work and dedication, which is why his print shop has a kitchen with cherry cabinets, granite countertops, and a stainless steel fridge. There's even a bed to sleep on and bathrooms where employees can shower.

A heating and cooling system was installed for climate control, with two 10-ton air conditioning units on the roof of the second floor. The unit is a Mitsubishi multi city zoned control central air conditioning system and a duct system in manufacturing.

"Employees often have to stay late or overnight and work long hours, so I wanted to make it nice and more comfortable for them," explained Concannon of his homey-feeling print shop. And it's true—he may very well have one of the nicest print shops in Manhattan.

Network Financial Print's work is currently done on four-color Konica Minolta 6500 and black-and-white 1050 machines, and will include the Ricoh Pro C900, one of the first in New York City, in its new additional 7,500 square foot showroom.

The bindery is comprised of Standard, Alpha Doc, and Duplo finishers, a Mighty Laminator, a Challenge Titan cutting machine, Fold Master, and EMP 156 Black machines for saddle stitching and perfect binding inline.