Keeping up with gradual changes in technology has led to success

The printer says he will continue investing in new equipment.
By TRACEY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Chuck Barnes knows keeping up with the times is the key to success.
When Barnes went into business for himself in 1961, he fixed mechanical calculators for U.S. Steel, Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube and General Fireproofing. When mechanical calculators went out, he changed gears and began servicing and selling typewriters and mimeograph machines, and then copy machines.
His most recent business shift took place 24 years ago.
"We were selling copiers and mimeograph machines and it got to a point where you either had to be real big or get out of it, so we got into printing, and that's what we've been doing ever since," Barnes said.
He started Barnes Reproduction Service, a printing company, in 1980. Barnes bought his current building on East Midlothian Boulevard in 1995 from the owners of B & amp;H Copy Center and retained part of their name, changing his business name to B & amp;H Barnes Printing.
His shop prints business cards and forms, stationery, envelopes, letterheads, menus, brochures and booklets. The shop also makes banners and offers plastic lamination and fax services. Barnes said most of his customers are small-business owners.
Changing technology
Barnes said he's had to change the business over the years to keep up with advances in technology.
"We changed kind of gradually, a little bit at a time, taking some courses and learning most of it from experience," he said.
Barnes said he bought one of the first fax machines in the area, after reading in a trade magazine that they were going to be popular.
Barnes, who said he was always good at fixing things, was a teacher at the former Manpower vocational school in Youngstown for four years, teaching students to repair office machines such as typewriters and calculators.
He said he enjoys the printing business and plans to stay at his current location. He said it's been a challenge surviving in a business with a lot of competition in the area, but he attributes his success to keeping up with the trends.
"We plan on continuing to do what we're doing and buying new equipment as needed to keep up with the new things that are going on and to stay competitive," he said. "We just add all the pieces together and it makes the business work."