AAA Mailing attracts new owners

“It’s a good fit with my background ... (and a good purchase) because of the high growth historically and the future potential of growth,” said Dan Williams, who bought AAA Mailing Service Mailing Service from Bert Thompson and Bob Wagner on Nov. 11 for an undisclosed price. Indepenent broker Mark Schwien brokered the transaction.

Thompson and Wagner put the company up for sale so that they could retire.

After 21 years in corporate upper management – PepsiCo, Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., Dairy Farmers of America Inc. – Dan Williams found that AAA Mailing Service met all of his and his wife’sself-employment needs: it was business-to-business, had regular weekday hours and was in “an industry that did not compete with Wal-Mart or China.”

If those factors weren’t attractive enough to the Williamses, Thompson said AAA Mailing Service experienced 64 percent revenue growth from 2004 to 2005, reaching $3.2 million. “I’m very happy with the way the business turned out and the way we nurtured it,” Thompson said. “It was strictly word-of-mouth.”

Dan Williams credits the growth to the former owners’ work ethic.

“It was just the good job that they did, and customers told other customers,” Dan Williams said. “I’m going to do a lot of aggressive selling myself.”

To reach goals of 40 percent growth in the first year of ownership and 300 percent growth in five years, Williams said he will seek marketing agreements with promotion firms, database management firms and print shops in an effort to tap into their client lists.

AAA Mailing Service currently processes nearly 3 million pieces of mail per month, near its capacity of 3.5 million.

Bill Brayman, U.S. Postal Service postmaster for Springfield, said bulk mailers are outsourced labor for the post office.

“They prepare the mail in such a way that it can bypass one or several of our operations,” Brayman said.

In return, bulk mailers and their clients receive a postage discount from the Postal Service.

Dan Williams said clients might pay only 22 cents a piece to send first-class letters that usually cost 37 cents.

He said AAA Mailing Service charges up to 6 cents per piece of mail for folding, tabbing, inserting, addressing, rating, sorting and delivering the mail to the post office.

“We make our margin on the fees,” Williams said, noting that job sizes range from 200 pieces of mail to 2 million pieces.

“Our end of the mailing service is kind of the … tail of a dog,” he said. “It’s the fulfillment.”

If they are successful in their growth plans, Williams said he and his wife plan to leave their 12,000-square-foot 500 W. Olive location for an undisclosed 25,000-square-foot location in the north part of town.

AAA Mailing Service has 15 full-time employees and as many as 15 part-time workers depending on the workload. More employees will be needed if the company moves, but Williams doesn’t yet know how many will be added.

Williams also said there are plans to add new equipment.

“The return on investment on the equipment is pretty good,” he said. “Each piece of equipment can crank out a lot of pieces (of mail).”

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