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December
18th , 2009
T-Formation celebrates the holidays with our employees
- We wish to thank all of our staff for all of their contributions
for this past year. Our success is directly tied to their
hard work and dedication. We are looking forward to 2010,
and hope that everyone has a joyous and wonderful holiday
season. |
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September
7th , 2009
T-Formation is proud to announce our partnership with
ISP Sports to help support Florida State athletics. We’ve
been working the ISP hospitality tent on the Langford Green
before every home football game, taken a full page ad out
in the football program “Game Time” and we’ve
also produced the “T-Formation T-shirt Cannon” that
fires t-shirts into the crowd during home games. Please see
the pics of the scoreboard with our new logo, that show the
cannon being used at the games. |
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August
13th, 2009
T-Formation Guidelines for Handling CPSIA Tracking
Label Requirement
In compliance with the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Information
Act, http://cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf
), Section 103 mandate that all youth apparel have permanent
tracking labels affixed to the garments, T-Formation will
be adopting the policy of printing the job order number
in one color underneath the design image.
This step ensures that the end consumer could easily identify
the apparel product if it was subject to a recall action.
Because we are using the order number, we can easily review
the specifics on that production run if there is any question
regarding the product.
For youth embroidered goods, we will be using heat transfer
numbers and placing them in an out of the way location on
the garment. If any client needs further information or
has questions regarding this policy, please contact Marshall
Atkinson, Vice President of Operations at matkinson@tformation.com
or 800-223-7919 ext 114.
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August 2, 2009
T-Formation and our various production and art processes
were featured in an article in today's Tallahassee Democrat..
Click on the image to the left to view the full article in
pdf format.
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July 29th, 2009
T-Formation is excited to announce some personnel changes
in the Accounting Dept - Josh Simon has been promoted to Accounting
Supervisor, where his responsibilities will include new customer
setups & establishing/modifying our credit policies and
ensuring that customer billing is completed each month in
a timely manner, while continuing to be our go to guy for
reports and analysis for other departments. In addition, Leslie
Olsson will take on additional accounting duties besides her
receptionist duties, before moving to a full-time position
in Accounting in late August; and Tara O'Daniel will also
move into Accounting, focusing on Balance Sheet Reconciliations
and General Ledger. |
July 20th, 2009
T-Formation is pleased to welcome Cheryl Martin, who has
accepted the position of Procurement Specialist. Cheryl has
a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Florida State University
and an Associate of Arts from the University of Florida. She
also worked at The Clothesline as a Sales Assistant/Office
Manager for 5½ years and brings purchasing, receiving
and ShopWorks experience with her. |
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July 16th, 2009
T-Formation Invents the Green Playbook - T-Formation
has been exclusively profiled in the latest digital edition
of Eco-Impressions. You can read the article by clicking
here.
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July 1st, 2009
T-Formation is delighted to announce that we have moved
from Number 10 up to Number 8 in industry magazine Impressions'
annual ranking of screenprinting companies by volume. We'd
like to thank all our employees and our clients for helping
us move up in a positive direction from the Number 10 spot
that we have occupied for the past 2 years. Check out the
Impressions article on p24-33 of their July issue by clicking
on the picture to the right. |
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June 21st , 2009
T-Formation Participates in SGP Roundtable Discussion
About Going Green
Recently our Vice President of Operations Marshall Atkinson
was asked to participate in a roundtable discussion regarding
T-Formation’s efforts in becoming a certified green
printer through the SGP (Sustainable Green Partnership).
Click here to read the results of that discussion as posted
on the “What They Think” Blog. (Click
here to read article.)
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June 8th , 2009
T-Formation is happy to share that the Southeastern Community
Blood Center blood-mobile stopped in for a few hours. We had
12 people donate, several also from one of our clients and
neighbors Ajax Construction. Thanks everyone for supporting
this great cause. |
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April
8th , 2009
T-Formation is pleased to announce the results of our
first quarter 2009 recycling efforts. So far this year we
have recycled 23,340 pounds of cardboard (that’s 11.67
tons), 17 standard recycling tubs of paper, 4 tubs of metal
cans, and 4 tubs of assorted plastic/metal. |
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April 1st, 2008
The newest edition of our company newsletter, 'The Pinhole
Press' has just rolled off the press. The newsletter contains
information on our work processes, a glossary of printing
terms, a meet-the-employee section, and other fun facts. Click
on the thumbnails on the left to open the pages full size. |
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March 9th, 2009
T-Formation was honored to be a part of the recent February
2009 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' project here in Tallahassee
for the wonderful Kadzis family. Working with Kenny Hightower
one of our senior sales team members, we produced 1200 t-shirts
for the show and 300 baseball hats for Myddleton Parker builders.
