Page 9 - Marketing Times v1

and he’d often beat them out. Later, VP would be the rst company in the area to employ
an eight-color press, a roll-fed press, and web-to-print digital press technology.
This evolution also permeated to other areas of the business. In 1969, Traverse City lacked a company with mailing equipment, which meant any complicated mailing-related work was, again, contracted downstate. Goff realized that he could ll this local need and make his print business more competitive if VP had the equipment to
cut and apply labels to the mailing pieces.
A lack of nancing made purchasing the proper equipment a tough proposition. Goff turned to his key local clients, asking each
of them to cover a portion of the cost in return for credits in free services to their accounts.
In an amazing show of local collaboration, The Milliken Department Store, The Homestead, Sugar Loaf, and a campground in Northport
all pitched in another 20 percent of the cost; and VP covered the nal 20 percent. Mailing
became a large part of VP’s business and a competitive advantage in those early days, thanks to this teamwork with local businesses.
Another market outside
of printing where VP built
expertise over the years is
publishing. Two years after
opening, in 1971, Goff
realized that he needed to
hire a salesperson to help
him grow his customer base. Since there wasn’t enough work in Michigan, VP needed to expand outside of the state. Goff hired a former coworker from Kalamazoo, and on his rst day, the new salesman called and said
he would be coming in late because he was going to make sales calls on the way. One
of his stops was Live Steam, a magazine for steam railroad enthusiasts. Because VP was a printer that could also provide valuable mailing
Fall 2014 • Traverse City Marketing Times 9
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