Laquita Collins This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Macon Telegraph | 05/15/2006 | From part time to big time

   www.macon.com/mld/macon/busine - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/15/2006   Last Visited: 5/15/2006

   Collins, 62, is founder and president of Panaprint Inc., a company in the Airport Industrial Park in south Bibb County that prints, designs, binds and mails magazines, catalogs, booklets, posters, newsletters and calendars.
   
   "Because we are a speciality company and have specialized equipment, we don't have that many competitors in Georgia, although there are some now in Canada and China," Collins said.
   
   Panaprint recently nearly doubled its space when it moved into a 130,000-square-foot portion of a building it purchased on Industrial Boulevard - about a mile from its location for more than 30 years.
   
   Collins said he often marvels at how far the business has come.
   
   "I look around every day and think, 'Lord, how can we be so blessed to be where we are?'," he said. "Five years ago, if you'd asked me 'Where will you be in five years?' I could not have dreamed we would have been here and doing as well."
   
   ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
   
   Collins grew up on a small farm in Houston County, where his father had a country grocery store.
   
   After graduating from Fort Valley High School in 1961, Collins moved to Macon to attend Mercer University. While there, he began working a part-time job of laying out and composing advertisements for Livestock Breeders Journal in downtown Macon.
   
   His career took off and he dropped out of Mercer after two years. After six years at Livestock, he went to work for Southern Press in the same building and entered the sales side of the printing business.
   
   "Those first six to eight years I worked a lot of hours on my own," he said. He "tinkered" with the printing equipment and learned how to work the cameras and other pieces of equipment.
   
   "I was fortunate," he said. "I answered directly to the president, and he gave me free range of the place after closing."
   
   In 1973, Collins bought Omnipress, a small print shop that was part of American Office Equipment Co.
   
   "We bought the assets, equipment and the four people who worked there came to work for us," he said. "It was a little scary (to buy the business) when you've got a couple of kids and have to refinance your house."
   
   Six years later he bought Southern Press, which included a heat-set web publication press. It was the largest printer in Middle Georgia, he said.
   
   Collins moved the business to the industrial park with about 30 workers. The name changed to Panaprint in 1985, and it currently has 104 workers.
   
   "I'll tell you why he's been so successful," said Wayne Ellis, president of STAT Medical of Georgia, who has known Collins about 30 years.
   ...
   When Collins was a child, he said, he didn't really set out to be an entrepreneur.
   
   "I didn't realize it until after working for someone else for a while," he said. "I think I inherited it from my father."
   
   Though his father may have inspired him to set off on his own, Collins said his mother had the greatest influence on his life, even though she died when he was 14.
   
   "My mother used to say 'I'm proud of you' all the time," he said.
   
   He tries to say it often to his own two sons, Rette and Christian, who are both vice presidents in the business.
   
   "I am pleased to have two fine sons and for them to have an interest in what I do," he said. "It's fun every day. One of my biggest problems is keeping them out of my office.
   ...
   Family: Wife of 42 years, Laquita Collins; two sons, Rette Collins, 39, and Christian Collins, 36; four grandchildren.