The envelope may not be something that gets much attention — until you need one. Sheanshang’s customers need them.
JBM products include garden seed envelopes, folding drinking cups, business card protectors and envelopes with printed advertising. Much of the Lebanon company’s growth is coming from its packaging division, which makes packaging envelopes.
The company has about 152 employees and is always looking for more, if they’re qualified. “If you can get us another ten, we’d appreciate it,” Sheanshang said with a smile.
The CEO points to his new, $3.3 million state-of-the-art Manroland press as evidence of the business’ growing place in the market and its willingness to tackle detailed jobs that others may not embrace.
“If it’s hard, we like to do it,” Sheanshang said.
In five years, the business has taken up an additional 100,000 square feet at its Henkle Drive location.
We recently sat down with Sheanshang to talk about business, paper and shepherding his family’s legacy. What follows is an edited, condensed version of that talk.
Q: You seem to be a testament to the notion that paper isn’t dead. What’s your take?
Sheanshang: "No. I think the call for a paperless world is way premature. I think you're going to see where paper does add value, though. If it's just kind of flying off the fax machine, that world has changed quite a bit. And there are some pieces of paper — where it's some direct mail pieces, some of the plain-jane simpler stuff — that are not as effective. I think when it comes down to it, if it's effective, whatever substrate it's on, it all comes down to how effective it is at grabbing somebody's attention."
Q: When I think of the envelope, I think of it as an ordinary, humble thing. How do you thrive in that market?
Sheanshang: "Really, what this comes down to is, you have to make sure you're surrounding yourself with great people who help you do it. My dad started this business a long time ago, 1985. Through the years, I worked here — I'd probably get him in trouble if I told you how young I was when I started. But a lot of the people who trained us on the equipment out there still work with us. They're great people, and they've been very receptive to a changing world. And if you're not receptive to change, you're going to go away.
“Investing in the people has probably been the biggest thing. The people have been very willing and open, whether it’s continuous improvement. We spend easily six figures a year training our folks on that.
“I’m not going to sit here and say, it’s been a great, linear straight line up. But we’ve learned a lot through the process, and I’d like to think that our team members have learned a lot as well.”
Q: You’ve worked for other companies. Is there something special about leading your family’s business?
Sheanshang: "Yeah. This is something that my dad and I agreed on. We always made that agreement. I have two older sisters — that's where that 'JBM' stands for, Jennifer, Bridget and Marcus. So I've got my two older sisters, and they work a heck of a lot harder than I do, because they're at home with their kids.
“My dad and I had always kind of had the agreement that I was going to take over the business from him. I’ve always loved working with the people here, and the products have always been fun.
"It was good also to see the outside world and understand that maybe in Lebanon you can be kind of a bigger fish. A company like JBM. But in Chicago (editor's note: where Sheanshang also worked for a time), there are quite a few big companies out there, too.
“It’s something that you’re proud of, the amount of effort you put in every day. We’ve got a great executive team and a great leadership team. It would be absolutely false for me to sit here and say this is all because of me. That’s really not the case.”
Know someone who can handle Three Questions? We’re looking for behind-the-scenes-but-still fascinating Miami Valley residents with something to say. Send your suggestions to tom.gnau@coxinc.com.
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