By Jill Nagy
T-Shirt Graphics in Ballston Spa turns 30
this year.
The company screen prints and embroiders
T-shirts and just about any other item of clothing
in lots from a dozen to 3,000. Recently, they also entered in to the business of making
custom banners.
Dennis Albright owns the business with his
wife, Eileen. The business was originally for
offset printing. But Albright said he was looking
for something more in the arts end of the
printing business when he had the opportunity
buy some screen printing equipment. The
transition was made.
Today, 10 employees, two of them part time,
work at the company.
Albright said the business serves mainly
corporate clients that are looking for staff
shirts, or items to commemorate anniversaries
and other special events. They also outfit
athletic teams.
However, they can also produce a dozen Tshirts
or hats for a party or family reunion. In
addition, they offer a line of items promoting
Ballston Spa.
A big change Albright has seen during his
years in the printing industry is a strong push
to improve safety and reduce adverse environmental
impacts. Materials, he said, “are
pretty much on the safe side,” with non-phalate
inks and waste that is either biodegradable or can be returned to the manufacture for safe
disposal.
“The industry has been very proactive” on matters of environmental safety, he said.
The company also offers a new line of “green”
garments.
Customers can design their own garments,
using software on the company’s website, tshirtgraphics.
com, or use their own software.
They can also utilize the facilities of the company’s
T-shirt graphics art department.
Two automated high-speed presses can
print 500 to 600 shirts an hour in eight to 10
colors of ink, said Albright. The embroidering
machine has 12 heads that can all go at once.
All the manufacturing, as well as sales, is
done at T-Shirt Graphics’s 8,300-square-foot
facility at 12 Grove St., Ballston Spa. The factory
is in a former railroad depot, a building
more than 100 years old and built to handle
heavy equipment.
The company carries adult sizes from small
to XXXL and children’s sizes from extra-small
to large from a variety of manufacturers.
Albright said most jobs take two weeks
but “rush” orders can be accommodated. The
company has an online catalog or, if customers
prefer paper, they can pick up a catalog at
T-Shirt Graphics.
T-Shirt Graphics is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
to Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays.
The telephone number is 885-7991.