Century Publishing Co., of Post Falls, is investing $1.3 million in new equipment and building upgrades this year, has broken monthly sales records three times so far in 2005, and is planning to recruit 30 additional employees.


Mike Urquhart, the companys vice president, says its revenue has more than doubled over the past seven years and is expected to hit $24.5 million this year, which would be up from $22.5 million in 2004. He attributes the companys growth to better equipment, improved efficiency, and gains in its real estate-magazine market.


The company this year has bought and installed two machinesan ultraviolet coater and a new perfect binderthat allow it to put a glossy, full-color finish on magazine covers and glue papers together rather than use staples, Urquhart says. The company already owned perfect-binding equipment, but the newer model binds materials faster than the old one, he says.


Century previously used outside vendors for UV coating, but now can offer that feature at a lower cost and with a faster turnaround, controller David Risdon says. Since the installation of its equipment, demand for UV-coated materials has increased from 14 orders in May to 30 in June, and orders are expected to double in the next couple of months, he says. He expects the company to be receiving an estimated 60 orders a month for UV coating by the end of this year.


Over the past two years, Century also has added a second web press, a second computer-to-plate device that burns digital images directly onto printing plates, and a new inking system that boosts printing capability to five colors in a single run, Risdon says. In addition, it has made building improvements, at a total cost of $2.5 million.


The new equipment saves money particularly by saving time, which is important to Century because it operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he says. The changes also have reduced paper waste by half.


Building improvements still slated for this year include a $34,000 remodel of a warehouse used at the plant to store up to 400,000 pounds of paper. Once those renovations are completed, the buildings storage capacity will increase by 180,000 pounds. In all, the warehouse stored 1.8 million pounds of paper in June, with inventory moving through as print jobs were done, Risdon says.


Century has produced an average of 210 publications a month so far in 2005, he says. It prints 60 publications just for clients who are part of the Homes & Land Publishing Corp. franchising network, he says. The real estate-magazine franchise is owned by Quincy, Fla.-based Printing House Inc., Centurys parent company, which in turn is owned by Tallahassee, Fla.-based Endurance Business Media.


Century prints the magazines for Homes & Land markets on the West Coast and in Hawaii. The company plans to grow revenue primarily through picking up more publications in that franchise network, and it added three more magazines last month, Risdon says.


In addition to the Homes & Land franchises, Century also is pushing to expand its nationwide commercial sales, which include printing of any publication that doesnt fall under the real estate category, Urquhart says. The concerns local clients currently include Inland NW Homes & Lifestyles magazine, which is published by the Journal of Business; Spokane Coeur dAlene Living magazine; and Northwest Bride & Newlywed magazine, he says.


The biggest challenges Century faces as it implements its growth strategy are finding entry-level workers to operate the new equipment it has acquired and keeping up with rising demand, says human resources manager Pamela DeMarcus.


DeMarcus says the company has added 17 positions in the production and administrative departments in the past six months. It currently employs 120 people and is staging an aggressive recruitment strategy to hire 30 more people in positions ranging from entry-level to top-level production jobs, she says. The positions are expected to add $950,000 in annual payroll and benefit costs to the companys books.


Were experiencing a dry cycle for recruiting entry-level workers in Spokane and Kootenai County, she says. Commercial printing companies nationwide are also having a hard time filling skilled positions.


Risdon says part of the reason for the worker shortage is the recent business and commercial growth in the area. He notes that the unemployment rate in Kootenai County for the first quarter of 2005 was just 3 percent.


Wages for the lowest-paid positions start at $8.50 an hour, but Century offers competitive benefits packages and opportunities to move up rapidly within the company, Risdon says.


The average annual employee turnover rate is less than 10 percent, and the average tenure is about nine years, which shows the employment stability there, DeMarcus says.


She says the other focus for the company right now, besides recruiting, is community development. The focus includes charity work through organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, and sponsorships of local families during the Christmas season.


Were trying to get our employees back into the community, she says. Weve been more involved in the past and its time to start giving back again to an area thats given us so much.


DeMarcus attributes Centurys growth and community-development initiatives to an executive change that recently took place at Endurance Business Media, which bought Centurys former parent company, Prince Communications Ltd., of Tallahassee, in 2004. Endurance Business Media hired CEO Pat Nadler this May, she says.


Nadler visited Century in June to get to know the management team and to talk about changes being implemented to increase printing revenues and to bring on new employees, she says.