Mayor Proclaims “Des Plaines Office Equipment Day” in Elk Grove

State, local, business officials join to congratulate Des Plaines Office Equipment on its 60th anniversary at Elk Grove Village headquarters

Elk Grove Village, IL, July 22, 2015 – Des Plaines Office Equipment (www.dpoe.com), the Chicago area’s leading provider of document management solutions and related services, may well be the only technology solutions business in the United States to have an official day named for it in the community where it is located.

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson was among the guests at the company’s 60th anniversary gala celebration, held recently at the company’s headquarters. As part of his visit, the Mayor presented a proclamation of congratulations to owners Chip and Vic Miceli, and within it declared the day as “Des Plaines Office Equipment Day” in Elk Grove Village.

The Mayor congratulated the company for its success and then quipped, “The only thing we don’t like about your business is that it has the name Des Plaines instead of Elk Grove Village.” Mayor Johnson was joined by two of Elk Grove Village’s trustees, Nancy Czarnik and Samuel Lissner, to congratulate the business on its anniversary and its success.

The “Des Plaines” in the name comes from where the company originated, 60 years ago, when founder Vince Miceli launched the business from their home in Des Plaines. The brothers kept the name, when they took over the business in the 1980s, to honor their father’s choice of business name.

In addition to the Mayor, a number of other officials attended the event to extend their congratulations, including Illinois State Representative Michelle Mussman and her legislative assistant Michael Marks; Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Deputy Director Vic Narusis, representing the office of the Governor; and Sarah Keep, representing U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth. In addition, the Greater O’Hare Business Association was represented by Shirlann Lemm, Lori Urbaniec and Scott Footer; Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce was represented by Executive Director Marty Gardner; and Small Business Advocacy Council CEO Elliot Richardson also attended and congratulated the company on its success. Additionally, Sharp Electronics Senior Vice President of Sales Laura Blackmer attended to present a plaque of congratulations to the company on its milestone.

More than 250 people turned out to join in the celebration, which included, in addition to the presentations, a catered buffet, music, and a chance to mingle and network. Both owners, Chip and Vic Miceli, each took turns thanking the company’s employees, their families, and their guests for their role in helping the company grow and prosper.

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.

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).

“We are very thankful to all who turned out to help us celebrate this milestone,” said Chip Miceli, adding, “We have a great group of clients and customers, and an excellent team of employees. We look forward to many more years together.” He added, “And we very much appreciate the public officials and business leaders who took the time from their schedule to come out and visit with us.”

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 Greater O’Hare  Business Association, the Small Business Advocacy Council, the Northbrook Chamber of Commerce and the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce. For additional information, please call 847-879-6400 or visit www.dpoe.com.