The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Wayne Tecil will be retiring Promotional Printing after 45 years
From her earliest memories, Christina Fenner, then Christina Tecil, remembers being with her sister, Janeese, and watching her dad, grandfather and uncle work on the foundation of Promotional Printing: Screen Printing and Embroidery.
The building at 2052 North Ridge Rd. in Painesville became her dad Wayne’s embroidery shop, located in the backyard of their house.
Now, after 45 years of work, Wayne Tecil is retiring, ending Promotional Printing’s span of work.
“I’m so happy that my dad is retiring,” said Christina. “But it’s also very surreal. It is an emotional process for all of us.”
Wayne said his decision to retire has nothing to due with the novel coronavirus pandemic, but he chose to retire because of “the length of time, age” and that his kids “are grown up.”
After graduating from Riverside High School in 1961, Wayne said he attended Cooper School of Art. Wayne said after finishing school, he was drafted in Vietnam. Following his discharge, he then worked as a technical illustrator for Fasson before opening his shop.
“I volunteered for the draft,” said Wayne. “I was an MP (Military Police) and I graduated number one in my class. I worked as a technical illustrator in commercial art for a lot of years. I decided I wanted to have my own business where I could control my own destiny.”
Wayne said his business began in a building behind his house where he eventually added three separate additions to maximize space for his company.
“We started out with one building, and we added three additions on to it,” Wayne said. “The electrical wiring and plumbing I did myself.”
Wayne said his business would do work all around the country, “from California to Maine,” including work for Ohio Bell Telephone Company before it became AT&T, and Conrail Railroad when they “first erupted from New York Central Railroad.”
“We do stuff nationally,” Wayne said. “Once you develop a customer list, you get loyalty to people.”
Though Promotional Printing has worked with companies nationwide, Julie Tecil, Wayne’s wife, said they generally worked with local businesses.
“Most of our clientele are local companies,” she said. “We do some sporting teams, but the majority of our work is corporate work. We’ve enjoyed the people we have met.”
With his shop opening in 1976, Wayne said he had to keep up-to-date with the advancements in technology.
“The biggest change in the whole industry is the computerization of everything,” he said.
But even with computer advancements, Wayne said that technology did not completely override the skills required for the job.
“If you don’t have some kind of design ability, a computer is not going to do that,” he said. “You have to know what looks correct and what looks appealing.”
Wayne said that he always has to be working and with that mentality, he will continue to work on projects in retirement.
“I’m a workaholic,” he said. “I feel sitting idle is a waste of good energy. I’ve got work that will take me to December.”
Wayne said that he prides himself in his work ethic and that work ethic unknowingly led to him wining the 2017 Painesville Township Lawn and Garden Award, where he was voted best landscape and garden.
“I like keeping everything manicured,” he said. “I think it’s curb appeal. It shows an example of the type of work you do. It’s therapeutic work for me.”
As his retirement approaches, Christina said she is thankful for the memories and all the work that Promotional Printing has done.
“Looking back, I can now appreciate even more the fact that my parents literally built Promotional Printing from the ground up,” she said. “It is something that my sister Janeese and I are very proud of.”
Wayne said that Promotional Printing will close its last day of work Aug. 29 at noon and will be officially closed Sept. 1.