Basin Printing has temporarily stopped taking orders because of a nationwide paper shortage.
Basin Printing owner Jeramiah Townsend said the business has struggled with supply and staffing because of the paper shortage, and it has become hard for the company to maintain production. Basin Printing has been serving Durango for more than 60 years and is used by more than 7,000 businesses in the Four Corners for printing and imaging services.
“We’re trying to restructure this so that we can continue to move forward, because it’s just insanely hard to get paper right now,” Townsend said. “We have a lot of work on hand and have paper for that work. We’re trying to get through that right now.”
He said he has talked with companies in Missouri and Denver that have waited months for a paper supply.
Townsend hopes the pause in orders will take only three or four weeks, but the company continues working on smaller jobs. Businesses have reached out to show their support for the printing company.
“I’ve had a couple of different paper companies call me and say, ‘Hey, let’s see what we can do to help you out here.’ We have a lot of good support from both the community and from our vendors,” he said.
Townsend said COVID-19 is a major factor in the paper shortage. He said paper manufacturers have changed over equipment because of the pandemic in order to produce paper products such as toilet paper, cardboard and packaging materials, creating a lack of resources. That has forced the U.S. to outsource paper manufacturing to other countries.
“I’ve recently chatted with the president of one of the national printing associations and a VP of another one, and they said that it’s through this year,” Townsend said. “They hope that it will get fixed sometime in the next year to five years.”
Townsend is looking at how Basin can change to help the businesses it serves. Staffing has also been an issue for the printing business.
“It’s skilled labor that we’re doing,” he said. “It’s kind of complicated. Every single job we do is custom manufacturing. So, every single job is unique.
“You have to know exactly the process of manufacturing it. The sales staff have to understand every step in that process,” he said. “The manufacturing staff need to understand every step in that process. Because of my paper shortages, I can’t turn over as many jobs.”
Townsend said the Basin staff has gone from 16 people to four.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
