By Jeremy Sollars
TUCKED away behind the post office in unassuming digs in the rural hamlet of Dalveen, halfway between Warwick and Stanthorpe, is one of the region’s business success stories.
The Free Times caught up with Action Graphics this week to learn about the long-standing business which hasn’t actively sought the limelight, but has been kicking commercial goals for several decades.
The business was born after owners John and Bev Ursem had a tree change in the early 1980s and decided to call Dalveen home with their “horse-mad” kids.
They started off producing an archery magazine and the business grew from there, expanding into screenprinting.
Their client base is predominantly in western Queensland where John regularly ventures to find new sales leads, and they also took over the Dalveen Post Office some years back when it was facing closure.
“We produce a range of promotional products, a lot of them for the tourism sector,” Bev explained.
“We produce stickers and stubbie coolers, stationery, clothing and uniforms and caps and souvenirs, as well as publishing and all types of commercial printing including magazines, posters, business cards and brochures.”
The process is an end-to-end one, from graphic design right through to printing and embroidery and enables tourism bodies, clubs, businesses, schools and special events a unique identity.
Customers can, for example, pick a polo shirt, T-shirt, singlet, cap, jacket or tracksuit from an extensive range and customise it with their own combination of corporate or club colours, logos and other artwork.
Other clothing items include basketball and other sporting singlets, shearer’s singlets, fleecy tops, workwear and safety shirts and staff uniforms.
Employees include five full-time workers in the embroidery workshop who stitch up a storm and the business uses specialised printing technology including wide format and sublimation printing, the latter of which enables the heat transfer of dye onto materials such as fabric.
Action Graphics also produces Travel Action Matilda Country Magazine, a guide for travellers exploring outback Queensland along the Matilda Highway “from Cunnamulla to the Gulf of Carpentaria”.
The Free Times is keen to highlight other local businesses like Action Graphics who are doing great things without a lot of fanfare.
If you know of a local business which is a well-kept secret, contact editor Jeremy Sollars on 0427 090 818 or email Jeremy.Sollars@freetimes.com.au
