It’s been a slow, steady climb for hobbyist-turned-businessman Jon Powell.
Ten years ago, the former Midcontinent Communications installer spent evenings and weekends doing graphic design for area racecar drivers with his wife, Amanda.
“It was just kind of a hobby, a way to make a little money on the side,” Powell said. “We’ve just grown slowly but surely since then.”
Last month, the self-taught graphic designer moved his five employees into a brand new 5,200 square foot building on 470th Avenue Until then, the company had operated in a rented building with about half the space on Highway 106.
The move was a big step for Powell, who bought the new building before the interior was complete and designed the inside to fit his needs.
“Nothing was done in here when we purchased the building,” the Tea resident said.
Powell grew up around cars in his parents’ auto body shop in Viborg, so it is perhaps unsurprising that his own business is well-known now for its work with area racecar drivers such as Gary Brown, Jr., Robbie Wolfgang, Bryan Dobesh and Clint Garner.
The full service nature of the business draws customers from Sioux Falls, Tea, Iowa and Minnesota, Powell said, but his crew also prints T-shirts for little league teams, business cards and custom pens and coffee mugs for area businesses and custom auto detailing for private car owners.
The purchase of TMD Designs in 2005 got JP into the screen-printing business – allowing them to print T-shirts – and they added embroidery soon thereafter.
“Our claim to fame here is that we’re kind of a one-stop shop,” Powell said.
Tea Park and Recreation and Tea True Value recently employed JP’s services this spring for T-shirts and graphics.
Dobesh was drawn to the business three years ago. JP designs and prints the vinyl decals for his sprint cars and prints the T-shirts that promote his racing teams.
“I’m actually working with them on the whole package,” Dobesh said. “Jon’s a really great guy to work for and he’s got a great group of guys working for him.”
That Powell and his crew are all race fans is a plus on the customer service end, Dobesh said, but the ability of the shop to print the vinyl lettering on one layer cuts ounces from a car’s weight.
“I don’t know that it makes you any faster, but it makes you more aerodynamic and gives you a bit of an advantage,” he said.
There are advantages for the crew with the new building, Graphic Designer Stan Wissink said. The smaller building had designers clumped together and projects were closer and closer together as the business grew. Now there is some breathing room and everyone has a desk.
“Before, it was kind of like ‘here’s the desk,’” Wissink said. “I think it’s much more efficient and there’s a better work flow because everyone has their own space.”