EBE AWARDS
A22 n Toledo Free Press
Metzger brothers always looking to evolve business Joe Metzger knows the importance of changing with the times as much as anyone. Metzgers Printing + Mailing, the Toledo business he runs with his brother Tom, got its start in 1976 as a typesetting business — a viable field in the 1970s, but considerably less so in 2011. The company originated as Type House, founded by Tom and Joe’s father, Norb Metzger. Since then, it has evolved, adding prepress, offset printing, digital printing, mailing, data management, warehouse and fulfillment and cross media (onJOE METZGER line/offline) capabilities. Today, Metzgers is one of the top 400 commercial printing companies in the United States, serving corporations, educational institutions, health care organizations and advertising agencies across the Midwest. Joe Metzger, president of the company, credits an ability to adapt technologically as a key reason for the company’s longevity and success. As the company’s website asks: “What do YOU want to get done today?” “I’d say a genuine curiosity and the innovation that we’ve done to really pay attention to what is going on in our industry, and then reacting to them,” Metzger said of how the company has been able to stay relevant. “My brother and I are constantly wondering what’s next, never sitting still and always being curious.”
Joe and Tom took over daily operation of Metzgers when Norb retired in 1994. In the 17 years since, the company has grown from 15 employees to a staff of 85 full-time and 35 part-time workers. The company typically has almost 400 active customers at a time and completes about 1,200 projects a month. Last year, it had rooftop solar panels installed, which account for 13 percent of the company’s power usage. The company recently received a Business Excellence Award from the Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame, which Metzger said is an honor, but it also makes him a little uneasy. “It makes us nervous,” he said. “It’s kind of like that old jinx of the guys who get their faces on the front of Sports Illustrated. This award’s been going around for decades, and if you look at the list of winners, there’s a lot of people on that list that are no longer in business. We can’t look at that award and think it’s going to pay the bills next year — it’s not. That’s the thing about business; everything’s changing so fast.” Metzger said the nomination and selection process was quite rigorous. “It’s not easy. I was surprised at how difficult the process is,” he said. “It is an honor; it’s exciting; obviously we’re going to be in the limelight for a couple of hours. On the same note, the next day, we’ve still got to get in here and be sure we work hard and continue to do what we’ve always done.” The company is expanding into promotional products and large-format items, such as signage and banners. For more information, visit www.metzgers. com. O — Joel Sensenig
NOVEMBER 13, 2011
Northwood firm pioneered medical product safety industry North American Science Associates Inc. in Northwood, better known as NAMSA, was recently recognized with a Business Excellence Award at the 2011 Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame awards ceremony Nov. 10. “It’s an award we all share here,” said John Gorski, president and CEO of the medical device research company. “We work together to make medical products safe before they go to market.” The firm was founded as Science Associates Inc. in 1967 by Gorski’s parents, Ted and Lucille Gorski, who adopted its current name in 1977. Ted, who died in 1998, was a Ph.D. biochemist and physiologist who became an entrepreneur, establishing the business that became an industry. “They were pioneers of the industry,” Gorski said of his parents. “It was really the American Dream for them.” NAMSA was the first independent company to focus solely on testing medical devices and pharmaceutical containers for safety, doing so before the Food and Drug Administration started regulating such products in 1976, Gorski said. “We’re the UL (Underwriters Laboratories) of the medical device industry,” Gorski said. “We’re the largest and oldest of about a dozen organizations doing this kind of work.” The company is involved in consulting, lab testing and clinical trials for medical devices such as heart valves, pacemakers, stents and orthopedic implants. NAMSA scientists also help establish regulations for testing medical devices internationally. The company’s growth has continued in the U.S., Asia and Europe, Gorski said. During the past year, the company has served more than 2,500 clients in 58 countries, he said. About half the work is done at NAMSA’s Northwood headquarters and the other half at lab facilities in Minneapolis, Kalamazoo, southern California and France. NAMSA has 525 employees, including scientists, engineers, lab technicians, clinical nurses and administrative staff, with about half based in Northwood. Thanks to its continued growth, NAMSA is currently undergoing its third expansion in the past eight years. The company is adding 20,000 square feet of lab and testing facilities to its existing 120,000-square-foot Northwood facility. For more information, visit www.namsa.com.O — Duane Ramsey
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