It’s not all doom and gloom in Mackay despite the recent collapse of Digimax Printing, which went into liquidation owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the wake of collapsing coal prices.
“Maybe the town only needed two printers,” said Kathy Farren-Price, co-owner of thriving Mackay-based BB Print, whose company has moved into its own larger building and continues to update equipment and expand operations.
“I sit on the Chamber of Commerce committee and felt I should respond to your story as it is not all doom and gloom,” Farren-Price told Print21. “As negative as it is for any business to close, Mackay is a special case. There are so many variables here that it is just not a straight forward doomsday. The town is up and down but we’re keeping busy and it’s important that the negativity doesn’t creep in. As a business community we are very positive for our future. We had a meeting of industry leaders last week and came away with quite a positive outlook for the future.
“A lot of companies came in on the mining boom and went bust afterwards as they had no ground roots in business or Mackay,” she said. “There are some people hurting in the town but whether that’s from lack of management I’m not sure. You have to get out there these days in order to get new business because it doesn’t just walk in the door like it used to.”
BB Print, established 23 years ago, last year moved from its original home in Mackay’s CBD to a bigger plant in the industrial precinct of Paget.
“BB Print’s client base is diverse and Paget’s industrial sector has a need for a lot of core products including general printing, carbonised books and safety tags,” said Farren-Price.
“The new location gets BB Print in front of a larger audience but keeps the sales team close to the Mackay centre which is a great benefit when it comes to servicing local clients. The new location has seen BB Print’s industrial products continue to be well supported along with a host of other printing products that are on offer."
BB Print is a 100% locally owned business that began with two employees in 1992 and now has a staff of 20. It’s the first and only company north of the Sunshine Coast to boast Sustainable Green Print (SGP) accreditation.
“We use greener chemicals and soy-based inks whenever possible and by recycling printing plates and pallets we put the environment first,” said co-owner Gary Bye. “It’s good for customers to know that in dealing with us they too are being environmentally responsible.”
“We try our best to be innovative in every aspect of our business,” said Farren-Price. “The design team creates each project as originally as possible with the focus on customer satisfaction. The BB Print design team can create anything from logo design though to corporate profiles and websites, servicing the overall needs of business."
The company aims to keep three apprentices on staff at all time, she said.
“While the economy may be affected at the moment, BB Print has been preparing for the upturn and we take our position as an industry leader seriously."
