Bright Ideas
Insights, Spring ’05

“Survival in a competitive business requires figuring out what each customer values most and providing that: quality, service, price -- or all three.”

Rosco Lockhart bought his first printing press in 1988, which he set up in a spare bedroom at home. Today, Phoenix Printing, a Rockvillebased, full-service printing company, employs 15 people and averages $1.6 million in annual sales, with a customer base of nearly 1,000 companies. “Printing is a loyalty business. I realized it wasn’t enough to be a good printer—I had to know sales, accounting, management, and customer service. Montgomery College helped me with all of that.” Lockhart, a high school dropout, calls himself a “worker that owns a business,” giving due to his years of on-the-job training and evening courses at MC. The company opened a second location in Washington, D.C., last year, allowing Lockhart to bid on jobs inside the Beltway.