Rapid Elite takes community seriously

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Offering printing, shipping, design work and more, Rapid Elite, located at 418 N. Main St., takes its work and being a good community member very seriously.

Owner Matt Gaarder is constantly upgrading equipment — like the new envelope printer he just received — to be able to offer new items and services to the community and it shows since the business is busier than ever.

Gaarder said December 2020 was the company’s biggest month ever, “and we’ve steadily grown from that point on in terms of the amount of jobs we do and the amount of customers we have. Every year, we’ve seen that go up.” He said it’s been difficult to pinpoint exactly why, because there are numerous aspects to the business, but he believes word of mouth has really helped.

“We just try to do great work,” Gaarder said. “... People come back because it’s quality.”

It also helps that he has great fulltime staff in Stef Nickell and Terrilynn Wilson.

“I have amazing staff,” Gaarder said. “These two, are my constants ... the backbone of the growth.”

Joking that they tell him the business runs better when he’s gone, Gaarder said he trusts them implicitly with the work because they have done so much to keep customers happy and the quality of work at an everincreasing high level.

Lately the business has been seeing a lot of promotional materials work.

Working with Northwest Missouri State University on several pieces, Maryville Tourism Committee and United Services, the business is no stranger to large quantities of work.

He said the number of things they can print on has increased in the last year with a new UV printer that can print on nearly anything; plastic, metal, wood, etc.

He’s seen an uptick in yard sign printing, and several specifically supporting the local Spoofy Beans program at Maryville High School.

Rapid Elite is helping Spoofy Beans with a fundraiser, where community members may buy one of three specific yard signs and all the funds made got back to the 108 Family’s Spoofy Beans.

Printed and ready for donors, Gaarder said, there’s no waiting for one of those three signs, one of which has a heart and a KC. A second one has a Maryville R-II “M.” A third features a Bearcat paw.

He said that the collaboration began when the Boeh sisters, Candace and Alexis, brought in high school students in the 108 Family to see how printing works. Gaarder and staff designed name tags for them and took them through the printing, cutting and lanyard process. When they’re serving coffee on location, the students wear those name tags.

“They had such a blast,” he said. “I think we had more fun than Spoofy Beans. I mean the looks on their faces, especially when we gave each one of them their personalized badges, it was so much fun to have ’em here.”

Gaarder said they just try to be a friend to the community and “put out the best product possible. … We just take pride in our work.”