Great job everyone, and we’re glad to be able to help
out for this worthwhile cause!
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Sundays 8/7c
on ABC
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March 5th,
2009
Tricia Goodban has been promoted to the position
of Quoting & Account Manager. Tricia started with
T-Formation in September 2007 as the Quote Desk Administrator.
During the past year Tricia has managed the quoting
for T-Formation’s corporate accounts and national
programs, providing pricing and sourcing of goods for
numerous accounts, and handling a high volume of quality
control for customer service orders. Tricia has now
added Account Management to her area of responsibility
by taking on the national Bodybuilding.com account and
a web-based order program.
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March 4th,
2009
T-Formation is proud to announce that we have promoted
Leslie Olsson to the position of Office Manager. Leslie
has been our receptionist since 2006, and will oversee
our day to day office management tasks including personnel,
office purchasing, company invoicing, and other duties.
She is extremely task oriented, organized and wonderful
at her job. Congratulations Leslie!
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February
20th, 2009
After an exhaustive search, where we interviewed
many top candidates from the around the country, T-Formation
is pleased to announce that we’ve promoted Alan
McVeigh and Brian Espy as our new Plant Managers. This
position will oversee all production operations for
the company. Alan has been with T-Formation since 2006
and was the Operations Manager, while Brian has been
with the company since 1997 and was the Scheduling Manager.
Alan will continue to add his organizational and personnel
management experience to the position, while Brian will
handle all the print production, organization and scheduling
aspects for the company. We are proud to have this unique
opportunity to promote from within, and to continue
to grow our company to new levels with their talented
help. Congratulations Alan & Brian!
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February 10th,
2009
T-Formation can help you with the new CPSIA regulations!
The CPSIA regulation that passed last August has caused
a lot of concern and sometimes confusion regarding the amount
of lead and phthalates that are allowed for apparel products.
There’s been considerable national controversy and lawsuits
on this matter in recent days and weeks, and the outcome right
now is that after February 10, 2009 childcare articles for
those under 3 years of age that facilitate eating and sleeping
are the only articles that are affected by this ruling. Youth
t-shirts are not applicable….but onesies, bibs and other
infant ware will be the items to be concerned with.
Going forward, T-Formation will be stocking ink that is
compliant to the lead (under 600ppm) and phthalate (under
1000 ppm) rulings. Our regular ink (Classic MX) already
passes the lead compliance ruling. The non-phthalate ink
is called Epic, and we have created a non-phthalate order
type in our system to denote it’s use for production
on our internal jobsheets. We want to stress to our clients
that we can use this ink for any youth t-shirt order…but
under the law it is not required. We empathize and understand
with how they want their jobs to be produced and will do
what it takes to meet their needs. However, as the non-phthalate
ink is a little more expensive any new orders will have
a slight price increase of $0.05 per impression (NOT per
color). If the client requires us to compile and ship the
General Conformity Certificate with the order as well (compliance
on this issue has been pushed out until 2010), we will be
charging a modest $10 administrative fee to cover the extra
work to fill out and maintain this document.
I have attached our ink manufacturer’s third party
ink tests for Epic (our new non-phthalate ink) and their
General Conformity Statement for review. Also, listed below
are the links for the 2/5 ruling that sets aside Section
108 (see the conclusion at the end…pages 36 & 37)
of the CPSIA regulation and the regulation itself. Section
108 starts on page 21.
Judge Gardephe’s ruling (see pages 36 & 37):
http://reformcpsia.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/phthalate-order-https___ecfnysduscourtsgov_cgi-bin_show_temppl_file5566333-0-_lm.pdf
CPSIA Law – H.R. 4040 (see page 21 for the start of
Section 108):
http://reformcpsia.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/cpsia.pdf
Finally, here’s comment that was posted by Marci Kinter,
Vice President of the SGIA (Specialty Graphic Imaging Association….one
of the professional printing organizations we belong to.
