Five-Star Service

Meador Enterprises Continues To Grow

When Donald Meador’s longtime apparel industry job left for Mexico more than 20 years ago, he didn’t spend time moping. He got to work.

In 2001, the engineer-turned-entrepreneur was approached by a family member with a small embroidery business and a client who felt altogether too large for the small operation. Would Donald want to take a crack at it?

Soon after, he sat down at his dining room table alongside his daughter and son-in-law, Larissa and Harvey Kirby. With little more than a pen and a legal pad, they sketched out the idea for Meador Enterprises.

Today, the Lafayette company has grown into a thriving printing business capable of customizing everything from company uniforms to promotional items using silkscreen printing, embroidery, laser etching, and heat transfer services. Meador also offers warehousing services for its clients, such as order fulfillment, picking, packing, and shipping.

Work Hard and Treat People Well

Today, Meador remains strong by keeping its quality high, its customer service excellent, and moving quickly to accommodate the needs of the marketplace.

“Yes, we’re growing,” says Larissa, the company’s general manager. “Meador has seen several slow and tough economies over the years. We’ve survived by changing and growing our services and our business.”

While the company’s mass production capability was a superpower when it came to large orders, it was a weakness when tackling smaller projects. They realized quickly their system was not meant for non-bulk batches of items, like uniforms for local sports teams or T-shirts for family reunions.

“We had a storefront at 1 time to sell custom-printed items,” says Harvey, former operations manager. “But we had to close it down. The problem was we were trying to meet local needs, and it was a different situation. People were wanting orders of 12, and we weren’t set up to do that.”

But that could change soon, says Tim Key, who oversees sales. “We now have some new tech that is opening up that door for us,” Tim says. “1 of our goals this year was to tap into the local market. We’re offering small orders, but I don’t think we’ve done anything less than 12 pieces. We’re starting to gain some momentum.”

The Meador team also tries to maintain a friendly, understanding work environment for employees. Harvey says offering flexibility is 1 of the ways they’re able to attract quality workers in what has been a difficult job market for businesses. “We don’t penalize people if they need to take care of personal business sometime,” he says. “We treat people like they’re people here.”

Fiber vs. Paper

Today’s printing business requires a technological edge in everything from computers and software to internet connection. Businesses like Meador depend on NCTC’s ultra-high-speed internet connection to send, receive, and open large digital files full of graphics and instructions.

“We’ve been paperless now for about a decade,” Larissa says. “All of my files are stored on the cloud through the internet.”

Tim adds, “We definitely use the internet more and more as the core of our business. We just rolled out a new web-based manufacturing software system, which is an online-only software. We’ve also started accounts on all social media platforms, and we opened an Etsy store.”

In addition, the company recently added Microsoft Teams software to its system, which is used to interact with some of its larger customers. “North Central has been consistent to accommodate everything we’ve needed,” Larissa says. “Even now, with everything we’re doing online, most of us sit at our desk and stream music on top of that. I don’t think we’ve ever had a problem. NCTC has been amazing about making sure that we’ve got everything we need, and that we don’t sit and stall.”

Tim agrees. He remembers years ago when NCTC was installing fiber optic broadband lines throughout Scottsville when places like Nashville were still waiting for the national, for-profit telecommunications corporations to bring it to their homes and businesses. “NCTC was ahead of the game,” Tim says.

Published with permission by NCTC.