Sustainability in the In-Plant

I was again working at an in-plant and in a whole new culture, higher education! I really enjoyed the challenge. And what a challenge it was, with a significant budget deficit but a great print department team. We were able to turn that deficit around and got back on track. I also began my work in understanding and contributing to creating sustainable business operations. A couple of years later I must have had a sense of premonition because I thought we should get out of California. A position was open at the University of Colorado and I went for it and got it,. We packed up the family and headed to the Rockies.

What turned out to be a relative short tenure at CU was also a very busy one. The print shop had an unfortunate reputation of producing poor quality, a perception from many years past. I went about changing that by creating a quality control (QC) team and creating a complete QC program. With a little marketing, we were gaining a new and positive reputation. I also concentrated on building the sustainable operations of our operation and developed a few sustainable programs, rebranding the print shop as “Your Sustainable Campus Printer.” These efforts were well received, and I worked closely with the campus’s Sustainability Committee on many campus-wide initiatives.

Unfortunately, despite all the good at CU, the economic crisis took its toll. In May of this year, my position was eliminated. So I decided to go into business for myself and serve my fellow printers.

I am now operating as a consultant in the printing world, assisting with all things printing-related. I do provide a special focus on sustainability, such as sustainable production operations, sustainable business practices and marketing sustainability efforts to print customers and upper management. I also have been developing a program for sustainable certification specifically for in-plants; I think today I am busier than ever.