They have been following the CPSIA ruling closely and posting
information concerning this issue):
“The judge's ruling pertained to inventory of children's
toys and child care articles that contained above the allowable
limit for phthalates. All needed to be removed from the
shelves and inventory and could not be sold, starting today.
Remember, the phthalate ban only applies to a narrow subset
of children's apparel -- child care articles for those under
3 that facilitate eating and sleeping. So for youth shirts,
this ban does not apply.”
In closing, T-Formation’s stance is one that we will
whole-heartedly do whatever our clients would like to regarding
this ink issue. We are here to help, and will follow the
directions provided to us at the time of the order. We are
not, however, using the Epic (non-phthalate) ink unless
specified by our clients on an individual order basis. This
should be written on the purchase order, and quoted correctly
before we process the order.
Thanks for your patience and understanding on this complex
issue. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Marshall Atkinson
Vice President - Operations
matkinson@tformation.com
800-223-7919 ext 14
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December 29th, 2008
The second edition of our company newsletter, 'The Pinhole
Press' has just rolled off the press. The newsletter
contains information on our work processes, a glossary of
printing terms, a meet-the-employee section, and other fun
facts. Click on the thumbnails on the left to open the pages
full size. |
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November
21st, 2008
T-Formation employees gathered together today for our
own Thanksgiving, and celebrated with home cooked dishes brought
in by our wonderful staff. Brian Espy fried three delicious
turkeys, and we served spiral cut ham, BBQ or Smoked Ribs,
curried chicken, homemade tamales, bacon-wrapped asparagus,
sweet potatoes, white-acre peas, baked beans, deviled-eggs,
corn-bread muffins, lima beans, & potato salad. We also
had a dessert contest with Kenny Hightower’s Pumpkin
Pie Cake garnering first place, Cris Becker’s Sweet Potato
Cake taking second, and Vince Labolito’s Carrot Cake
taking third place.
We’d all like to thank our dedicated employees for
their great contributions and efforts this year to make
T-Formation not only the best t-shirt printer around, but
also a great company to work for. Happy Thanksgiving to
everyone!
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November 5th,
2008
Great news! T-Formation has completed our application
to become a certified green printer through the SGP Partnership.
Our application is the first step in our journey and we're
now a "Candidate Pending Verification". We will
be working towards our goal of becoming a SGP Printer throughout
the close of 2008 and into 2009. If you'd like to discuss
this process with someone at T-Formation, please contact Marshall
Atkinson at matkinson@tformation.com or 800-223-7919 ext 14. |
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Here's our new Sustainability Policy statement:
T-Formation is committed to adhering to the Sustainable
Green Printing Partnership Guiding Principles. We will instill
continuous improvement of environmental stewardship within
all aspects of the apparel decorating process, including
areas not subject to regulation.
By taking the lead in demonstrating responsibility
through the utilization of sustainable & lean business
practices, we will reduce our environmental impact and increase
the social awareness of this issue by sharing information
with all external stakeholders via communication on our
website, meetings and newsletters.
We are committed to compliance with all environmental,
health & safety requirements….including a commitment
to pollution prevention that emphasizes source reduction,
reuse & recycling.
To learn more about the SGP Certification process and why
it's the industry standard go to:
https://www.sgppartnership.org/index.php
Click the pic on the left to see the Sustainable Green
Printing Guiding Principles signed by Alan Gentry, T-Formation
president & owner.
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October 24th, 2008
A great friend and past member of the T-Formation crew
passed tragically on Friday, October 24th in a car accident.
Adrienne Rogers, former member of our accounting team,
had recently moved on as Human Resource Manager to a national
restaurant chain - not a surprising career shift since she
always seemed to bring out the best in people!
She graduated from FAMU in 2007 where she studied business
and was very active, among many other things, as a mentor
to younger students, a member of the National Conference
for Negro Women from 2002-2004, 2003-2004 president of the
FAMU chapter of the NAACP, and founder of two non-profit
organizations.
Her smile warmed our offices, as did her ability to make
each person feel like an important individual link in the
T-Formation chain. She has left many footprints here, where
her innovation and forward thinking have improved many of
our processes.
