About Centex Business Center
FOOTNOTES IN CENTEX HISTORY
1999. Centex begins operation as an independent mailing firm.
2000. Centex forms partnership and expands customer base
2001: Client base grows, Bell & Howell inserter and Baum folder added to inventory
2002: Centex partners with 2 area printers to provide exclusive service. Acquires state contracts. Client base includes specialized insurance promo letters.
2003: Michael Vragel joins Centex, adds wide range of professional knowledge. Martin Yale tabber and Sanwa Inkjet printer added. Centex now services clients in 3 states. Centex comes under new management.
2004: Centex celebrates its 5-year anniversary. Centex reinvents itself becoming a full-service business center. Printing equipment is added to expand service capabilities, including Digital printing, color and black/white copying. Offset-printing and 4-color process are now offered through Centex. Centex CEO becomes an ambassador in the Taylor Chamber of Commerce. Centex is featured in the Taylor Daily Press.
2005: Centex becomes the largest mailing/print shop in a 25-mile radius. Lamination, large format printing, signs and banners services are added. A second Bell & Howell inserter and inkjet printer are added. Our first municipal contract is enacted.
2006: Centex offers office supplies and accessories. Graphic design and order fulfillment are now offered. Larry Lauderdale is recognized as an Honorary Chairman on the Business Advisory Council. A new business relationship is established with the Taylor ISD, Manor ISD, and Bastrop ISD. New corporate accounts added, sports organizations and several Non-profit organizations added.
FROM MAIL HOUSE TO POWERHOUSE
Centex Mailing began in 1999 as a small mail house serving only two customers. Much of the work was performed with desktop style equipment. After only two years, the equipment upgrades began. High speed folding and inserting equipment was first, followed by multi-head tabbing, and laser printers.
In 2004 Larry & Joanetta Lauderdale began moving the company into a full-service business center. Digital black & white laser printing, color and black & white copying, cutting, drilling, bindery, lamination, and parcel mailing/shipping were added.
Offset printing was added next, including 4-color process. Then die cut specialty pieces were added, along with portfolio covers, short run color pieces (including post cards), wide format printing, signs and banners, and office accessories such as name badges, identification badges, name plates, awards, rubber stamps and advertising specialties.
In 2006 office supplies, graphic design, and order fulfillment were added, along with additional production lines for flexibility and capacity. Multiple jobs simultaneously with guaranteed quality is now a normal occurrence.
ANNUAL GROWTH OF 20%
Centex has grown during this period with outside sales personnel, advertising, increased activities in support of the communities we serve, and the benefits of very satisfied clients. Since we still have almost all the clients we started with, we know we have happy clients. They have been very happy to share their experiences with other potential clients, and we have sustained an average 20% annual growth over this time period.
Key to our continued growth and client satisfaction are the principal personnel involved every day in the operations to achieve client satisfaction.
KEY PERSONNEL (OR PERSONNEL IS THE KEY)
Joanetta Lauderdale is our president and CFO. Joanetta is a 1970 graduate of Auburn University and teaches higher-level math at the high school level. She has attended many educational seminars and is a major resource in Customer Satisfaction. She is a recognized leader in professional educator organizations, and brings more than 25 years of management and education experience to the work place. Her business acumen and financial skills have enabled the rapid development of Centex Business Center equipment installations and continued operations. Her intense concern for people, highly developed over many years in public affairs and education has steadfastly held Centex Business Center employees to the highest standards of customer satisfaction. She has been heard to ask many times “Why is there time to do it over if there wasn’t enough time to do it right the first time?”
Larry Lauderdale is our General Manager. Larry is a 1972 graduate of Auburn University with a bachelor degree in electrical engineering. From 1972 through 1978 he served in the Army Corps of Engineers in technical positions and troop commander, receiving various awards and decorations for superior performance. He left the army to begin his career as an engineering professional.
He has been a registered professional engineer since 1978, serving as division field engineer in mining operations in the southeastern United States, principal in an MEP engineering consultant firm, construction manager for multi-million dollar construction projects, and an engineering manager in a wafer fabrication manufacturing environment. In 1985 he became a certified instructor for Malcolm Baldridge Continuous Process Improvement. He was recently selected to serve on the Samll Business Advisory Council.
Larry chose to become an entrepreneur and studied various businesses before opening a print/copy operation. Merging with a mail business was a logical step to provide a full service company to businesses. Larry’s engineering problem solving skills have significantly contributed to our success in helping clients design superior advertising pieces, reduce production and mail costs, and reach more targeted customer bases. He has additionally brought his technical background to the production floor to increase flexibility, lower operating costs, improve on-time delivery of fast turn-around projects, and institute variable data printing. He has instituted non-compete and non-disclosure agreements to assure client confidentiality.
Larry also teaches seminars on marketing, direct mail procedures, small business development, and continuous process improvement.
PERFORMANCE, PRICE, SATISFACTION
Centex proudly serves municipalities, school systems, insurance, construction, retail, financial, small and large commercial and industrial manufacturing industries from beautiful Taylor, Texas. This small town environment helps keep our employees in touch with the old fashioned values that seem to be missing in some metropolitan areas. A friendly greeting and handshake are everyday occurances here. That’s the way we do business with all our clients. It’s personal with each of our key employees. We make it a point to have a personal relationship with our clients.
When you call or email us, you talk to the manager responsible for your project. We get to know you and your representatives to better enable us to understand quickly what you want to achieve and become your partner in achieving success….no matter how you define it. We deliver uncompromising performance at very competitive prices. We can only remain successful if our clients are each successful. Doing it right is the only way to do it.
