Page 6 - Marketing Times v1

Bob Goff, Founder Village Press Inc.
A mix of luck and Goff’s tendency to pounce on any possible opportunities led VP to evolve into realms far beyond printing. Village Press still has a strong printing business, but the company of today is very different from the company of 1969.
45Years on the 45th
TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN
BY CARLY MOORE
“ALWAYS TRY TO DO MORE THAN YOUR CUSTOMERS
WOULD EXPECT, AND
TREAT YOUR EMPLOYEES WITH RESPECT,” SAID BOB GOFF,
FOUNDER OF MARKETING POWERHOUSE VILLAGE PRESS. This attitude rang true
when the doors opened in 1969, an approach that resonates to the present day – and a pillar to the company’s operations and service philosophy. The clients here have their expectations exceeded time and again, and they develop personal relationships with the people who work with them. There is a deep- felt understanding and appreciation by the employees for what they do and what
they know, because they are essential to giving clients a VP experience. It’s a culture that propagates success.
While Village Press’s national and international clients are aware of the services and best-in-class value the company provides, few locals know about VP’s reach and history in the community even though VP partnered with many well-known local businesses in the company’s early days.
In honor of its 45th anniversary, Bob Goff gave the inside scoop about Village Press’s beginnings and evolution into the company
it has grown to become.
WHEN A TRADESMAN MEANS BUSINESS
Goff was not privileged to grow up in the type of neighborhood where kids imagined owning their own businesses, but he was
different. He had big ambitions, and his work ethic is what got him there. After graduating from a Lansing area high school with a combination of vocational printing and college preparatory classes, Goff worked as a printer for a Lansing company to put himself through college – rst earning an associate’s degree from Lansing Community College, and then
a bachelor’s degree in printing management from Western Michigan University.
His concurrent four-
year apprenticeship
working in the printing industry allowed him to earn a journey- man’s card upon graduation, a remarkable accomplishment for a recent graduate. Because of
that on-the-job experience, Goff could
run every machine in
the shop as
6 Traverse City Marketing Times • Fall 2014
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