Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerry Velona.
Jerry, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started working as an envelope salesperson at Northeastern Envelope Manufacturing Company in Braintree, MA in the summer of 1988. That’s where I met my current business partner, Dave Theriault who was the General Manager of the company at that time. Dave and I worked together for several years before he left to join another company in the envelope industry. Meanwhile, Northeastern was acquired by a large competitor who eventually closed the plant down leaving 35 people out of work and hundreds of customers without a reliable option for their envelopes.
Shortly after the Northeastern plant was closed down, Dave and I decided to start our own envelope company. Dave selected the name Elite Envelope & Graphics and he, his wife Tracie who was also a top professional in the envelope industry and I borrowed against our houses for the initial capital investment and in December of 2003, we were off and running.
We contacted many of the former employees of Northeastern who were very glad to come to work for us. We leased a space near the old Northeastern plant and were able to get many of their former customers to deal with us. Of course, we also had many who were reluctant because of our status as a startup and their uncertainty about our future. There was also a very hostile reaction to us from our competitors in the market who were not happy to have another company in their midst; especially when some of their staff decided to come work for us. The first year or so was not easy!
However, in our first full year, we generated almost $3 million in gross sales and grew from the 3 founders to 11 full-time employees. Within four years we doing over $5 million in sales and employed 16 staff.
In 2009, when our initial lease ran out, we purchased a 25,000 square foot facility in Randolph, MA housing our plant and offices and where we currently reside. Also in 2009 Elite received an award from Mass Econ, a private group dedicated to improving economic growth in Massachusetts. The award was in recognition of the many manufacturing jobs we were able to create in the first five years of our existence.
In 2012, we purchased Webcorp, a cold web printer located nearby with whom we had a relationship both as a customer and as a vendor. Webcorp’s owner Hillary Librot was someone we knew well and she currently runs the web printing department of Elite as a Vice President. The acquisition of Webcorp enabled us to expand our product offerings and also do many things that we previously had to outsource. With the inclusion of Webcorp, Elite sales in 2013 hit $7 million with an employee roster of 27.
The digital revolution has affected the print and envelope industry which is no surprise. In the midst of this disruption and transformation of our industry, we’ve tried to stay “lean and mean” and to double down on our competitive advantages as a small company with flexibility and a commitment to personal service. We’ve also done things like adding an array of solar panels on our roof which has not only cut our energy bills in half but allowed us to capture a portion of the market which values the use of renewable energy in a paper intensive environment.
As of this writing in 2017, Elite is still looking to expand and find new areas to create value increased viability. We have recently closed deals to acquire two more companies: Quality Envelope and Diversified Business Systems. Diversified is one of only two business forms manufacturers in New England and its acquisition will position Elite as a major player in that market which will increase our ability to do more things for our customers. Quality Envelope has an established reputation as an online supplier of printed envelopes and other printed products which will give Elite another unique advantage in the market.
We’re excited about our future in a very competitive and changing market-place.
Has it been a smooth road?
Well, starting your own business by putting a second mortgage on your house is not an easy thing to do. Lots of sleepless nights!
And I alluded to the hostility from our competitors in the envelope market when we first started the company. We later found out there were actual meetings held at some of those companies to plan ways to put us out of business!
Keeping a company profitable in the printing and envelope industry these days requires a commitment to keeping costs low and exploiting all possible opportunities to add value to what we do. This is in the context of facing tight deadlines on most jobs we have in the house. Ownership and upper management all wear multiple hats and are involved in the daily production and customer service end of the business. Lots of stress – but very rewarding results to our effort.
The Great Recession of 2008/2009 hit us all hard. Elite’s sales declined almost 20% in 2009. And it took a while for companies to start spending again on marketing which is where a lot of our business comes from. However, we were able to grow steadily each year until we were able to match our previous best year again in 2014.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are primarily an envelope converter. “Converting” means taking sheets of paper and cutting, folding, gluing and turning them into envelopes. We are also an envelope printer. So we’ll take a pre-made envelope and print it either in the offset process or digitally on anything from simple black to full four color process.
We also are a web printer which means we have large, 8 color presses that take a roll of blank paper and turn it into a printed sheet; letters, fliers, statements, invoices, direct mail components and much more.
We are also going to be able to produce multi-part business forms and things like parking tickets and specialty items in that family as a result of a recent acquisition.
What sets Elite apart is our relentless drive to serve our customers in their every requirement. This plus our capabilities as a direct source; i.e. a company that actually makes what we sell as well as service it, gives us an edge in the market. Our relatively small size compared to other envelope converters is also an advantage as it gives us more control and flexibility in our schedule enabling us to consistently deliver faster than many of our competitors.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think the Boston area is a great place to own and run a business. While the cost of living is higher than in other parts of the country, the combination of the quality of life; culture, range of commerce; restaurants, theater, nightlife, recreation and natural beauty is hard to match.
When people think of starting a business in Boston they generally think of high-tech and the range of talent available from the local colleges and universities. However, take it from me, you can start a low-tech company too and be very successful and count on an intelligent, hard-working group of workers who grew up here and wouldn’t leave it for anything.
Contact Info:
- Address: 280 Pond Street, Randolph, MA 02368
- Phone: 781 961 1800
- Email: jerry@eliteenvelope.com
- Website: http://www.eliteenvelope.com
Image Credit:
Jonas Kahn
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