A Friend in the Business

WHAT IS the best way to advance in the printing industry? Buy your own press and start printing jobs on the side, says Jimmy Friend, director of Printing, Copy Center and Mail Services at the University of North Texas. It worked for him.

After growing up in Abilene, Texas, Friend moved to Dallas in 1969, and studied electronics at his community college. He landed a job as a press operator with the Drawing Board, a chain print shop, eventually working in prepress and bindery, as well.