Word of mouth, R&D investment helps grow a process, a company

Germ-Gate is a nano-particle, silver-based, clear liquid industrial ink that is screen printed onto products to prevent spreading germs.If you have ever managed to get lost in New Hampshire and end up in the small town of Bow, you will make a couple observations rather quickly. The first thing you might notice is a gas station. The second thing would probably be suburban housing developments. However, after you fill your tank, and before you head back toward home, you should take notice of Northeast Avenue. It happens to be the street on which the beautiful public library sits, but if you were to go a little further, you would find a very large building, discretely hidden away from street traffic. Completely isolated in its own world, you have to wonder what company finds solace on the edge of a town that lacks even a simple traffic light.

The company happens to be Bovie Screen Process Printing, a technical screen printing company that makes its revenue stream right in the small town of Bow. Owned and managed by David Gintzler, the company has seen every recession since 1950. Originally founded by Robert Bovie Myers, and his wife Elizabeth, Bovie Screen first broke ground above a plumbing supply house on Main St. in Concord, MA, and at the time consisted of only three employees. After Bovie’s first customer, WMUR, there was no looking back. The small company outgrew its home, bouncing from location to location, moving due to the increase in volume and employees.

In 1979, a third generation printer, and the company’s first outside sales rep, Gintzler, purchased the company from Myers who was ready to retire. From there, the operation doubled in size, expanded the organization to 35 employees, and added the ability to manufacture roll labels and membrane switches.

The 31,000ft² home located at the intersection of highways 93 and 89 in Bow has fit quite nicely. Bovie Screen has grown from a loft on main street with point of purchase displays being the main source of income, to a headquarters that allows the company to print roll labels, decals, overlays, membrane switches, plastic fabrication, medical electrodes, digital printing, and contract marking; to name a few.

Unfortunately, like all businesses this past year, Bovie was caught in the middle of the recession. However, the resilience of the company to take the body blows from the worst economic decline since 1987 and manage to come out the other side, ready for the next round is astounding. “As with every company we had to make cuts, and that is regrettable, but unfortunately inevitable,” Gintzler states. “It is the belief in our staff and the roots we have created here that has allowed us to weather the storm and we look forward to seeing our customers start coming back.”

Those customers in the electronics, industrial, and medical fields do keep coming back.Despite being a company that mainly relies on other businesses to seek out marketing and advertising – which during a downturn is one of the first budgets that gets cut – Bovie has managed to stay afloat and motored on, without taking on too much water.

If you take a closer look, the company appears to be an unsung hero of sorts. Devoting almost its entire business model in improving others’ branding strategies, and sales that depend a great deal on repeat orders, Bovie Screen sits back and provides the services necessary to get out other company’s message or product. In most cases, Bovie is not allowed to advertise their own hard-work, with a large portion of revenue coming from companies that require non-disclosure agreements. Bovie thrives by helping their customers grow a customer base, sitting backstage while someone else enjoys the spotlight.

Technology and Innovation
Continually updating its technology in the screen printing industry, Bovie has recently made a half million dollar investment in updates, including large, plastic fabrication improvements, a state of the art roll label machine, and a flat bed digital printer – which has the versatility to print on numerous uncoated materials including, corrugated plastics, polyacrylics and uneven or irregular media. The company has also begun developing a venture into a screen making service, which is becoming an additional segment to their already growing variety of printing abilities.

The company has also invested money in a lot of R&D, developing their own trademarked product named Germ-Gate, an antimicrobial coating, which can be utilized by schools, hospitals, and medical device manufacturers effectively eliminating germs on surfaces where it is coated.

The actual coating is a nano-particle, silver-based, clear liquid industrial ink that is screen printed – the old-fashioned way, squeegee and all – onto graphic overlays or other products for preventing the spread of germs. Germ-Gate is transparent, works on flat or round surfaces, and lasts for the life of the product. Large corporations or companies are able to apply silver nanotechnology to products themselves, but for the companies that would like to add Germ-Gate to an existing product, Bovie Screen is there to help.

“Not only is Germ-Gate safe and affordable for our customers, but we hope that it becomes an integral part for our company’s future,” Gintzler states. “Bovie Screen Process Printing is proud to be doing its part in disease prevention in an age where bacteria transmission is of growing concern and getting national attention.”

The nano-particles are able to coat large surfaces for pennies on the dollar and, Germ-Gate was a recent addition to keypads that attach to certain medical devices made for hospitals in the U.S, a place where secondary infections may occur.

Do not think Bovie does not practice what it preaches either. Inside their office and plant, where the screen printers and office employees mesh seamlessly, there are Germ-Gate-coated push-plates placed on every door, going in and out. Gintzler adds, “You have to be able to stand behind every product you make, and by using Germ-Gate in our own facility we effectively show potential customers or naysayers how much we trust the technology behind this product.”

With many businesses turning their back on the U.S. or outsourcing to the east, it is nice to see that one continues to flourish while living here in the Granite State. In a type of weird irony, the large plant where this all takes place is hidden, disguised from the street behind that public library. You cannot see them from the road, but they are there, working tirelessly on projects so your product or business can become the latest purple elephant. Have your cake and eat it too! Enjoy! Will they ask for credit? No, but that is just business as usual. Perfection in technical printing is the company’s slogan and 60 years of success should make you believe there is some truth to that.

Bovie Screen Process Printing
Bow, NH
bovie.com