Success

Success Stories

Total Label USA

Casey Kyler-West
Main Street Montana, Fall 2008

Accessibility, reliability and velocity; three words Don Farris, Chief Executive Officer of Total Label USA, uses to describe his business philosophy. “You need to be accessible to your customers, be reliable so that they trust you to get the job done, and be able to meet or beat your customer’s deadlines. If one of our customers calls and says we need labels first thing tomorrow morning, they know we can do it,” says Farris.

Located in Whitefish, Montana since 2004, Farris had been based in Tennessee for the previous 34 years. Farris says, “We moved because we had a fundamental belief that American industry was at a watershed point of change. It used to be that industry was located wherever the workforce was; what’s happening now in this more mobile society is, I believe, that you’re going to have to locate your facility where the workforce wants to be-not where they already are.” Farris became interested in the label industry in the late 1960s, when he went to work for a label company after leaving the Army. “Labels are everywhere, food, pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, chemicals; even your car has 300 labels in it.” Farris started his own small shop in 1970 and the rest is, as they say, history. He’s even responsible for inventing the booklet label that you see on chemical and pharmaceutical products.

With its headquarters in Whitefish and two plants in Tennessee, Total Label USA designs, produces and ships labels around the country and the world. Farris says his clients are always surprised when they hear he’s based in Montana and when they ask him why, he invites them for a visit. He says once they come and see the facility, the area and the quality of employees, they understand. “We want to be a family run operation where we know each person, their spouse, their children, their parents; we want to get to know these people and we want to motivate them as individuals. That’s the key to our success and it’s more fun that way,” says Farris. That’s one of the reasons that Farris will not take the company public. “In an economic downturn like we’re seeing right now, public companies have to cut people, but in a family owned business that’s the last thing you cut because you personally live with and adore them.” In order to keep costs down, Total Label USA makes its own label plates. This not only saves money, it also saves time, because the company can start making labels for a customer as soon as the plate is ready, instead of having to wait for it to be shipped from another company.

The move to Montana did not come without challenges. One of the biggest obstacles was bringing a highly technical industry into an area where timber, agriculture and tourism dominate. In order to have employees who could perform some of the technical duties such as graphic design and work with the printing press, Farris had to recruit people into the area. “Recruiting people into Whitefish, Montana, is just about the easiest thing there is,” says Farris. But while Farris has no problem bringing people to Whitefish, he wants to create more opportunity for young people in the area to stay. “What we want to avoid is the continued export of smart young people out of Montana after college.”

Although the company has only been in Whitefish since 2004, it has already experienced growing pains and quickly out grew the 16,000 square foot plant that was originally constructed. In March of this year, the company moved into its new 60,000 square foot multimillion dollar facility located right down the road from the original plant. With the capacity to print up to 50 miles of labels per hour, there is still room to grow. Currently there are 50 employees at Total Label USA; Farris expects to have between 100 and 150 employees in the next ten years.

As the company continues to grow, Farris says he wants to make a difference in the Whitefish community. “It’s one thing to put a business somewhere just because you think you can make some money. It’s quite another to put a business somewhere because you think you can make a difference and make money.” As a result Total Label USA belongs to both the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce and Montana West Economic Development.

Total Label USA truly is a family business. Farris works with his son Christopher, who is the Operations Manager, his daughter Janet Henderson, who is the Administrative Manager and her husband Scott, the Sales Manager. The Farris family not only works together, they live together. Each family has a house built on the 800 acre property owned by the family, so there’s no commute to work. “We plan to be in business forever,” says Farris.

Reprinted with permission from:
Montana Department of Labor and Industry
Main Street Montana
www.MainStreet.mt.gov

Nomad Technologies

Shannon Hughes
Main Street Montana, Fall 2008

Decades ago, timber was the Flathead Valley’s primary resource, and people flocked to this area in northwest Montana for the jobs the resource extraction industry provided.  Today, the Flathead Valley’s stunning natural surroundings are attracting (and retaining) a new breed of entrepreneur: the kind that could operate from Anywhere, USA, but choose communities like Kalispell for the quality of life they offer. One of the most exciting tech companies to emerge in the Flathead in the past few years is Nomad Technologies; a remote communications company that is making possible conversations from Montana’s isolated field operations.

The four founders of Nomad technologies – brothers Will and Seth Schmautz, Shane Ackerly, and Clay Binford – are all in their late 20’s or early 30’s, and originally met while working as rafting guides during the summer.  It was during one of these summers that they saw firefighters fighting wildland blazes lining up to use the few pay phones available in the area. As Will Schmautz tells it, a remote communications company wasn’t exactly in the plans for the outdoor enthusiasts.  “I don’t think any one of us would have predicted that we would end up where we are today, doing what we are doing.  In many ways, it is a dream come true.  We get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, work with exceptional friends and family, and be active in a fast paced, quickly changing business environment.”

That summer the four men came up with the idea to develop mobile vehicles equipped with advanced telecommunications equipment, and Nomad Technologies was born.  Today, their vehicles and telecommunications solutions are deployed across the United States, providing emergency and remote communication capabilities to all levels of government and private industry.

Nomad Technologies currently employs approximately 30 people, has multi-million dollar yearly sales, and is facing the challenge of tremendous growth while courting contracts from U.S. Army, federal and state agencies.  Schmautz says, “We face new challenges every day.  Some are related to keeping up with changing technologies, some with finding adequately trained staff in the northwestern corner of Montana, and some are related to competing with large corporations headquartered in areas with better access to large municipal areas and the powers that be.  In quite a number of instances, we have been encouraged to move our business to another, more central part of the US.” However, the company has no desire to leave the Treasure State. “We love Montana,” says Schmautz. It goes without saying that this is exactly the kind of challenge many Montana businesses hope to experience.

Nomad Technologies requires employees skilled in everything from manufacturing, information technology, and engineering to marketing and sales.  As Nomad continues to expand, it creates more job opportunities for talented individuals and valuable revenue for the state.
The Flathead valley is known across the nation and around the world for its incredible beauty and recreational opportunities.  “When we started Nomad Technologies in this valley we call our home, we were inundated with individuals, businesses and government entities excited about helping us get started.  By keeping our business in Montana, creating solid employment opportunities, and offering only the best communication technologies available, we hope that we will be able to give back to the communities that have supported us so well,” said Schmautz.

For more information on Nomad Technologies, visit their website at: http://www.nomadtechs.com/

Reprinted with permission from:
Montana Department of Labor and Industry
Main Street Montana
www.MainStreet.mt.gov