SpeedPro makes move to larger location amid growth

EAST SYRACUSE — SpeedPro of Central New York is growing in the Syracuse area — picking up customers, adding employees, and moving to a new, larger location. Bob Kelleher opened his SpeedPro Imaging franchise in 2011. “When we started, I had myself and two employees,” he recalls. “We’ve just been growing since then.” The company specializes in large-format print jobs. Think banners and wall murals and vehicle wraps. Notable customers include Broome County Transit for bus wraps, a number of university athletic departments, health-care facilities in Utica and the Southern Tier, and businesses with vehicle fleets like Metro Mattress. SpeedPro of Central New York grew steadily before it experienced a strong upswing in sales during the pandemic, Kelleher says. “We grew to six employees during the pandemic,” he says. And the company has continued to expand since then. Currently, Kelleher has 15 full-time employees as well as several part-time employees and five temporary employees working on a large project at the JMA Wireless Dome at Syracuse University. Kelleher says he never competes on price, because “our competitors can buy the same printers.” Instead, it’s the attention to customer service that sets SpeedPro apart and is the fuel behind the growth. During the pandemic, many of his competitors scaled back their business or even closed up shop. However, large-format printing is a growing business. “There’s a lot of opportunity out there,” Kelleher says. All that growth means things have been getting pretty cramped at SpeedPro’s 8,000-square-foot location at 6507 Basile Rowe in the village of East Syracuse (town of DeWitt). That’s why Kelleher is making the move to a 19,000-square-foot space on Ridings Road in the town of DeWitt. “The new facility has offices for everybody,” he notes. Currently, six of his employees have their desks in the production area because there isn’t enough room. The company should be ready to move in after some renovations, he says, and he expects to be completely moved in by the end of the month. He’s also adding some new equipment that will be delivered directly to the new location. Kelleher is working with Pathfinder Bank to finance the project. With four years left on his lease on Basile Rowe, Kelleher will be looking to sublease that space. “It’s pretty exciting,” he says. “It’s also a little nerve wracking.” Just a few years ago, Kelleher considered selling the business. Instead, with a daughter who hopes to take over one day, he decided to invest in growing the business instead. He’s forecasting over $2 million in sales for this year and has a sales goal of $10 million by 2030. Among SpeedPro’s franchises, he has consistently ranked in tenth place for annual revenue but has a goal of making it to number one. To push that growth, Kelleher now has three salespeople on staff — one each for the Binghamton, Albany, and Buffalo markets — with plans to add more as he pushes the company’s reach further into New England and northern Pennsylvania. “We don’t rely on social media,” he says of the company’s sales efforts. Much of their business is repeat business. New customers often come from referrals, but Kelleher also still likes the old-fashioned cold call. “That’s what I’m training my salespeople to do,” he adds. Founded in 1992 in Alberta, Canada by Blair Gran as SpeedPro Signs, SpeedPro began franchising in 1996. Today, there are more than 120 SpeedPro franchise locations.