Lewis Color of Statesboro recently completed a merger with DX Marketing based in Savannah. DX Marketing offers targeted marketing to firms, services that include research and data analytics, GIS mapping, creative services and commercial printing.
        Under joint ownership, the new entity will operate under the moniker "DX Print." The merger allows DXM to focus its resources on its core services data management and digital marketing. They will continue to operate those services from its MLK Boulevard office in Savannah.
        In addition to offering high quality print and fulfillment services to its direct mail clients, DXM clients will have expanded manufacturing capacity and access to new printing technology with Lewis Color.
        Through the merger, Lewis Color will see their annual revenue jump from $5.5 million to more than $21 million. Most of the employees have relocated from Savannah to Statesboro, increasing the full-time employee count to 52 at the Lewis Color building on Joe Kennedy Blvd., behind Ogeechee Technical College.
        In addition to relocating the printing and direct mail equipment from Savannah, Lewis Color has added three more digital presses. They are also preparing to expand the 36,000-square-foot facility to about 53,000 square feet to accommodate the growth.
        "The past year-and-a-half has been pivotal for DX Marketing," said DXM company President Ray Owens. "We have firmly established ourselves as a data-driven targeted marketing firm and we knew it was time to bring the print side of our business under the management of someone who can continue to meet the growing demands of our direct mail clients.         We found the perfect partner in Lewis Color because they share our passion for excellence and they treat employees like family. I am most gratified that we were able to accomplish the merger with 100-percent employee retention."
        Lewis Color President Tommy Lewis said: "DX Marketing has a healthy stable of long-term clients they bring into this merger so it is important that we continue serving them with no disruption and with the same knowledgeable employee teams they have grown accustom to. The added value for customers is that recent investments we've made in new technologies will allow us to maximize the capabilities of DXM's print business to produce an even better finished product."
        Lewis Color was founded in 1961 by Tommy's parents Walter and Sara Lewis. The Lewis's used their tax refund that year to purchase a small press and started the business at their home. They later moved the business to Highway 80 West and operated the printing and office supply business there until they built the current facility behind Ogeechee Tech in 1993.
        The Lewis children: Cindy (Bowers), Tommy and Randy acquired the business a few years later and now Tommy, Randy and Randy's son Justin own the business. Walter continues to check in on the "boys" daily. In return, they have continued to stay true to the basic tenants of success instilled in them by their dad.
        They have a strong reputation in the market for being a high quality, customer-centric business. The entire Lewis family continues to be very community minded and heavily engaged in a variety of community projects.
        In the three decades that I have followed the success of Lewis Color they have led the industry by investing in cutting edge technology. Also, they have sought innovative ways to adapt to the highly volatile changes in the printing industry. Seeing a niche in the early 90s, they focused more on becoming a trade printer. This led to heavy growth in the business as they become the outsourcing printer for smaller print operations throughout the area. The model, however, is very volume focused with narrow margins.
        The merger with DXM allows them an entry back into the retail side of the business, where the margins are better and increases their ability to manage large, custom-printed direct mail projects. The Statesboro Post Office will see a boon in business as DX Print is projecting more than $10 million in direct mail postage purchased and processed through the Statesboro branch, which will dramatically increase their volume.
        This merger is yet another exciting example of businesses in our community engineering opportunities for growth in market segments that are often depressed.
        With the Lewis families' continued investments and entrepreneurial spirit, I expect them to leverage this opportunity for even more impressive growth in the years to come.