Toledo Ticket Technologies gears up for Solheim Cup

Jun. 19—Inside a small nondescript brick building on Toledo's north end is a big business.

Toledo Ticket Technologies, founded as Toledo Ticket Co. in 1910, has provided paper tickets for sporting events, theater productions, and parking garages for over a century, becoming the dominant ticket manufacturer for the parking industry in the United States.

In September, their work will be spotted hanging from lanyards and review mirrors, as Toledo Ticket is supplying the Solheim Cup with credential badges and parking passes.

"It's very exciting," said Dave Dorner, executive vice president at Toledo Ticket Technologies. "This golf tournament has everything. It has tradition. It has prestige. It has national pride. When I watched two years ago, it was almost like the Olympics cheering for Team USA. For the folks in Toledo, it's literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Which is why Toledo Ticket, family-owned for five generations, didn't want to miss out. The company is the official ticket provider for the Marathon LPGA Classic, so a relationship was already built with women's golf and the LPGA Tour.

Soon after Inverness was announced as the host site for the 2021 Solheim Cup, Toledo Ticket offered their services.

"I don't know if they would've looked for us," Dorner said, "but we proactively looked for them."

The partnership has been seamless. Credential designs began in early 2021, with communication being as simple as driving the 7.1 miles — only three turns — from Catawba Street to the Solheim Cup headquarters at Inverness.

Designing badges and parking passes might not sound intensive, but it's a deliberate process. There isn't necessarily a template to follow, though the LPGA shares samples from past events with Toledo Ticket, which has the latitude to be creative.

"It's been wonderful working with a local company like Toledo Ticket because they can swing by and show us samples, and they're always very quick to respond," said Alex Graf, tournament services manager for the Solheim Cup. "A lot of other ticket vendors we ask about doing Solheim Cup with are out-of-town and out-of-state. While they have great quality too, it's just so much easier with Toledo Ticket. Understanding the scope of what they do has been really impressive."

Grant Northrup, a Toledo businessman and politician who was once the city's vice mayor and Lucas County Treasurer, founded Toledo Ticket Co. as a vehicle to print carinal and theater tickets.

The Toledo Ticket name is noticeable on the back of University of Toledo, Mud Hens, and Walleye tickets.

The company transitioned to the Toledo Ticket Technologies name last year as it evolves in an era less reliant on paper and more technology-dependent. In February, Toledo Ticket acquired Oobeo, Inc., a parking technology company specializing in valet management solutions and web-based contactless payment systems, enhancing Toledo Ticket's diversified product portfolio beyond paper tickets.

"We're a quote-unquote ticket company," Dorner said. "But really, we're a secure-access company. We create the different tools for that access depending on what people want."

What a whole lot of people want is access to the Solheim Cup. If their method of admittance is a badge, it will be printed by Toledo Ticket Technologies.

"We've been trying to use a lot of local vendors for signage and things like that," Graf said. "It's been great getting a local company like Toledo Ticket involved. We're hoping they can make a bigger splash at other LPGA events through this."

First Published June 19, 2021, 10:00am