From humble beginnings in the basement of the main hospital making black-and-white copies to now 14,000 square feet of state-of-the-art equipment and experts. A ribbon cutting ceremony and a blessing from Father Luke Kalarickal on Monday, Oct. 25, at their new location at 4580 Old Troup Hwy, in Tyler.

The Christus Trinity Mother Frances Print Shop has doubled in size after selecting what used to be the Tyler Rock Gym on Old Troup Highway in Tyler, to be the center of its printing hub, which caters to several community partners.

Tyler ISD, UT Tyler, the East Texas NAACP and Brookshire Grocery Co., to name a few, go to the print shop for their banner, sign, brochures, booklets, stationary and envelope needs.

Christus Health administrators gathered Monday to celebrate a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate Wednesday’s official grand opening of the print shop. After a blessing from Father Luke Kalarickal, chaplain for Christus, employees and administrators of the Christus health system enjoyed a tour of the facility.

What began in 1979 in the basement of the main hospital making black-and-white copies is nowa 14,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility with new equipment and experts.

“You start where you’re planted,” said Delvecchio Shankle, who has been manager at the Christus Trinity print shop through the past 15 years.

“When you start to grow, you get repotted. So this is our repotting. I think we have grown into this big flower and we’ve outgrown that pot. Now we’re in a new pot, we have opportunity for growth at this particular location,” Shankle said.

The Christus Health system keeps printing in house to manage the brand better, such as its signature colors, so the public understands consistency is the importance, Shankle added, while at the same time engaging in community partnerships to provide printing and cutting needs.

“The future is bright. We’re going to be here for quite some time because of the investment this organization has made into producing quality printing for not just our internal ministry, but for other people in the community as well,” he said.

Front door orders are available online, which Shankle said is more accessible business model. In the new location on Old Troup Highway, a significant change for employees will include not having to drive 15 to 30 minutes away to pick up materials, such as acrylic, paper and more.

Shankle said this gives them the ability to stay on task and keep production going without having to stop.

Because of their growth in the community, employees found themselves not being able to produce as quickly as they knew they could because the space was not set up for that much of a workload.

Instead of waiting for something to be done to begin on the next task, employees said the new facility gives them the space to make the process work better for them and in a cycle.

The Print Services team process over 67,000 jobs per year, which equates to 18 million impressions and nearly 28,000 square feet of ridged and banner materials.