In her grandfather’s footsteps: Printer continues family legacy

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A decades-old Grand Rapids business has strived to hold the same values under three generations of ownership.

Swift Printing was started 74 years ago by Walt Gutowski Sr., first operating out of his home before moving to 404 Bridge St. near Mt. Vernon Avenue in 1954, where it’s been ever since. He started by making wedding invitations, reaching out to people when they announced an upcoming wedding in the newspaper.

It was later taken over by his son, who grew the company by offering more products to other businesses.

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Last year, the business was handed down to Gutowski’s granddaughter, Jessica Gutowski-Slaydon. The third-generation business owner has been in the printing industry from birth, she said, going to the print shop on snow days with her dad. She said he would also occasionally hire her and her friends to work on projects.

“My parents never pressured any of us kids to work here in the print shop,” she said. “I just love it.”

She left Michigan after high school, going to Florida to get a degree in public relations. There, she met her husband and got a job in marketing. But the Sunshine State never felt like home, she said, and she starting thinking about moving back to join the family business.

“As soon as I made the decision with my husband to come back to Michigan and work here with my family, everything just kind of fell in place,” she said. “I pinch myself because I get to work with my family. I work with an amazing, awesome team and it’s just a lot of fun.”

She now works with her brother and around 10 others. The business offers a variety of printing services, creating everything from envelopes and letterheads to business cards and wayfinders. It also does printing services for individuals, like wedding or graduation invitations.

It is also part of B Corporation, a nonprofit that promotes social and environmental performance by companies through a certification process.

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The majority of Swift Printing’s customers are in West Michigan, and Gutowski-Slaydon said she loves working with other local companies and seeing the printed material in use, like going to an event downtown for which her team printed materials.

“I get so geeked and so excited and so tickled that we had the honor and that people trusted us to be able to achieve those deadlines,” she said. “There’s no greater joy for me, besides my children and my husband.”

While the printing industry is always evolving, she said many people don’t realize how prevalent printed material still is in such a digital world.

“If we were printing phone books, that wouldn’t be working out for us so well,” she joked. “But we’re the type of business (that) we’re scrappy. We’re going to fill the niche where there’s a place that needs help.”

While the industry is male-dominated, she said she’s never faced pushback for her gender — though she noted she has heard stories of men excluding others in the industry.

“Women’s History (Month) is very special to me because I come from a long line of strong women,” she said. “I never knew a time period when girls couldn’t do everything guys can do. My mom was a stay-at-home mom, but she always preached girl power and was always trying to get me and my sisters to push ourselves.”

“I’m just so grateful to come from a family business where … I always had a seat at the table,” she added.

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Growing up, her parents often talked about the company and taught her and her siblings about good business practices and being good stewards of the community.

Gutowski-Slaydon added family businesses are important because the values of the owner can continue. She said her team still understands her grandfather’s care for giving back to the community and her dad’s heart and passion for the industry.

“The main pillars of our beliefs are take care of your people, take care of your community, take care of the environment, and everything will fall in place,” she said. “And … my teammates, they’re just some of the best teammates that you could possibly have.”

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