WEATHERING THE STORM
exerpt from Phoenix Magazine, November 2009

-O’Neil Printing
(101 years)

This company has survived every modern recession – 18 by its own count – including the Great Depression.  But the challenges facing this Phoenix print house today have perhaps never been tougher.

On top of today’s severe economic factors, O’Neil is facing an industry that some critics believe is on its way out.  But the company that began in 1908 doesn’t intend for the print-is-dead motto to become its epitaph.  Even in the digital age, O’Neil is trying to pioneer new advances within the commercial printing business, says is president, Tony Narducci.

“It has caused this company to evolve and innovate over the years,” he says.
 Among its techniques designed for this millennium, O’Neil Printing has gone as green as possible.  The company prints with vegetable-based inks and powers its fleet of trucks with biodiesel fuel.

O’Neil then markets itself as a green printer to help it stand out with environmentally-conscious companies.

It has also radically changed its business model in the past 15 years.  In 1996, the O’Neil family that owned the company since 1908 got out of the business and the shop became owned entirely by its employees.  It means that each of the company’s 68 employees has a vested interest in seeing it do well.  When O’Neil does well, so do the workers.

Narducci says it has made the company more stable over time.

“I think, really for each of those folks, that we firmly believe we have been given the opportunity to be good stewards of these resources,” Narducci says.  “I think if you continue to do the right things right, it will serve you well every day.”

*Red ink:  O’Neil Printing has a history of keeping its debt low.  It makes it easier to stay afloat during a recession.  “There’s always been a very conservative fiscal plan here,” Narducci says.

-Nick R. Martin can be reached at phxmag@citieswestpub.com

For more information about O'Neil Printing, please contact president, Tony Narducci, at 602-258-7789 or visit www.oneilprint.com.