Wes Grigg: From 'Just a Job' to Dedicated Printer

Wesley Grigg’s entry into the printing industry was abrupt and pragmatic.

Wes Grigg of Elon University

“I graduated high school, and my dad got me a job in a print shop,” he says, matter-of-factly.

Grigg had no particular interest in printing — “none whatsoever,” he affirms — and no family ties to the industry.

“This was just a job so I could … go to night school,” he admits.

But that early introduction to the graphic arts sparked a lifelong fascination that has propelled him through production and sales roles at five printing companies and into his current position as manager of Elon University Print and Mail. Grigg’s passion for print even superseded his fascination with geology, his college major and presumptive career path.

“I wouldn’t change it for anything,” Grigg says of his in-plant job.

Back in 1987, however, when he stepped through the door of Printing & Packaging Inc. in his hometown of Shelby, N.C., Grigg didn’t know what to expect. For six months he ran a paper cutter there. Then one day a press operator quit his job.

Wesley Grigg stands with the Xanté Ilumina Digital Production Press installed at Elon University Printing Services.

“I had caught on so quickly on paper cutting they said, ‘Would you like to learn how to be a press operator?’” he recalls. “I said, ‘Sure!’”

So Grigg ran a one-color, 29˝ Miehle and, later, a one-color Heidelberg KORG. He stayed at the company for four years, all the while attending community college and racking up credits.

In 1991 he was accepted into the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and kissed printing good-bye — or so he thought. After acing a first-semester course in geology, he was hooked on the subject, and spent three and a half years pursuing his geology degree — until he ran out of money.

“I’m about 20 hours away from being a geologist,” he laughs.

Back to the Pressroom

The lack of funds drove him back to what he knew best: printing. He easily found work at a family-owned Charlotte printer called Bouley Printing and began bringing in some serious cash.

“I started making such good money there that I just gave up on school,” he reveals.

Five years later, looking for a shorter commute, Grigg took a job as lead press operator and supervisor with International Minute Press in Gastonia, N.C. While working there he met his current wife, Billie, and relocated to Burlington, N.C., to be with her.

Wes Grigg shows off Elon University's NexPress

In 1999 Grigg signed on with PIP Printing, in High Point, N.C., as production manager, and three years later was promoted into sales, where he spent the next five years. Eventually his one-hour-each-way commute wore him down, so he took a job at his local Sir Speedy.

“I worked at Sir Speedy for a year, and a friend of mine who graduated from Elon University called me up one day and said, ‘Hey, there’s a print manager position at Elon University. You ought to look into it.’ And the rest is history,” he says.

In 2009, Grigg walked into the three-employee in-plant, and was a bit disheartened by what he saw.

“It literally was nothing more than a black-and-white copy shop,” he declares.

With years of experience selling digital color printing, Grigg simply could not let this situation stand.

After consulting with the purchasing office and learning that $2.1 million per year was being spent at local print shops, he decided to take action.

“I went to my boss and said, ‘We can cut this in half,’” he says.

He got the green light to look into production equipment, and in September of 2010 the in-plant installed a Ricoh Pro C900 and began bringing work back in-house. One early victory was printing the Elon Annual Report, which had always been sent off campus in the past.

Bolstered by this success, Grigg next looked at invoices for off-campus envelope printing and discovered about $600,000 a year being spent. He used this data to justify the addition of a Xanté Ilumina Digital Production Press.

A few years later he was offered the opportunity to merge with the mailing department and become manager of Print and Mail. He eagerly accepted.

ACUP: ‘Vital to Our Success’

At ACUP, Mario Maselli (University of Hartford), Wes Grigg (Elon University) and John Heine (Yale University) listen intently during one of the sessions.

As Grigg was steadily building up the in-plant, he was also regularly attending the annual Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference, which he credits for giving him many great ideas.

“I tell my boss all the time that ACUP is vital to our success,” he praises. “I’ve learned so much.”

One lesson he took home a few years ago, after attending a panel discussion on wide-format printing, was how beneficial this service could be for an in-plant. Encouraged by what he learned, Grigg added a 64˝ Ricoh L4160 wide-format printer in 2015 and began printing jobs such as wall and window graphics and back-lit banners.

“We initially planned for the wide-format to pay for itself in one year,” he reports. “It paid for itself in three months.”

His biggest success, though, without question, was the installation of a Kodak NexPress SX3300 digital color press in August 2015. His goal was to bring in more work from University Communications, which orders the bulk of the school’s printing, by greatly enhancing the quality of the in-plant’s color printing.

“It was either get the quality, or work was going to continue to go elsewhere,” he remarks.

Since its installation, the NexPress has been busy producing work from the in-plant’s three biggest customers, Athletics, Admissions and Advancement, Grigg says, as well as from Communications.

The NexPress marked the completion of the in-plant’s journey from copy shop to high-quality production printer, an accomplishment Grigg has every right to be proud of. Now boasting nine full-time, two part-time and 16 student employees, the in-plant has come a long way since Grigg first walked through its door.

As for those last 20 hours required for his Geology degree, does he ever regret not finishing it up?

“Geology does pay really well,” he muses. But still, he insists he wouldn’t trade his in-plant career for anything.

Outside of work, Grigg loves hiking, camping and taking his wife and two children, ages nine and four, to Topsail Beach, N.C., where they have a house and a brand new boat.