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December 2, 2008

Online Printing Firm Expands Into Recession

Mimeo.com will unveil an 80,000-square-foot printing facility in Newark on Thursday.

Crain's New York Business | Amanda Fung

The economy may officially be in a recession, but one New York tech firm is expanding.

Mimeo.com, a printing service, will unveil a new 80,000 square-foot printing and distribution facility near Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Wednesday.

The $10-million facility is the second for the Manhattan tech company, which digitally prints marketing and collateral material for corporate clients who place orders via the Web.

The Newark facility will employ about 100 digital production workers. Mimeo currently has a 140,000-square-foot printing facility in Memphis, Tenn. The company selected the Newark location for its proximity to clients—30% of Mimeo’s business comes from the Northeast region—and to a FedEx shipping hub, said Adam Slutsky, Mimeo’s chief executive. FedEx handles the firm’s shipping needs.

"It came time, based on size of the business, to invest in a second facility," said Mr. Slutsky, adding that Mimeo may eventually open a third plant on the West coast. “It was also time to have a back-up facility."

Mimeo, with about 570 employees, now has more than 4,000 corporate clients including Delta Air Lines and Google Inc. The company, backed by high profile investors such as Goldman Sachs Principal Strategies Group and Hewlett Packard, currently generates more than $50 million in revenue.

Of course, the downturn could put a damper on its growth. "In general the printing industry will follow ups and downs of the economy," said Riley McNulty, a research manager at consulting firm IDC. He adds that digital printing will not be as deeply impacted as traditional printing. "But Mimeo will weather the storm. It has a good management team, and it has embraced the digital age."

Mimeo has seen some clients trim their printing budgets in light of the recession, but new accounts have offset those cutbacks, said Mr. Slutsky, adding that business is up 20% from a year ago.

Mimeo has already hired 40 employees to staff the new facility and is aggressively hiring more.

Newark is rolling out the red carpet for its new tenant.

On Wednesday, Newark Mayor Cory Booker will attend a ribbon cutting to launch the new plant. Mimeo is one of the first tenants of the AMB Liberty Logistics Center, a distribution center in Newark totaling more than 191,000 square feet that opened earlier this year. Mimeo signed a 15-year lease.

"Mimeo is an extraordinary company and fantastic tenant," said Stefan Pryor, Newark’s deputy mayor for economic development. "One of the priorities of Newark is the development of additional facilities that support and draw energy to the airport and seaport."

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