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Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
Labor of Love
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022
VOL. 105, ISSUE 5
Printing Plant brings local businesses together during trying times
Dominique Martinez-Powell | dmartinez-powell@dailyegyptian.com
If you ever walk into the Printing Plant, you’ll find their store mantra encompasses their business model perfectly: Think BIG — Shop SMALL. In downtown Carbondale, Illinois, there is a humble little building that hosts the Printing Plant, owned by Jason Buehner. Its name is very clear about its purpose, but once you enter, there is more in store than one might expect. Opening under its original name, Copycat, in 1974, the shop focused on performing the typical services of a copy shop. The shop was rebranded as the Printing Plant before being bought by Jason Buehner in 2007. He started working at the copy shop in his college years. Currently, he owns and runs the shop with the help of his wife Meghann Buehner.
According to her, when they first acquired the Printing Plant, it was very much just a standard copy shop, but as times and business practices have changed, so have they. In 2016, the Printing Plant expanded with the goal of introducing the Award Shop, a service that focused on engraving trophies and making awards, and the beginnings of their Gift Shop into their new upcoming location which boasts more space to grow as a business. “We’re kind of multiple businesses under one roof. We have our regular printing as we’ve always done. We have an award shop where we do trophies and plaques. We’ve got a gift shop where we do laser-engraved, promotional items or gifts. We do signage, where we do everything from vinyl to banners, etc.”, Jason Buehner said.
The Printing Plant building sits along S. Illinois Ave Feb. 5, 2022 in Carbondale, Ill. “We’re kind of multiple businesses under one roof,” owner of the Printing Plant, Jason Buehner said. Dominique Martinez-Powell | @ dmartinez_powell.photography
In spring of 2015, after its location at the Murdale shopping center closed, FedEx reached out to the Printing Plant to become a shipping center. The Printing Plant didn’t have the space initially, but in May of 2016, the Beuhners set up a small shipping station at their old location mostly functioning off of a folding table. On August 15, 2016, when the Printing Plant opened its current location at 608 S. Illinois Ave,
Gift crates of Fired Up Jellies and Jams rest on a shelf Feb. 5, 2022 at the Printing Plant in Carbondale, Ill. “[The Printing Plant] really supports small businesses, being a small business themselves,” said Michael Smith, one of the owners of Fired Up Jellies and Jams. Dominique Martinez-Powell | @dmartinez_powell.photography
in addition to the new services it offered, it had a fully functioning FedEx shipping center operating out of the shop. During the height of the pandemic, this was their saving grace. “It was hard to understand what to do. There was a lot of messaging that wasn’t super clear as to whether or not we were supposed to be open or not open [...] Ultimately, we were asked to stay open because we were considered essential. Primarily
because FedEx was integrated into what we did,” Jason Buehner said. When they were determined to be an essential business during the pandemic, the Printing Plant opened its doors to other local businesses. The Printing Plant helped to keep these businesses’ products available to the public in a time when many were forced to shut down, by offering curbside and online options through their own shop. Please see PRINTING | 3
Pagliai’s Pizza gift crate sits on display for sale Feb. 5, 2022 at the Printing Plant in Carbondale, Ill. Dominique Martinez-Powell | @dmartinez_ powell.photography
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