Editorial: Southwest Publishing makes a good move

Topekans were enthusiastic Friday with their endorsements of a local company’s decision to purchase the former Jostens facility in southeast Topeka.

Their feellings were justified as the deal gives Southwest Publishing & Mailing Corp. room to grow its business and expand its work force while Jostens remains a part of the community.

Many had wondered what would become of the plant after Jostens announced last year that it planned to move the production work to other plants but keep employees in Topeka to handle customer service, marketing and technical support. Now they know. Southwest Publishing will move its operation, currently spread among three buildings in North Topeka, to Jostens and has agreed to least about 30,000 square feet of office space to the former owner for the next five years.

Granted, some commercial buildings in North Topeka will be on the market once Southwest Publishing completes its move, but in terms of occupied commercial space, the transaction is a net gain for Topeka.

Even more important is the potential for business and job growth at Southwest Publishing. Company president Shane Hillmer says the move will give Southwest Publishing room to expand its work force from the current 260 to more than 300 and increase sales from about $30 million to $40 million.

Topeka and Shawnee County have invested heavily in recent years to attract businesses to the community and help existing ones grow their operations and work forces. The new businesses — a chocolate factory, bakery and major distribution centers — make a big splash but retaining members of the current business community and helping them grow also is vital.

Yes, it would be nice to have retained Jostens production work while Southwest Publishing found another suitable building that would allow it to grow. But business executives make the moves they think further their companies’ goals — that’s why we now have Mars, Bimbo, Target and Home Depot in our local industrial parks — and that isn’t going to change.

That Jostens’ decision to move its production work to Tennessee created an opportunity for another longtime member of the local business community is a plus for the economy of Topeka and Shawnee County.

Source: southwest - Yahoo! News Search Results http://cjonline.com/opinion/2013-09-20/editorial-southwest-publishing-makes-good-move