Banner Retail Marketing Group, a Liberty Lake company that helps small retailers stay afloat in a competitive sea of advertising, is starting to make some waves of its own, says Bill Sauther, its president and co-owner.


The company, which currently has about 75 employees, grossed $55 million in 2006up from $8 million in 1998, when it employed no more than 15 people, Sauther says.


He expects the companys revenue to top $70 million this year, and his goal for Banner is to break $100 million in annual revenue by 2010. He estimates the company will employ 180 to 200 people when it reaches that goal.


Right now, were on track to hire 11 more people in 2007, he says.


Banner creates high-quality advertising inserts and mailers that enable independent retailers to promote their goods with pieces that rival the quality of those put out by retail giants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co, Sauther claims.


Thousands of independent retailers have trouble competing, Sauther says. We give them the tools to compete.


Banner-designed advertising inserts are distributed in every market in the U.S., and the Liberty Lake company also has some customers in Canada and is looking to expand into Mexico and South America, he says.


The company doesnt have printing presses of its own. Its printing partners, which printed 1.4 billion fliers for Banner last year, are located in distribution hubs in Nevada, North Carolina, Michigan, and Connecticut.


We dont have equipment in this building, Judd Jones, Banners director of production, says of Banners headquarters, located at 23305 E. Knox. We are able to shift into different media as the independent retailer needs.


Despite Banners growing production volume and revenue, it has kept a low profile, with only about $100,000 of its annual revenue generated within the Inland Northwest, where Burgans Fine Furniture, of Spokane, is its largest customer.


Now, Sauther says he thinks Banner needs to raise its profile in order to reach its goal of having $100 million in annual revenue.


This company in little Liberty Lake is producing more than a billion circulars, and no one has heard of us, Jones says.


That doesnt help Banner to recruit the additional employees it needs for continued growth, he says.


Its a fun, energetic company, and were looking nationwide for recruits, he says.


Sauther, whos been known to call employees out of the building for occasional impromptu basketball games, emphasizes having fun in the workplace, but is uncompromising when it comes to quality, Jones says.


Banner had precision-color-viewing technology developed for it that allows it to view electronically full-size advertising pages in real time just as the printers see them.


Instead of printing partners telling us what its going to look like, we tell them this is what it has to look like, so the color matches perfectly, he says. We are seeing the colors that they are going to get when this hits the streets in New York or another distribution point.


Banner also holds weekly Banner University workshops for its employees to learn about the aspects of the business, including about subject materials in the ad designs, some of which are on display. The company currently is working on advertising material that will be circulated in July. By March, Banner will be designing fall promotions.


Banner was conceived by a manufacturers representative who launched the company and hired Sauther out of college to make advertising fliers to help retailers sell the products he represented.


Sauther and his wife, Jane, who works in Banners accounting and finance department, bought the company in 1990 and grew it from there.


In December 2005, Banner moved into its fourth building in the Spokane Area.


We went up to 13,000 square feet from 8,000 square feet, Jones says. Were out of room and looking to expand again.


Also looking to the future, Banner is developing an automated process that will flow retailer information and prices onto electronic advertising templates. Currently, designers manually enter the information.


It would free up designers to design rather than type in prices, Jones says.


Banner continues to rely on manufacturers representatives to distribute its own promotional materials to independent retailers, who then place orders for inserts and mailers from Banner.


Jones holds up a sample flier that a representative would show a retailer to promote a line of furniture. All the flier needs is the retailers store information and updated prices and it would be ready to go.


If this hits the streets and drives traffic into the store, the rep. is selling furniture, Jones says.


Sauther says he wants to develop ways for Banner to shift into producing ads for electronic media, although he expects print-media advertising will remain dominant for the foreseeable future.


Print media has a longer life to go than people think, he says.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.