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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2015)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 25, 2015 For this Pendleton business, rebranding is a family affair For some businesses, changing a name and com- ing up with a new market- ing strategy, or rebranding, would probably be done in a staid business environment. For one Pendleton business, though, the process was strictly a family affair. Originally known as Rapid Print when it opened 27 years ago, this down- town Pendleton print shop has been under ownership of the Sykes family ever since. What’s changed is that the two Sykes brothers as well as production and customer service. “It’s just a give and take rather than one person being in charge of everything. He has his strengths and I have mine.” The symbiotic relation- ship seems to work well both for the brothers and the business. So well, in fact, that Pendleton custom- ers soon knew the brothers better than they did the company name. “Everybody’s already been referring to us as, ‘You’re the brothers, right?’ Sykes brothers Andrew (left) and Chris hold up the logo designed by their sister, Allison Hayes. -Photo by April Sykes grew up and took over. David Sykes of Hep- pner started the business in 1988. It was a time when home copy machines weren’t common and dot- matrix printers ruled the scene, the heyday of the quick printing business into which customers could walk in and get 500 copies printed while they waited. “I got the idea from my brother-in-law who worked in a Portland quick-print shop,” Sykes says. “And I thought, ‘Hey, that would work in Pendleton.’” Sykes started up the small print shop on SW Emigrant and, appropri- ate to his vision, named it Rapid Print. Times changed, though. Rapid Print morphed into a family-centered business when Sykes’ son Chris Sykes came on board in 1998, followed by brother Andrew Sykes in 2006. Despite their obvious dif- ferences, the brothers, who both live in Pendleton, say they balance each other well. “I’m more scatter- brained and running from here to there, and he’s more into the numbers and fig- ures and making sure ev- erything is done on time, so that helps out a lot,” says Chris Sykes, 36, who handles in-house printing, advertising and sales. “I needed Andrew. He fills in the gaps that I didn’t have while I was working here alone.” “There’s certain bound- aries that you have to have,” adds Andrew Sykes, 34. Andrew, who holds a de- gree in fine art from Cor- nish College of the Arts in Seattle, says he fills the role of business manager, Everybody always referred to us that way,” says Chris Sykes. It wasn’t only the fam- ily-centered nature of the business that changed. As personal computers became more prevalent and home printers more sophisticated, Rapid Print became less about quick printing and copy jobs and more about quality, specialty printing. “We provide full ser- vice custom printing— pretty much anything to market or to run your busi- ness, from business cards to flyers, forms and brochures. We also do graphic design,” says Andrew Sykes. David Sykes says the change in the perception of the business, and the idea that it was time for a name change, was driven home to him recently when he hap- pened to answer the phone for the print shop. The cus- tomer, he said, didn’t know the name of the business. “He said, ‘Is this the print shop run by those two brothers?’” Sykes recalls. “I realized, that’s how people knew this business, not by the name, but by the two brothers.” With that, the idea of rebranding Rapid Print to Sykes Brothers was born. Rebranding, says Chris Sykes, is like “a start-over when you’re changing your company.” “Rebranding is when you want to change and go in a different direction as far as how you’re perceived by the public,” he says. “Your name’s not getting out there or it’s not what your com- pany is. We didn’t need to say Rapid Print. We’re a family business. We needed to get that out there. When you rebrand, you’re getting it out there.” With the need to “get it out there” came the need for a new look, especially a new logo. While the Sykes family could have gone a dozen different directions for that new look, they chose to keep it in the fam- ily; the brothers called on their sister, 33-year-old Al- lison Sykes Hayes. Hayes got a bachelor’s degree in art from the Uni- versity of Oregon and now works as Senior Graphic Designer for Pelicon Iconic Services, based in Manhat- tan Beach, Calif. She got her start, though, work- ing for their father, David Sykes, at his newspaper in Heppner. “Before we had com- puters, I used to paste up the paper with my dad. I had to make sure everything was lined up and sometimes, when we got the paper back, I could see that I hadn’t gotten everything lined up,” Hayes recalls. “In high school I used to take photos once in a while for the paper.” Hayes, who now works extensively with company branding and logos, says she was happy to put her expertise to work for the family business. “It was really fun be- cause they were actually pretty easy-going com- wanted to make sure it was right for Pendleton, too,” she adds. Hayes designed 15-20 logos during the rebranding process. In the spirit of fam- ily cooperation, the Sykes used the democratic process to make a selection, with voting rights given to par- ents David and April Sykes, brothers Chris and Andrew, Hayes and husband Matt, and sister Camille Sykes, 31, who also has a degree from the U of O in multi- media design. The winning logo is now displayed not only on signs and print products, but also on a large area rug in the Sykes Broth- ers lobby. Chris and Andrew Sykes say they enjoyed working with their sister during the design process. Andrew, with his own art degree, says he appreciated it from a design standpoint, while Chris Sykes seems to stand in awe of his sister’s talent. “Allison…got her con- fidence from our mom and her creativity from our dad, just to be able to put it down and go for it. I just wish I could get in her mind sometimes because she’s so creative with stuff like that,” he says. The brothers say the re- branding process has gone well, with positive feed- Allison Sykes Hayes sits at her desk at Pelicon Iconic Services in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Hayes is the creative force behind the new image of Pendleton-based print shop Sykes Brothers Printing. -Contributed photo pared to normal clients I have. They were pretty open to any ideas I had,” says Hayes. “It was always nice to talk with them dur- ing the week, too, a nice little reprieve.” Hayes says she used the same design process she would