Gary Crisp had a fast-rising career in large corporations before landing a job more than 20 years ago with recreational vehicle maker Fleetwood Enterprises.
Within a year, that company went through a round of layoffs and Crisp was let go.
“It was difficult because I had been promoted 11 times in 18 years, I’d been recruited to go to Pepsi and then I was recruited” to Fleetwood, Crisp recalled in an interview in his office in Costa Mesa.
“I didn’t do so good with it. At the time, I wasn’t happy, but what a blessing that was.”
Crisp has come a long way since that layoff, by starting a printing company that became Crisp Imaging, which nowadays is at a $30 million run rate.
Crisp, along with his wife, Julie Crisp, an executive vice president who oversees strategy, and son Carter Crisp, a vice president in charge of marketing, were honored May 31 with a Business Journal Family-Owned Business Award for the large company category.
“They have shown an ability to adapt and innovate,” said Blaine Searle, a partner at Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo LLP, when presenting the award at the Irvine Marriott before an audience of nearly 400.
“Such adaption and innovation have allowed them to stay ahead of their competition.”
The MVP
Crisp, a native of Chicago, moved with his family to Southern California as a youngster, attending a local high school where he was the MVP of his high school basketball team. He graduated from California State University, Long Beach, where he earned a master’s degree in spiritual psychology.
After joining consumer goods giant Unilever, he moved to a variety of cities, rising quickly through the ranks and becoming known as “a sales and marketing guy.” He was recruited to lead the Frito-Lay division of Pepsico in south Texas, a $500 million-a-year business with 1,600 employees.
Then it was to RV firm Fleetwood, which was founded by local legendary businessman John Crean, who at that time wasn’t involved in his company.
After his layoff, Crisp cold-called Carl Karcher, another legendary local businessman who founded Anaheim’s Carl’s Jr. fast-food restaurant chain. Crisp introduced himself as a “corporate guy” who had done well and wanted to become an entrepreneur. Karcher introduced Crisp to Legatus, a group of Catholic executives, where he immediately met 80 local CEOs.
Crisp dabbled in a franchise printing operation, which he ended after less than a year because he didn’t think the model would work. Instead, in 2001 he and Julie opened their own doors for reprographics, printing what used to be called blueprints for architectural, engineering and construction companies.
He took lessons from his days climbing the corporate ladder to implement similar strategies at Crisp.
“The biggest thing is building teams. I learned how to build and motivate teams and love your people. Take care of them.”
He’s developed a covenant among customers, employees, shareholders and the community. He looks to promote from within, pointing out a vice president who used to be a driver. Above all, he’s devoted to customer service.
“We all work for our customers. Every decision we make is with the customer as our boss.”
Crisp also learned the discipline needed to put together detailed financial plans that were presented to top executives.
“In many ways, we’re run like a big company in how we build our annual plan, our incentive plan, attract the best people,” he said.
“My style is to get people smarter than me and ask them ‘What do you think?’ Then I make the decision.”
Color
Crisp Imaging would later expand to what he calls “color,” where the company prints a wide variety of products from restaurant menus to brochures and banners.
Clients have included Rubios, Kaiser Permanente, USC Village, SoFi Stadium and Los Angeles International Airport. During the pandemic, Crisp Imaging pivoted by producing 15 million products such as directional signage labels that were placed on floors.
In the age of emails and PDFs—is print a dying industry?
“The straight reprographics business prints a lot less nowadays,” he said. “However, understand that it’s a $5 billion business—maybe its $4 billion now. It’s still very big. Margins are strong if you run it properly.
“I love printing.”
In recent years, he’s developed a third bucket called “Docu-Dock” that helps public entities like schools store online their architectural and other building plans.
“That bucket is growing really fast,” he said.
Super Bowl
The Crisps, who own 70% of their firm, are well known for charitable giving, including hosting an annual Super Bowl Party for 500 Marines and veterans at the American Legion post in Newport Beach’s Balboa Peninsula.
“I love to make money. I love to build teams. But at the end of the day, I love the fact that this business allows us to be charitable and create conditions for our employees to get ahead. That’s where my heart is.”
In recent years, Crisp Imaging has expanded by making acquisitions. It now employs 190 at 23 locations from Seattle to San Diego.
“We don’t lay people off. We love on the people,” he said. “We bring them into our system, our family. We learn from them and they learn from us.”
He’s eying 10 more acquisitions in the coming months, saying they will help his revenue grow to $45 million to $50 million a year.
“We’ve set a target to get to the $50 million level and go from there. We’re continuing to look and see what’s our next thing.
“We’re quick, we’re good, we’re reasonably priced. Now we’re taking it to the next level.”
