Where it started.
We opened our doors in Evansville in December with four employees, one location, and one expectation: if it leaves here, it meets the mark. The shop was small. The standard wasn’t.
Our story
Every detail
Intentional.
Thirty years of decisions that put the work before the schedule. That's not a tagline. It's how we operate.
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SLADE is a print production company in Evansville built to protect the space between strategy and execution. Where most brands lose control, we maintain it. Execution isn’t an afterthought. It’s the responsibility.
One Standard. From Day One.
Before there were four facilities, there was one expectation.
We opened our doors in 1993 with four people, one location, and a simple agreement: nothing leaves here unless it meets the mark. Not because a client demanded it. Because we did.
That expectation didn’t soften as we grew. It traveled with every acquisition, every technology investment, every new capability we added. The facilities got larger. The team got stronger. The standard stayed exactly where it started.
Built over time, not overnight.
Room to grow.
Five years in, we outgrew our first space. Rather than compromise on capacity, we bought the building on Vogel Road and invested in the infrastructure to do the work right at scale.
First acquisition.
Our first acquisition expanded our production capability and brought new talent into the fold. Growth through addition, not replacement.
The standard transferred.
Second-generation leadership joined the team. Same expectation, new energy. The belief that built the company didn’t need to be explained — it was already in the room.
Investing in the craft.
We invested in HP Indigo digital print technology, broadening what we could make without changing how we made it. New capability. Same standard.
Becoming SLADE.
After completing our franchise agreement, we continued independently as SLADE. A new name built on the same foundation. Everything that drove the work from day one remained exactly where it started.
Expanding the portfolio.
The ProMark acquisition added screen print, embroidery, and flexographic label production to our capabilities. More ways to make. The same standard applied to all of them.
First online store.
We launched our first client online store, marking SLADE’S entry into digital platform management. The ability to combine ordering systems with in-house production would define how we served clients going forward.
Depth through addition.
Two strategic acquisitions in the same year — AdCetera and Midwest Graphix — strengthened our production depth and expanded our team. Each one brought capability and people who understood what the work required.
Dedicated to fulfillment.
We moved inventory management and fulfillment to a dedicated warehouse facility. Better infrastructure for the scale of work we were doing and the clients depending on us to get it right.
Direct to film.
Added direct-to-film production capability. Another tool in service of the same goal — make more things, make them right.
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Measured over time.
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Thirty Years
30
Making brands tangible since day one.
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Our Team
55
People who take your project personally.
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In-House Production
4
Facilities operating under one standard.
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Production Space
14,252
Square feet of controlled production capacity.
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Client Retention
97%
Come back because the work holds up.
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Capabilities
9
Services and solutions. Under one roof.
Solid band statement
Thirty years of decisions and investments strengthened the standard across more facilities, more teams, and more complexity.
We expanded so the standard could hold. Through scale, change, and growth.
The history shaped the structure. The structure shapes what comes next.