Elk Grove Village, IL, May 10, 2015 – Des Plaines Office Equipment (www.dpoe.com), the region’s leading provider of document management solutions and related services, will officially celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary with a June 11 Open House/Gala at its Elk Grove Village headquarters.
The Des Plaines Office Equipment Gala starts at 5 p.m. at 1020 Bonaventure Drive, Elk Grove Village. Come and meet owners Chip and Victor Miceli and their team for an evening which will include refreshments and entertainment. The Micelis anticipate attendance of several hundred for the event, including local businesspeople, Chamber representatives and elected and industry officials. All are welcome but pre-registration is required, www.dpoe.com/events.
The company is under the second generation of family ownership, with a third generation also part of the 85-person, three-location firm. Des Plaines Office Equipment today operates from three Greater Chicago locations: Elk Grove Village (1020 Bonaventure Drive, the company headquarters), Loves Park (Rockford) and downtown Chicago (211 West Wacker Drive).
Chip Miceli and his brother, Victor, are second generation owners of the business originally founded in 1955 by their father, Vince Miceli. The company got its start in the Miceli home’s garage. At that time, a gallon of gasoline sold for .23. An average black and white television sold for $99.95, the average cost of a new house was $10,950, a new car cost on average $1,900 and average annual wages around $4,000. The minimum wage was $1.00 per hour. Rock and roll was gaining in popularity, with Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and the Comets, Chuck Berry and the Platters dominating the a.m. radio airwaves.
Soon after starting the business, Mr. Miceli moved the operation to a small storefront on Walnut Street in Des Plaines. In its early stages, Des Plaines Office Equipment sold used desks and chairs, and then Olivetti Calculators and Underwood Typewriters. Sons Chip and Victor took over ownership in the late 1980s upon Mr. Miceli’s retirement.
Des Plaines Office Equipment has evolved from its early product line to a complete line of office equipment including copiers, printers, facsimile machines and phone systems. The firm sells and leases a complete line of Sharp office equipment, Oki Data, HP, Kyocera and Toshiba, as well as a department of service technicians for repair, and technological and connectivity issues. DPOE has developed a niche in the document management/managed print services arena where the company helps analyze an institution’s document generation needs and prescribes solutions that generally save between 10% and 15% of an organization’s annual document generation costs.
In addition to document management solutions, Des Plaines Office Equipment also provides Managed Network (IT) and archiving services. The firm’s President is a nationally-recognized speaker on the subject of managed print solutions and has worked with a number of office equipment dealers nationally to train them in the concept.
The firm is an annual winner of the Sharp Hyakuman Kai award and is an annual winner of the Elite Dealer award from The Week in Imaging, a national trade publication.
The company’s clients include corporations, schools, Chambers of Commerce, law firms, financial institutions and not-for-profit organizations, among others.
In the past decade, the firm has grown through four acquisitions in the Chicago area: Synergistic Office Solutions, ABM Office Equipment, Kee Business Systems and Document Vision Technology (DVT).
“Our industry is constantly changing, and our 60 years in this industry have taught us that we must always be on the cutting edge, to be ready for what comes next,” said Chip Miceli. He added, “Our business model looks very different than what our Dad started out with, but the basic principles that he instilled in us remain true to this day: provide the best solution for the needs of each business. We enjoy changing with the times and adapting our products and services for the needs of our clients.” He continued, “And we think Dad would be pleased to see, 60 years later, what he launched with a good idea, a positive attitude, and a commitment to excellence.”
About Des Plaines Office Equipment
Des Plaines Office Equipment (DPOE, www.dpoe.com), is a leader in the field of print management, and document generation equipment and solutions, serving the greater Chicago area since 1955. Today, DPOE operates three locations: its headquarters in Elk Grove Village, and a location in Chicago (211 West Wacker Drive) and Rockford (Loves Park, IL). Des Plaines Office Equipment (DPOE) is a leading provider of Sharp office equipment, Oki Data, HP, Kyocera and Toshiba (telephone systems). The company has additionally added the Sharp WhiteBoard and VideoBoard. DPOE provides products and services to a diverse client base that includes schools, hospitals, law offices, accounting firms, and financial institutions, among others. DPOE provides products and services to a diverse client base that includes municipalities, schools, hospitals, law offices, accounting firms, and financial institutions, among others. The firm is a consistent winner of Sharp Document’s Hyakuman Kai award for sales excellence, and was named a 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Elite Dealer by The Week in Imaging. DPOE maintains corporate headquarters at 1020 Bonaventure Drive, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007. The firm is active in a number of area civic organizations, including the Italian American Chamber of Commerce, and the Chicago and Des Plaines Chambers of Commerce. For additional information, please call 847-879-6400 or visit www.dpoe.com
