Creative Imprint Systems

Creative Imprint Systems is a provider of screen-printed and embroidered clothing and other customized advertising items in low- to high volume, in a regional marketplace which includes clients within a 500-mile range.

Company president Rick Santos notes that “The toughest thing about succession planning is first admitting you’re getting older.”

He can joke about it now, but when his NWIRC advisor asked him about a succession plan for his business, he wasn’t laughing.

“I suddenly realized my family could have lost everything we’d worked so hard to build. Not to mention, we have 31 employee families we’re responsible for. I didn’t need any more motivation than that.”

The business has been a family business since its inception, with Santos’s two sons actively involved and hoping to continue that involvement after the retirement of their father. The business required a succession plan to transition the business from the father to the sons.

That’s where the NWIRC came in.

NWIRC helped the company to develop a succession plan which would:

• Establish family expectations and objectives
• Identify management capabilities and preferences
• Define and document the Succession Plan
• Define and document the company’s management model
• Provide an implementation plan.

Company president Rick Santos said, “The NWIRC made this whole thing happen. They asked the tough questions, they led us through the process, and helped us structure the best solution for my retirement—and for the future of this company. Now I sleep better knowing that no one is going to lose anything.”