Ron Morris buys BIG Print Shop, Digital Image Tri-Cities in 2017

Ron Morris spent decades learning the ins and outs of the printing world and within a span of six months last year, he bought two printing businesses, both of which he used to work at.

The tale of how he became the owner of Digital Image Tri-Cities in Richland and BIG Print Shop in Benton City began in 1994.

That’s when Morris joined Digital Image Tri-Cities, although he didn’t work on the printing side of the business when he started.

“I was intrigued by Digital Image because I love technology,” he said. “They had the latest Mac computers, an amazing printer — a $250,000 race car of a printer that you could scan and edit on. They were the cutting-edge of printing.”

The company’s 2950 George Washington Way location also operated a conference center and a restaurant, which is where Morris started out.

“I ran the restaurant,” he said. “We had 13 meeting rooms and a full-scale catering operation. A big operation.”

As the general manager of the restaurant, Morris became familiar with customer service and managing staff.

“I had a great rapport with the owners,” he said. “And we had weekly meetings. I was inquisitive about where we were spending money. It was intriguing to me.”

During his time at Digital Image Tri-Cities, Morris said his bosses, Bob Davis and Grant McCallum, introduced him to the owners of BIG Print Shop in Benton City.

They all got along, and in 1998, BIG Print Shop asked Morris to interview for a position managing print production.

Morris jumped at the chance.

“They had a lot of large projects coming through from bigger marketing groups in California,” he said. “And in a short time, I became general manager.”

For 16 years, Morris absorbed all he could about printing technology and running a business. BIG Print Shop handled more large format jobs, such as trade show displays and outdoor banners. Digital Image Tri-Cities handled a lot of small format jobs, including proposals, programs and brochures.

“It was a part of the business I wanted to learn, and knew I wasn’t going to at BIG Print Shop,” Morris said. “It was the one aspect of the printing industry that I hadn’t really experienced. And I knew there would be the potential to buy into the (Digital Image Tri-Cities) company.”

In February 2015, Morris returned to work for his former employer, and in July 2017, he became the sole owner.

“The day came when there was an opportunity for the owner to retire, and I was interested in taking over,” he said, explaining that along with money he had saved, he secured a business loan through Gesa Credit Union.

Morris made some cosmetic changes with paint and flooring. He also created a new entrance to grab potential clients’ attention when they walked in.

“And I added a lot more large format printing from the experience I’d gained at BIG Print Shop,” said Morris, who continued to maintain his friendship with his previous employer. “Digital Image already had fantastic printers that are the race cars of small format printing. And I added my latex printers, which do outdoor graphics.”

Then in November 2017, Morris had another opportunity.

“The owners of BIG Print Shop approached me and asked if I was interested in taking over the BIG Print Shop name or acquiring it in the business,” he explained. “So we relocated two of their staff people and we run the operation here as Digital Image Tri-Cities, but we’re serving those clients.”

While all of the retail customers come through the Digital Image name, a website is kept for BIG Print Shop—which Morris refers to as his corporate division.

“The BIG Print Shop has a relationship with Hewlett Packard, and the way I organized things as this all took place, is that BIG Print Shop still takes care of HP and some other big clients,” he said.

Morris has about 1,300 clients from a variety of business backgrounds. Tradeshow needs are most common, he said, and those customers often request banner stands, brochures, rack cards and a unique display. And with the company’s proximity to the Tri-Cities Research District in north Richland — which includes Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Department of Energy, Port of Benton and Washington State University Tri-Cities — the nearby customer base is robust.

Digital Image Tri-Cities has completed various projects for WSU Tri-Cities and also serves the art community, designing and printing programs for the symphony, theater and music groups.

The company no longer operates a catering company or conference center, and now manages a 3,800-square-foot space in Suite C.

Morris said he’s still working on the logistics of making sure business flows well from start to finish and isn’t hindered by space or equipment.

“That’s one goal I have for this next quarter: streamlining everything more,” he said. “We want that for our customers, but it’s important that my staff feel like, ‘Wow. This is a great place to work.’ ”

Digital Image Tri-Cities has two full-time and one part-time employee. Since Morris is still getting used to owning two businesses, he said he has no plans to expand. He does, however, hope to grow his customer base.

“I love new technology. I like to get the print industry magazines because there’s so much cutting-edge stuff coming out,” he said.  “I’m trying to find out what not just meets my current customer (needs), but can I create a new line of business and reach new customers.”

Digital Image Tri-Cities: digitalimagetc.com; 509-375-6001; Facebook.