Precision Screen Graphics: An Old Business With a New Look

The story of is not only the story of a quality business that has been serving the Puget Sound Region for over 30 years. It’s also the story of two women who believe in community, and in their ability to make good things happen on a daily basis.

When PSG owners Teri Gilmore and Alison Cartwrite first met in 2006, neither was in the printing business. Gilmore was the owner of a martial arts dojo she hoped to expand into a multi-faceted fitness and well-being center; Cartwrite, with her sister, had recently started an internet-based clothing business, WaterMeWell.

They met one day when Cartwrite was filling in at Louie Permelia in Redmond, where she had previously worked. She and Gilmore, who had come into the clothing store with her twin daughters, started talking and became instant best friends. “There were so many synchronicities,” marvels Gilmore.

The two have talked daily ever since, says Cartwrite. “I don’t even talk to my kids every day,” laughs Gilmore, who says the friendship stayed strong through the years she spent in the San Francisco Bay Area, “recreating” herself after a divorce. When Cartwrite had an opportunity to buy PSG a year and a half ago, Gilmore was the first person she called.

Cartwrite’s connection with PSG came about through her clothing business... “It’s kind of a fun story,” she says.

WaterMeWell sells “inner healing apparel” that has messages printed on the inside of the garments. Cartwrite says the concept for the clothing line sprang from the ideas of Japanese author Masaru Emoto, who believes the molecular structure of water is affected by the human words, emotions and thoughts to which it is exposed.

Since the human body is 70 percent water, Emoto theorizes, it can be similarly affected. So, thought Cartwrite, perhaps healing words printed on the inside of clothing can transmit those positive messages through the body of the wearer. That’s the philosophy of WaterMeWell.

Because the printing is on the inside of the clothing, Cartwrite needed to find a process that wouldn’t leave a scratchy residue on the fabric. Her search led her to PSG, where former owner Betty Gallagher was willing to work with her to find a solution.

The answer turned out to be a digital printer Gallagher had recently purchased. Cartwrite also needed to print stickers for her clothing and to etch messages on water glasses, all processes which PSG offered. Eventually, Gallagher invited Cartwrite to come into the shop and use the equipment herself. When, three years later, Gallagher was looking to sell the business, she asked Cartwrite if she was interested.

Cartwrite and Gilmore, along with two silent partners, put together a financing package and purchased the business. Only the third owners in the company’s history, they have been operating on a steep learning curve ever since.

“I didn’t know a thing about the business,” says Gilmore. “There’s so much detail [to it].” Adds Cartwrite: “I never would have done it if the crew wasn’t so great and so intact.” She says their employees are talented, dedicated and have been doing the work for years.

PSG has a long history of award-winning work on which Gilmore and Cartwrite hope to build. The company specializes in “control panel printing,” putting labels, numbers and tic marks on everything from electronic devices to musical or medical instruments.

They do their screen printing manually, with tight, precise registration. “This is where we are award-winning,” says Gilmore. They can print logos and designs on pretty much anything you can think of – clothing, signs, stickers, ribbons, mugs, etc. Recent projects have ranged from 1/2-inch replicas of maple syrup jugs to school volleyball nets.

Thanks to Gallagher’s penchant for purchasing new equipment (“one toy after another, in a way,” laughs Cartwrite”), PSG has over the years added several other methods of applying designs to various materials. They include embroidery, laser etching and vinyl application, as well as the digital printing that attracted Cartwrite in the first place.

Gilmore and Cartwrite want customers to know it’s not necessary to have a precise project in mind to do business with PSG. “People come here not knowing we can find solutions,” says Gilmore. “We are full of ideas…overflowing,” she enthuses. “It’s all about listening,” adds Cartwrite.

They are proud of the work they and their employees produce. “We have really tight quality control,” says Cartwrite. “[Our] customer service is over the top because we know what it’s like to be a customer,” she adds.

Gilmore and Cartwrite believe in synergy, and one of the things they most like about their work is the opportunity it gives them to facilitate business and community connections. PSG’s clients come from many walks of life and may not know each other or recognize the opportunities they might create for one another. “I’m kind of a matchmaker,” laughs Gilmore, adding that PSG has “incredible customers.”

Whether figuring out the latest business or printing challenge, or working on building community, both women bring a joyful enthusiasm to their work. “It’s like this whole property is lit up,” says Gilmore. “It’s like Christmas every day.”