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Most of all, we will
miss her, and miss just knowing that she is making someone
else's life better just by being Adrienne. We were so fortunate
enough to share this bright star's light, and we take comfort
in knowing she shines even brighter now somewhere else.
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August 13th,
2008
Eddie Tays has joined our production management team as
a Production Supervisor. Eddie brings 18 years of apparel
screen printing experience to T-Formation’s leadership
staff, and has an extensive background in manual & automatic
printing, as well as screen room management. We welcome Eddie
in his new role with T-Formation!
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August 11th,
2008
Stuart Rochford has joined T-Formation's Art Dept. Stuart
is a graphic artist with a BFA in Graphic Design from FSU.
Stuart is also a photographer and has done photography work
for the FSView. He is originally from Trinidad.
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August 1st, 2008.
The initial edition of our company newsletter, 'The Pinhole
Press' was distributed today to all employees. The newsletter
contains information on our work processes, a glossary of
printing terms, a meet-the-employee section, and other fun
facts. Click on the thumbnails on the left to open the pages
full size. |
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June 3, 2008
T-Formation and our various production and art processes
were featured in a recent article in Impressions magazine.
Click on the image to the left to view the full article in
pdf format.
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May 19, 2008
T-Formation celebrated our One Million Impression Month
with an afternoon BBQ – Crawfish Boil. Yes, you had
to be there!
With Brian Espy cookin’ up his special Cajun Crawfish
boil, and Chris Norris and Marshall Atkinson BBQ’ing
chicken, hamburgers & fish, it was definitely a day
to remember. An incredible mix of tunes was provided by
our Alan McVeigh... or maybe Ricky Webster when Alan wasn’t
looking!
All in all, a great afternoon and fun for everyone. Again,
a big THANK YOU to all of our great staff!”
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May 1, 2008
T-Formation is extremely proud to announce that in the
first time in the company’s history our actual printed
production capacity has exceeded one million impressions in
one month. From Tuesday 4/1 to Wednesday 4/30 we produced
1,009,417 impressions, for 2,276 orders with 1,802 set ups.
This exciting development was due to a tremendous team effort
company wide, and is overwhelming focused on our overall sense
of efficiency, teamwork, communication, and good ol’
plain hard work.
Everyone at T-Formation wishes to thank all of our loyal
customers, employees, vendors, and our families that made
this benchmark achievement possible.
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February 25, 2008
Jessica Dial has joined the Sales Department Team as Sales
Rep Administrative Assistant. Jessica has 5 years clerical
and administrative experience. Jessica comes to us from the
Brevard County Clerk of the Court where she worked as a Court
Clerk.
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January 30, 2008
Ashley Barber and Cory Davis have joined the company as
members of T-Formation’s Art Department. Both will be
working with the Non-Profit team. Ashley recently graduated
from FSU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art. Cory
is a self-taught, free-lance graphic designer. Cory has many
years experience working in graphic design and 8 years experience
as owner of his own graphic design company, 'Miami’s
Finest'.
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January 19, 2008
T-Formation recently invested in new technology - the
purchase of 2 new machines and a new dryer increases our
capacity to 9 presses and 5 dryers, and provides us with
greater opportunity to meet and exceed all our customers'
expectations for 2008 and beyond. Our new 18-color Challenger
II press allows us to increase a design's color count
without any loss of quality, while our new 14-color Gauntlet
II is a fast addition to our production line, which
can only increase our efficiency. Our new dryer is a Sprint
2000 HO - its unrivaled power and performance can keep
pace in the most demanding production environments.
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November 14,
2007
Joseph E. Morgan joined T-Formation as the Sr. Customer Service
Account Manager. Joe brings many years of experience to the
position. He was a Customer Service Representative at Russell
Corporation, a manufacturer of athletic shoes, apparel, and
sports equipment; and, at Ithaca Industries, a manufacturer
of ladies apparel. Joe also worked in Customer Service at
Flightline at the Tallahassee airport for 7 years.
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October 10, 2007.
Christoffer James has joined the company as our new Assistant
Art Director. Christoffer has over seven years experience
in the apparel industry as an art director in Tampa. He has
an Associate of Science degree in Commercial Art from the
Tampa Technical Institute. We look forward to bringing his
creative skill, leadership and expertise to our art team. |
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October 3, 2007.
