Pearson-Kelly enters partnership in Joplin

Pearson-Kelly Office Products has partnered with Office Concepts of Joplin, allowing the Springfield office equipment company to serve its Joplin-area clients in a brick-and-mortar location.

Under the partnership, Pearson-Kelly leases office space from  Office Concepts owner Reggie Elliot at its 1416 S. Main St. site in Joplin and sells products out of the Joplin office. Office Concepts is mainly focusing on servicing, according to Pearson-Kelly owner Mike Kelly.

Pearson-Kelly is contracting the servicing department of Office Concepts, Kelly said, noting Elliot has retained ownership of Office Concepts of Joplin through the partnership, which went into effect April 2.

Kelly said he promoted George Hoffman to Joplin sales manager, and Pearson-Kelly is looking to hire local employees in Joplin as well. Pearson-Kelly employs 16, and Office Concepts of Joplin has seven employees, he said.

Kelly said the partnership was drafted after he told his longtime friend Elliot that Pearson-Kelly would be entering the Joplin market. Elliot offered the extra office space at the office, which already had been primarily focusing on servicing.

Kelly said no money changed hands in the partnership, but he noted it could open the door for an acquisition down the road.

Kelly said the partnership is mutually beneficial because Office Products also would benefit from Pearson-Kelly's marketing team.

"It will help both of our businesses," he said. "By combining [efforts], the whole is going to be stronger than each individual company for that Joplin marketplace."

Office Concepts' Elliot could not be reached for comment by deadline. Elliot owned an Office Concepts branch in Springfield, but he sold it to Steven Moore Sr., Kelly said. Moore renamed the Springfield location to Office Concepts of Missouri Inc. in 1990, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

Kelly became the sole owner of Pearson-Kelly in mid-2011 after buying out Byron Pearson's interest in the company for an undisclosed amount. Byron and Lisa Pearson, who founded Pearson-Kelly in 2002, started a new company called PearsoNet, according to SBJ archives.