Local Minneapolis Printer, Highlight Printing, celebrate WBENC certification
A little background: Highlight Printing, a woman-owned corporation since it’s inception in 1985, had very humble beginnings. It was started by Patty Cameron in her basement in Champlin, MN. She worked hard and eventually it grew to be large enough for her husband Dan and 1 or 2 employees to join her in leased space in Plymouth, MN
Fast forward to 2008 – Lisa Bickford, and her husband Don, have now owned Highlight Printing for 12 years and have experienced tremendous growth. Several of Highlight’s customers – primarily large companies – have vendor diversity initiatives. At their urging, Highlight applied for and was awarded offical Woman Owned Certification from the WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Counsel) in 2007. WBENC is the most widely accepted certifying organization in the US.
Highlight Printing’s experience as a certfied Woman Owned Business: So far, the biggest benefit to certification has been to exisiting customers (“It’s great that you got certified, now we can track “spend” with you”) and the networking within the group itself. It was a rigorous process getting certified – digging up old paperwork to prove that majority ownership and day-to-day operations were managed by a woman. But it has been worth it. I have found my fellow WBENC members to be a great source of networking and sharing of business experience. The educational component and networking events that are driven by our local WBENC chapter have been great experiences as well. If you would like to learn more about my experiences as a certified WBE, or if you’d like to talk about your printing and marketing needs, I would be happy to meet with you. Please call us at 612.522.7600 or check out our website @ www.highlightprinting.com
The author, Lisa Bickford, president of Highlight Printing, is a veteran of the printing industry. Since 1984 she has worked her way up through many areas of the industry before acquiring Highlight Printing in 1996 with her husband Don, who has also been in printing since the early 80’s. The things she continues to find most satisfying are the wonderful business relationships that have developed with clients, vendors, & co-workers, and the energy that is created from challenge resolution.
This Printing Blog was launched in November, 2008, as a vehicle to share ideas, information, and innovations.