We are pleased to announce that Pat Flowers has accepted
the position of Human Resources Administrator. Pat had many
years of management experience at the Tallahassee Democrat,
and has been assisting T-Formation for some time already with
some HR related tasks. We feel she will be a great addition
to the team and we will be able to focus on many new HR initiatives
to improve our company.
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September 12,
2007.
Jessica Garcia has been added to our Art Department as
a night Production Artist. She recently graduated from Florida
State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History
and Visual Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design. |
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September 5, 2007.
Kaitlin Rose recently joined us to work as Sales Team
support and help in our Marketing effort. She recently graduated
from Old Dominion University in Virginia with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Occupational and Technical Studies, Fashion
Emphasis and has a Minor in Marketing. |
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September 5, 2007.
Tricia Goodban recently joined us to handle our new Quote
Desk, which will provide quotes to our customers so our Account
Representatives can manage existing orders. Tricia recently
graduated from FSU with a Batchelor’s of Science degree
in Apparel Design and Technology.
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September 4 ,
2007.
Fred Simmons has been added to our Art Department as a
Production Artist. Fred attends FAMU and is working on his
Graphic Design degree with a Minor in Public Relations. |
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August 3, 2007.
After 4 years of great salesmanship, Damon Karras is leaving
Tallahassee and moving to Chicago to be closer to his family.
Everyone at T-Formation wishes him all the best with his future
opportunities. To the left is a recent photo of Damon taken
after his “Bon Voyage” lunch (click on the pic for
the full version.) It’s an embarrassing light pink shirt
with the caption “I worked at T-Formation and all I got
was this lousy t-shirt”. Good luck Damon!
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July 2, 2007.
LeighAnne Crosby recently joined the Customer Service team
as a Jr. Account Representative. LeighAnne has a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Business Administration.from Flagler College
and has six years experience in customer service. |
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June 7, 2007.
For the second year in a row, Impressions Magazine has
ranked T-Formation as the #10 top volume screen printer in
the United States. In the June 2007 issue, T-Formation was
ranked in this top spot with 6,147,274 impressions for our
work in 2006. Thanks to all of our clients, staff and friends
for helping us achieve this top accolade! Please click
here for the complete listing.
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May
7, 2007.
Following the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, T-Formation
is proud to be able to play a part in the recovery process
for the Hokie Nation. We are the official printer of the much
sought after ‘Hokies United’ shirts, which are currently
on sale in the Blacksburg, Virginia area as well as online
at http://www.hokiesunited.org.vt.edu
Proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go to the Hokie
Spirit Memorial Fund, which was set up to provide:
- Assistance to victims and their families
- Grief counseling
- Memorials
- Communication expenses
- Comfort expenses
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April 16, 2007.
Marshall Atkinson has been promoted to Vice President,
Operations. Marshall has been with T-Formation for over 14
years, and was the former Art Director. Marshall will be in
charge of all aspects of the day to day operations at T-Formation,
including the art, shipping, receiving, embroidery, and production
departments. If you have any need within the scope of his
responsibilities, please contact him and he will be happy
to help you.
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April 16, 2007.
Vince Labolito has been promoted to Art Director. Vince
has been Assistant Art Director for many years, and will bring
his wonderful creative talents and enthusiasm to the position.
He looks forward to discussing your next project or creative
problem, and will be glad to assist you with all art-related
queries.
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March 5, 2007.
Nancy Strackbein is our latest talented major addition
to the T-Formation staff as a Senior Graphic Artist. She has
an Associate's Degree in Commercial Design from MATC, and
completed a 5 year apprenticeship in Gravure and Lithography
with an emphasis on color quality control. She has worked
as an artist in the offset printing industry from 1977 to
2000, and was the Senior Illustrator/Designer and Art Production
Manager for Crown Prince from 2000-2007, the 3rd largest screen-printer
by volume in the United States.
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January 8, 2007.
Shauntel Roberts has recently came on board as
part of our Customer Service team. We have rearranged our
Team setups and will now now have three teams of Account Managers
looking after our clients' needs each day.
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January 6, 2007.
T-Formation received major coverage in the Business section
of Sunday's Tallahassee Democrat due to our exclusive contract
for printing t-shirts for the winners of this years National
BCS game between Florida and Ohio State. |
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