Sean O'Donnell: It's opened up a new door.

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Sean O’Donnell and his Keltech Printing in North Kansas City are among the companies that have successfully made an international leap.

O’Donnell and his printing firm last year were referred to a company near Vancouver, Canada that needed some specialized, Magnaflex label printing for a new type of packaging. O’Donnell and the Keltech crew took the leap and invested in the effort, buying a huge new rotogravure printing press and dealing with the new world of international business.

In hindsight, O’Donnell says the international business aspect was almost the easiest part of the effort. “Rotogravure printing is much more technical than offset printing,” he explained. “But it’s what is needed for these labels that are being used more and more.”

To be fair, the Vancouver Company made some of Keltech’s adaptation to cross-border trade easy with steps such as financial transactions in U.S. dollars. But the paperwork and capital investments were significant—but worth it.

“It’s opened up a new door,” O’Donnell said. “We just talked to another company last week from Toronto and they’re considering doing business with us now. We’re still learning, but it’s very exciting.”