A year later, CustomInk plans to add 40 jobs in Reno

CustomInk LLC, the fast-growing Web retailer of custom-designed T-shirts, expects to add another 40 employees to its staff in Reno in next couple of months.

And like the first 100 staff members who joined the company's northern Nevada operation in its first year, the next group will be hired primarily for their outlook on life rather than their specific skills.

"The No. 1 thing is people who care, really care about our customers and the people they work with," says Marc Katz, co-founder and president of the company headquartered at Tysons Corner, Va. "We want people who are going to go the extra mile."

The skills the company will be seeking to support its growth in Reno cover the full-spectrum of Custom Ink's business sales, customer support, graphic design, screen-printing.

Katz says the Reno operation met its goals of improving the company's service to its West Coast customers within its first year of operation.

The location in the Pacific Time Zone better meets the needs of customers calling from California markets, and orders shipped from Reno reach West Coast customers more quickly than those shipped from CustomInk's facilities in Tysons Corner and Charlottesville, Va.

The company, which has been listed among the fastest-growing privately held companies in the nation by Inc. Magazine for the better part of the past decade, crossed the $100 million threshold in annual sales last year.

The Reno operation is making a major contribution to that growth.

"We've found another gear in Reno, and we are growing right past our projections," Katz says.

While the company had gotten some experience with the management of remote locations with its opening of the facility at Charlottesville, the decision to open in Reno 2,500 miles west of CustomInk's home turf was daunting.

"Getting everything going from a cold start was a challenging experience," Katz says.

A key issue for the company was protection of the company's customer- and employee- focused culture as it added a large group of new staff.

Its' Web site, for instance, publishes a selection of uncensored employee remarks about the company most are strongly positive and publishes every single comment, again uncensored, from its customers.

About 40 staff members moved from CustomInk's Virginia operations to become the anchors of the new operation in Reno.

And some of the workers from northern Nevada who joined the company in early 2012 today are moving into leadership roles.

CustomInk also found valuable assistance from the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada as it developed the Reno operation in a 25,000-square-facility at Capital Commerce Center in east Reno.

"EDAWN was terrific, far more helpful and effective than other similar organizations," Katz says. "Reno is a terrific place to be."