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Local graphics firm Pratt acquired by Minnesota company

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Pratt Corp., a 66-year-old Indianapolis-based retail graphics firm that saw ambitious expansion plans come up short during the recession, has been acquired by Vomela Group of St. Paul, Minn.

Terms of the deal, announced Monday, were not disclosed. Vomela said the new unit will be renamed Pratt Visual Solutions.

Pratt was founded in 1946 under the name Pratt Poster Co. by Ryland Pratt as an outdoor advertising company and developed a specialty as a national store-decor business. In 1982, it began creating signage for one of its biggest clients, Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc. Other clients included HHGregg, Shoe Carnival Inc. and FedEx.

In 2005, the company consolidated operations into 400,000 square feet of space along Shadeland Avenue and promised to create 141 full-time jobs paying an average of $21 per hour and retain 177 existing employees.

The company fell below its hiring targets in 2008, and the city last year overturned its property-tax breaks. At the time, Pratt had 175 local employees. The company said Tuesday that it now has 143 workers.

CEO Dan Pratt told IBJ in August that he had been focused on stabilizing and rebuilding the company instead of growing it, due to the effects of the economy. Dan Pratt will stay with Pratt Visual Solutions as president.

Vomela has 900 employees across 18 locations in the United States and Canada. The 65-year-old graphics firm expects revenue this year to hit $200 million.

 

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  1. Doug Henning!

  2. These guy were thugs — they grew up in freaking Haughville! Smh, sigh. If the mayor needs/wants "quality" Black Hoosiers who are NOT corrupt, give me a call — I know plenty. Land bank info here - http://www.kubepharm.com/indylandbank/IndyLandBank.html

  3. Magician and illusionist!

  4. The basic idea of nice apartments with parking and retail is a good one, but this design seems overwhelmingly big/tall for Broad Ripple. The size could be disguised a bit with lots of big trees/landscaping, but the complex is too massive to blend in easily. That section of canal between College and Westfield will also need to be upgraded on both sides. Nice apartments facing onto a nice promenade with shade trees/plantings could bring together the canal towpath/Monon recreation, the outdoor seating at existing restaurants, and this project into something that upgrades the whole area. A plan for the whole stretch makes more sense than facing nice new housing onto what looks like a ditch. Is there a plan? Does the public have input? Who pays? The apartment idea seems to be reasonable, but Whole Foods is not a good idea for appropriate retail. Besides the store being physically too big, there are already Fresh Market at 54xCollege and Whole Foods in Nora for fancy groceries. Good Earth and Kroger are within walking distance of the Shell site. There are at least 7 grocery stores within a safe bike ride. Whole Foods would add nothing but traffic congestion. This design is on the right track, but there needs to be more work done to ensure that it blends in with and enhances the existing community. A project that large will set a tone for that whole part of town. It could be a real asset, but only if done right.

  5. I did not move to Zionsville to live in Carmel. This and the subsequent developments to follow will ensure a vanilla uniformity of strip malls and apartment buildings as we seek to bring our town down to the least common denominator. We were warned before recent elections that pro-development council members would make sure their friends (landowners and developers) would be able to make their millions off of the exploitation of Zionsville. Why in God's name would we sell out the best preserved small town in the State of Indiana?

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