Business of the year
11/08/2007
A new design and print shop that’s already garnered an international design award during its first year of business was honored by the Churubusco Chamber of Commerce Thursday as the 2007 Business of the Year at the annual awards banquet, held at Eel River Golf Clubhouse.
Chris Tomlinson, owner and manager of Gonink: Design & Print, located on U.S. 33 on the South side of town, was recognized for his dedication to the business and residential community and for his many contributions and ongoing support of the Churubusco Chamber of Commerce.
"Chris is someone whose dedication to the community and excellent Web site skills make him very deserving of the award," said Chamber president Jim Horne.
Horne also gave statistics for the overall success and number of inquiries and hits received since the inception of the Chamber’s Web site, which was designed and maintained by Tomlinson.
Tomlinson humbly accepted the award mentioning, "It’s quite ironic that the oldest business in town won last year and now one of the newest businesses in town wins the award this year."
Tomlinson chose to open his business in Churubusco in 2005 to offer people and businesses a more local solution for their printing needs. They have worked with non-profit organizations such as the local fire department, many local businesses such as the recently finished Sheets & Childs website (www.sheetsandchilds.net ) and companies across the country.
Tomlinson, and his wife and co-owner of the business, Sarah, are both longtime residents of Churubusco. Both graduated from Churubusco High School – Chris in 1991 and Sarah in 1994. Chris has been a member of the Churubusco / Smith Twp. Volunteer Fire Department for 17 years. He has a degree in multimedia graphic and web design from the University of Pittsburgh and has been designing for over 5 years now.
Chris Tomlinson has been interested in art/design all his life and obtaining a degree in graphic design seemed like a good fit. The first ever client he had was a plumbing company in northern California and later he worked with a fairly well known non-profit rescue organization in Fort Wayne.
Sarah Tomlinson is an area manager covering a territory in Indiana from Angola to Kokomo with a large wireless company.
This is the second award this year for Tomlinson and Gonink: Design & Print, as they won an international design award for their company logo in January. Among thousands of submissions from twenty-three countries, Gonink’s logo design scored among the very best.
Not only has the company been awarded twice within it’s first full year of business, but Tomlinson has been interviewed and featured in a book called “Creatively Self Employed: How writers and artists deal with career ups and downs.” Nearly sixty creative, writers, authors and marketing experts contributed to the book.
For the future Gonink: Design & Print plans on expanding on their G3 Initiative which is short for Gonink Goes Green. They hope to get other area businesses involved and interested in being a more sustainable company. They’re also planning on expanding their office supply services so that usual “quick trip” to Ft. Wayne for office supplies is now a more local choice.
Other creative work Gonink: Design & Print has created includes the Churubusco Chamber’s Web site (www.churubuscochamber.org ), Beezley Racing (www.beezleyracing.com ), Churubusco / Smith Twp. Fire Department (www.buscofire.com ) and Sheets & Childs Funeral Home (www.sheetsandchilds.net ).
For additional information contact Chris Tomlinson at (260) 312-0126 or visit www.gonink.com to learn more about the company and what they can do for your business or organization.