OXFORD – Chenango’s business elite turned out to Rapid Reproduction on state Highway 12 in Oxford on Tuesday for another installment of Commerce Chenango’s local business spotlight, Business After Hours.

As one of the county’s premier industries in the realm of printing and digital duplication, Rapid Reproductions offers a broad gamut of color and non-color stationery including business cards, informational pamphlets, flyers and brochures, letterhead, announcements and invitations, restaurant menus, and anything in between.

In addition to showcasing what Rapid Reproductions has done so well in its 39-year history in Chenango County, business co-owner Bryant La Tourette used Wednesday’s event as a platform to introduce new services – and underutilized services – that keep the company’s printers online. La Tourette unveiled new equipment which allows for Rapid Reproductions to create foil items with lettering, and emphasized the business’s mass mailing service for businesses and nonprofit organizations to use print material to reach a wide audience within a specific region.

“Everyone says that print is falling down, but it’s actually more alive in mailing than ever before,” La Tourette said, explaining that mass emails, while cheaper, are often overlooked or deleted before they’re viewed. “Printed mailings give people a tangible item that they can hold in their hands.”

Better yet, working with Rapid Reproductions “Every Door Direct Mailings” drops the price of postage for one mailing from 49 cents per item to only 17 cents by shipping them directly to the post office in the targeted region. By shipping directly to the post office in the targeted region, printed materials bypass the usual mailing process of being shipped to various depots before arriving at the final destination, thus cutting costs, said La Tourette.

While slow to start, Rapid Reproductions mailing system is starting to pick up two years after it was offered for the first time, he added. “In other areas, it’s a big success; but in our area, it hasn’t caught on quite as quick.” He said hopes are that will change.

Rapid Reproductions is an advocate of the shop and buy local movement that keeps businesses thriving in the Chenango County community. The company employs seven part-time and full-time workers who contribute to the local economy, said La Tourette. “That’s local money spent that also allows us to donate,” he added, citing the business’s contributions to a number of local nonprofits and charity organizations throughout the area.

What’s more, being a local company – owned and operated by local people – allows Rapid Reproductions to provide a timely but personal touch that’s simply not available through major online print service providers. That one-on-one service is what draws repeat business from Dan Joseph, co-owner of the Norwich based coffee bean roasting company Fojo Beans.

Joseph contracts with Rapid Reproductions to print Fojo’s product descriptions, business cards, and other material that gets his business name out. He called to mind one instance when he was forced to call Rapid Reproductions to cancel a printing order mid-way due to a typo. The staff at Rapid Reproductions stopped operations immediately, he remembered, saving Fojo the embarrassment.

“If it had been anyone else that I didn’t have a personal connection with, I would have had to pay for that mistake,” Joseph said. “But that’s why I choose to use local. When I call and say ‘stop the presses,’ they stop.”

“Their work speaks for itself,” added Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Craig. “The key to a small business is getting a personal connection.”

For more on the products and services offered by Rapid Reproductions, call them at 607-843-2221.