for any other client, sketching ideas and trying to capture the spirit of the company, though she admitted to having a head start with this project. “I knew them and what they were looking for and what they represent. Know- ing about Pendleton kind of helped that process. I Irrigon cheerleaders take second at state The Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School cheerleaders took second place in the 1A/2A/3A State Championships held in Portland on Feb. 14. The team also took first place in its division on Feb. 15 in the Oregon Cheerleading Coaches Association Championships. Top Row: Ariana Miranda-Walls, Brenna Bowman, Yessenia Gonzalez, Claudia Guzman, Angel Stanger, McKenzee Wilson. Bottom Row: Krizia JJ Escobedo, Yulisa Cardenas, Emily Cain, Brenda Olson, Baylea Jo Vandecar, Jasmine Aguilar, Amelia Resendiz. Not Pictured: Head Coach Brandi Verley, Assistant Coaches Julie Escobedo and Jeannie Bowman, Co-Coaches Cheryl Costello and Lisa Pratt–Contributed photo back from customers and the Pendleton community. Chris Sykes points out that it isn’t the company that has changed, but only the name in front of it. “We changed our name to who we are. The com- pany was nameless and faceless. Now it represents who we are,” he says. “The next generation’s in here working on this.” The Sykes brothers are third-generation printers. Their grandparents Myrtle and Earl Sykes for many years owned a newspaper and printing business in Reedsport. HES shows Colt Compassion with Pennies for Patients The Heppner Elementary Students collected their pennies (and nickels, dimes and quarters, too) for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Pennies for Patients program. Leukemia and lymphoma are types of cancer, and the pennies that were collected will help people with the disease to live a better life and—hopefully—find a cure. HES was able to show its Colt Compassion with a total of $88.50 raised. Pictured (L-R): HES Student Council members Cody Fletcher, Marlee Mitchell, Der- rick Smith and Kaden Combe with Kay Proctor and Jessica Peterson from the Bank of Eastern Oregon. –Contributed photo Register early for Remembrance Walk The Friends Helping Friends Committee would like to remind everyone to pre-register for the Re- membrance Walk/5K Run coming up March 14 dur- ing the St. Patrick’s Day celebration. A committee spokes- person pre-registration helps everyone on the morning of the event. As an incentive, door prizes will be given especially for those who have pre-reg- istered, though there also will be some door prizes for those who register that morning. Flyers with registra- tion forms are available at Murray’s Drug, the Bank of Eastern Oregon, Lexington Sinclair, and the Heppner and Ione post offices. The event will begin with a social hour and reg- istration at 8:30 a.m. with the walk/run starting at 9:30 a.m. Pre-registration will allow for a more relaxed at- mosphere for participants to enjoy the spread of home- made eats and treats put out by the event planners prior to the walk/run. In addition, the social hour this year will support another local cause, with Krispy Kreme doughnuts in support of the current Hep- pner Day Care fundraiser. The committee also points out the need for people to get their requests in early for the special shamrocks that will line the route. “The Friends Helping Friends committee orga- nized this walk in memory of Donna Schonbachler, but we really look forward to remembering everyone’s loved ones,” said a spokes- person. The deadline to order shamrocks has been ex- tended to March 1, but shamrock supplies this year are limited, so anyone in- terested in having that re- membrance is asked to get their request in as early as possible. The names of those remembered on the sham- rocks will also appear in the Gazette after the walk. The Friends Helping Friends committee says the response this year has been good, but they would al- ways like more support for the local organizations that benefit from the proceeds. This year’s proceeds will be divided between the Heppner Volunteer Fire Department and the South Morrow EMT Association, which covers all of South Morrow County. Irrigon launches new housing initiative The City of Irrigon has started a new program to provide a funding incentive in an effort to create more residential units within the greater area, the city an- nounced last week. Initial funding will be $50,000, administered through the Boardman Community Development Association (BCDA). The purpose of the fund is to provide aid in in- creasing owner-occupied, single-family dwellings in the Irrigon zip code. The maximum amount that can be received per ap- Morrow County Dis- plicant is $5,000. To receive the incen- trict Attorney Justin Nelson has released the following tive, residents may have to attend a home-buyer’s report: -Jenifer Lee Foster, 27, was convicted of r Unau- thorized Use of a Vehicle, 34, was convicted of As- a Class C Felony, and sen- sault IV – Constituting tenced to one year driver’s Domestic Violence, A Class license suspension and 18 A Misdemeanor, and sen- months supervised proba- tenced to two years bench tion, subject to 90 sanction probation, probation con- units with 30 jail units. ditions to include 40 hours Conditions of probation of community service, no include 80 hours of commu- direct or indirect contact nity service and no direct with the victim, anger man- or indirect contact with the agement evaluation and victim. An additional count treatment, and 60 days jail of Theft I was disposed time. Fines, fees and assess- without conviction. Fines, ments totaled $200. -Brandon James fees, assessments and res- Vaughan, 32, was convicted titution totaled $2,480.97. of Escape III, a Class A -Ross Carlisle Vanetta, DA’s Report - SEVEN training, and must provide copies of closing docu- ments, provide a copy of pre-approval lending docu- ments, and have home- buyer training certification. The property must be located within the Irrigon zip code, and applicants may purchase an existing single-family dwelling or construct a new single- family dwelling, and the house must be the appli- cant’s primary dwelling for three years. More conditions may apply; details regarding the program can be found by contacting Irrigon City Manager Aaron Palmquist at 541-922-3047 or man- ager@ci.irrigon.or.us. Misdemeanor, and sen- tenced to 180 days jail time; however, jail sentence was waived and defendant sentenced to 12 months bench probation, probation conditions to include 40 hours of community service and a written apology to the victim. Fines, fees and assessments totaled $200. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
