Lincoln printer celebrates 10 year anniversary

Eric Werve believes in the benefits of long-range planning. For example, when he moved his fledgling business - then known as Werve Printing - from North Highlands to Lincoln a decade ago, he didn't do it because he wanted to be part of an ongoing boom. Rather, he wanted to be ahead of the curve."Lincoln is just getting to the point where it can support a business like ours," he said of the commercial printing company he runs in tandem with his wife, Carri. "But we could afford to wait because we have so many out-of-town customers."The city has grown up around us and we've seen the influx (of local customers)," he added. "So we love what we do here in Lincoln."Originally, the company settled for space in the Lincoln Professional Center at Third and L streets; however, since 1999, a spacious building at 1410 Flightline Drive has served as home."This was one of the biggest places available, which is what we needed to accommodate us," Carri Werve said."People want us to have them come in so they can look at the ideas we have for their job," she added. "Plus, we're a printing company. We need room for things like presses."Currently, the company maintains two of those machines for doing a bevy of jobs that range from banners and newspaper inserts to posters, business cards and so-called giveaway items embossed with company names and logos.The company employees graphic artists, which allows it to design most of what it prints. But, that said, the Werves' continue to place a premium on working with their customers to create printed materials that get results."We do a lot of stuff where people find something on the Web and they try to print it," Eric Werve said. "Sometimes, people come in here with something that they made on Word and they really, really think it's great."We try to work with them on that and just give a little bit of direction," he added. "Maybe it needs a little bit more white space. In the end, the better the quality, the better it's perceived by the intended targets."Carri Werve said that commitment to quality is especially important when it comes time to work with out-of-state customers who never step inside the company's brick-and-mortar location. For those clients, she's created individual Web pages where people can review their orders, submit artwork via e-mail and do just about anything else they would want to do to monitor their job.The Werves have also asked these clients to post photographs on their pages so InkLynx employees can remember they're dealing with people."We've started to answer the phone 'InkLynx, you're partner in printing' because we really believe that's the case," Eric Werve said. "We're here to work with our clients and offer them our value, service and competency."Jess Bernstein, the music and publicity director for One Life Christian Church in Lincoln said the Werves deliver on their promises - on time."The turnaround is always on time," she said. "You don't have to worry about it with them. Sometimes, they even deliver."We had a bulletin that had previously created by a graphic designer and it wasn't simple; it was intricate," she added. "They duplicated perfectly. They nailed it. For a small company, they really seem to know what they're doing. It always seems like they're coming up with cool new ways to serve you."Eric Werve kids that he's a print-industry "lifer," who discovered his passion for printing when, as a third-grader, he went with his class on a field trip to the Los Angeles Times."I stood there and just looked at that giant web press," he said. "I was hooked."By the time he was 15, he was working on applying the lessons he learned from his father, who also worked in the graphics field.Now, it's obvious this business owner considers experience to be an asset, both for himself and his company."We're here to celebrate long-term relationships," he said. "And we love what we do."#30#