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When Jean Gregoire and Alain Jacques opened Solisco Printers with a single sheetfed press in late 1991, they didn't have aspirations of being a large, multimillion dollar print company. In fact, they only had one clear business objective.
We wanted to be different," recalls Jacques. "We didn't want to be just another commercial printing company. We decided our strategy would be to go after unique opportunities and see where they lead us."
Little did they know this philosophy would lead to a rapid rise in the North American market and help the company carve itself a niche as a specialty printer.
Solisco, based in Scott Junction, Quebec, has grown from zero to $35 million in sales and to 175 employees in just five years. Equally impressive is the fact that 40 to 50 per cent of the company's sales are generated in the United States market.
Today the company specializes in unique print applications such as children's board books, and specialty short-run magazines, catalogues and textbooks. Along the way, the company has added five presses and a slew of specialized finishing and bindery equipment.
They caught our attention because of the unique things they can do," says Ed Lenk, of Modern Publishing, a New York City book publishing company that has used Solisco for two recent print jobs. "A lot of our orders are delicate and that dictates we find someone with the right equipment."
Although Solisco's success has seemingly occurred overnight, the seeds for the company were actually planted more than a decade ago. Gregoire has been involved in the printing industry for the past 25 years. His father owned a print company, Eclaireur Printers south of Quebec City, and he served as general manager before selling the company to printing giant Quebecor in 1984.
Gregoire then moved on to become one of the founders of Interglobe in 1986 and later sold his shares to Canada's second largest printer, G.T.C. Transcontinental. Part of his package stipulated that Gregoire not work for a printing company for five years.
But he used the time wisely. Between 1986 and 1991, he sat back with Jacques, his brother-in-law, and watched the market develop. The time gave them a chance to mark out in their minds where potential...