To a layman at first glance, the photo of the woman looked fine. It was a tiny black-and-white head shot, often called a “cut-in” in the newspaper business, not much bigger than a person’s thumbnail. But to Robert Nangle, co-owner and president of Meridian Printing in East Greenwich, the reproduction was far from good enough.
Scrutinizing the proof sheet closely, he pointed out to a visitor how the contrasting tones of the photo were not strong enough, so some of the woman’s blond hair and even part of her face, while fully visible, were just the smallest bit washed out. Just a bit of detail was missing.
But it was enough for Nangle to tell the production man at his side to create a new printing plate, to make sure the reproduction was 100 percent spot-on. “We probably make more plates in a month than the normal printer would make in a year,” Nangle would later say.
The woman in the photo is on the board of directors of a well-known cosmetic company based in New York City and the document under review, printed on high-quality, glossed paper, is part of a report featuring the pictures and biographies of board members. So, yes, this was an important and expensive job for Meridian, but Nangle said he and his workers take just as much care with every printing job.
“We are the type of printer that works best with a discerning buyer,” he said. “We fill a niche for someone looking not just for traditional printing, but good quality, offset printing.” For those seeking the lowest price, “we’re probably not the right fit,” he readily admitted. “There is a market for that, but that’s not the area we focus on.
“We focus on quality rather than capacity,” he continued. “That being said, we still have to make a profit.” The business “walks a tightrope” to maintain quality while offering “competitive prices,” Nangle said. Meridian’s prices, while not the lowest, are “not necessarily the highest,” he stressed.
Located on South County Trail, Meridian Printing was founded in the early 1970s and locally owned until 1996, when a company from Ireland bought it, hired Nangle as vice president of finance, then vice president of operations and finally president of the firm. In 2002, he and his business partner, Steven Lee, purchased Meridian. Lee is now executive vice president.
Nangle is a Rhode Island native who grew up in Smithfield, received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Rhode Island in 1982 and, before coming to Meridian, worked six years for Autocrat Inc., the Lincoln coffee company.
Meridian prints high-quality photo reproductions – many stunning examples by photographer Ansel Adams are framed and displayed throughout the building – and art books for the international market. On the commercial side, the company prints letterhead, envelopes, business cards, brochures, annual reports, postcards, pocket folders and booklets, “the entire gamut of commercial printing,” Nangle said. The company also does the mailing and packaging for commercial customers.
Most of the company’s commercial printing is done for entities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, with colleges and universities in particular among its major customers. Nangle estimated that Meridian does between 2,000 and 3,000 commercial jobs each year.
Meridian uses a 40-inch 10-color press, a 29-inch, six-color press and three 40-inch, six-color presses. The ink is vegetable oil-based, rather than petroleum-based. The company uses only paper approved by the Forestry Stewardship Council, an international group that promotes “forest-friendly” paper manufacturers, according to Nangle.
Meridian pays a premium to National Grid to buy wind power as its source of energy. “That gives our customers the ability to say their brochures were printed with wind power,” he noted. “And, as manufacturers ourselves, it is important for us to offset any damage done to the environment.”
Meridian has won many awards for its work, including honors from the Graphic Communications Industry of Rhode Island, the Ben Franklin Honor Society of Printing Industries of America Inc. and Sappi Fine Paper based in South Africa. •
COMPANY PROFILE
Meridian Printing
OWNERS: Robert Nangle and Steven Lee
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Commercial printing
LOCATION: 1538 South County Trail (Route 2), East Greenwich
EMPLOYEES: 75
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1972
ANNUAL SALES: WND
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