Local supporting local: How Pro Image can help your small business stand out
The world of screen printing can get wild and crazy for anyone stepping into it for the first time — so many options, so many brands, and so many companies vying for your business. In Rochester, Pro Image Promotions and Apparel’s whole business is based on making your business look good, offering advice and prompt service through every step of the promotional product process.
In addition to their in-house screen printing and embroidery operation, Pro Image can help your organization get its logo on over 800,000 different items. Coffee mugs, lanyards, golf ball markers, pens, the list goes on — if you can think of it, Pro Image can help you make sense of all the options and get your operation off the ground.
Pro Image owner Steve Prigge took charge of the business in 2008 and has worked with thousands of different businesses, organizations and private parties in the twelve years since then. He says it’s the personal service that sets his business apart from the competition, whether they be a brick-and-mortar operation or based primarily online.
“It’s about being able to come in and see the apparel, try it on, make sure it’s the right shirt — and we can still do the virtual proof so you can make sure,” says Steve.
The team at Pro Image can help take your merchandise to the next level, no matter what your needs are. Need a fresh design or logo? Their in-house design team can help. Not sure what promotional products will make the best impact? Steve can offer some guidance. Need to keep a shirt order under a tight budget? Pro Image can print on dozens of different shirt brands, with various price points.
Every order is different, but the request is always the same: make the customer look good. Steve says that challenge is what keeps him going.
“I really love the diversity,” he explains. “Every day, we work on different projects with different organizations, and it’s about getting them the products they need. How can we help grow their business, get exposure, whatever they need?”
Two Sides, Same Coin
As a self-proclaimed outdoorsman and member of the “old-school,” Steve saw a pressing need to bring in a younger person with a fresh mindset as Rochester slowly shifted to a younger and technologically-centered demographic. That problem was solved in 2018 with the addition of Ryan Froh, a young screen-printer from the Rochester area with a knack for social media and making connections.
“I knew I needed to get more involved with social media, update our website and stuff, so when I started working with Ryan, I knew it was a good fit,” says Steve. “He’s new, up and coming, active on social media, very creative — and that was an area I always wanted to try to move to. I learned a long time ago, good managers get good people around them, and then everyone’s successful.”
In the two years since Ryan joined the Pro Image team, the pair have formed a dynamic business duo, joking around and giving each other grief every step of the way. While Steve has learned the power of social media from Ryan, the younger Ryan says he’s learned the power of engaging with customers without a screen from his elder.
“I feel like we’re so lost in technology now, we don’t have these connections where we’re meeting in person and doing things like that,” says Ryan. “At the end of the day, we could just become a company where we just ship things out to people. But we both know there’s a better way. We go visit our customers. We connect with them. We genuinely want to know when somebody’s growing or doing something good.”
Looking to the Future
The complementary mindsets of Steve and Ryan have helped Pro Image grow into one of the most trusted screen-printing businesses in the region. It’s also enabled the company to expand into other areas of marketing and promotion, like vinyl banners for car exteriors and interior walls.
The newest Pro Image offering, though, isn’t a physical ‘thing’ at all.
Froh’s web design experience opened the door for Pro Image to roll out online stores for local organizations. For lots of local organizations, it’s simply too expensive to roll out a sophisticated online ordering system — but with Pro Image, the ability is there.
“It costs a lot of money to create a website, have e-commerce, and do all that stuff,” says Ryan. “With my web background, we’re able to help out with that.”
The online store can help alleviate some of the overhead costs when planning a large t-shirt order, Ryan says. Before, business and event coordinators came to Pro Image with a rough estimate of the size distributions they needed, which normally led to some shirts being left over at the end of the distribution process. Now, organizations using the website let their patrons pick exactly what they need — eliminating the guesstimations, saving money, and making the whole process a lot easier.
“It really simplifies the process,” says Steve. “Once you meet with Ryan, he helps with the design of the store. The store goes up, people order off the site, we produce the product, and we sort everything. Then, when it’s completed, we box it all up and hand the order over. The person that’s coordinating, they’ve always said ‘oh my god, that’s such a big help.”
The blend of Ryan’s new-school technological prowess and Steve’s old-school Midwestern good-neighbor mentality makes Pro Image the perfect partner for any promotional need. Both Ryan and Steve say they have seen dozens of people come to them with stories of messed-up orders from the current screen-printing industry leaders, primarily based online. They say Pro Image is the smart choice over those online options, both on price points and quality of service.
After all, it’s all about your business looking as good as possible.
“If we embroider something, we can send a mockup and deliver something over to you and ask ‘Is this going to work?,”’ says Ryan. “If you go to a larger site and ask ‘hey, can I see what this looks like?’, they’re not responding to your email or they’re going to ask for money. It’s nice to have that touch and to be able to respond to things.”
Responding to Covid-19
To assist businesses that are reopening get through this crisis, Pro Image is offering free decoration of screen-printing or embroidery with setup for apparel ordered through June 2020. Delivery is included. Some limitations apply. Contact Pro Image online or by phone — (507) 280-1919 — for details.
