Dataflow focused on continued growth

BINGHAMTON — From adding locations in New York state to picking up customers from other states, Dataflow, Inc. has been growing in recent years and has no plans for that to change. The company got its start in Binghamton in 1958 by Dale Zimmerman, providing microfilm products for its business customers to store data and blueprints. Early contracts with companies like IBM fueled Dataflow, but it had to pivot when IBM left the area. Turning first to color printing and, later, to the internet, Dataflow has adapted to one that still offers data management, but also provides a host of printing services including branding materials, large-format printing, digital document workflows, and sign fabrication and installation. “We recently just won a ‘best of’ large format print award,” Dataflow Marketing Manager Clarissa Reyna-Aboytes says. From 2018-2022, Dataflow acquired four other companies, expanding its reach throughout New York, as well as broadening its product lines. The most-recent acquisition was Prolifiq Sign Studio in Edmeston. That deal gave the company new employees, a location in Edmeston, and new expertise in vehicle wrapping and decals. Since then, Dataflow has been busy expanding its customer base, Reyna-Aboytes says, and landed Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken & Wings as one of its newer accounts. Springfield, Virginia–based Hangry Joe’s has franchise locations in numerous states and uses Dataflow for its signage, as well as other products for franchises, she says. This is possible through the company’s THiiNK Hub, which allows customers to manage all their design, printing, and branding through one system. That means Hangry Joe’s corporate offices can oversee all the design and branding and deciding what products are included, and then individual franchisees can purchase what they need for their locations, Reyna-Aboytes says. “It’s a good solution for franchises,” she says. “It’s a great solution for small businesses, too, that want to sell some merchandise.” “With Hangry Joe’s, we’re really expanding,” Reyna-Aboytes notes, and the company hopes it leads to more companies noticing Dataflow and joining their client list. The company is also working to improve its online store with the goal of making it more user friendly, Reyna-Aboytes notes. Most of Dataflow’s customers are other businesses, used to putting in a product request and waiting for a quote. But everyday consumers want to move faster. “In the near future, we do want to focus a little more on that community and consumer audience,” she says. The changes will make the company more competitive against national online options like VistaPrint, Reyna-Aboytes contends, and give customers the option to work with a local company. On the business-to-business side, Dataflow can provide a local school district with yard signs honoring all its graduates, she says. It can also offer complementary products on the consumer side. “We could do a graduation poster for a mom,” she notes. Other products might include family shirts for something like a vacation or family reunion and other smaller “one-off” products. Dataflow employs between 60 and 70 people with locations including its Binghamton headquarters, Albany, Corning, Edmeston, Elmira, Endicott, Ithaca, Rochester, and Utica. It also has an office in Punta Gorda, Florida. Dataflow’s Binghamton office is located at 19 S. Washington St. ​