Ad&PrintCraft continues to handle islands’ printing needs
Origins of business date back to 1969, with current owners taking over in 1978
Pat and Mike Burman have been in the printing business at Ad&PrintCraft since 1978. In fact, the family business was the first print shop on the island.
In 1969 Mike’s mom, Lynn Burman, started the publishing-news company Pine Island News and Shopper, and with the equipment on hand, she began doing job-shop printing and services for local businesses. After the passing of his mom, Mike and Pat Burman acquired the name Ad&PrintCraft when they purchased a Fort Myers printing company, PrintCraft.
According to Pat, as the printing industry began to become more computerized, Ad&PrintCraft was one of the first printing companies to incorporate computers in their workflow.
“With COVID everything has changed, so it’s a little bit different now,” said Pat. “But we still get up, unlock the door and go to work every day.”
She says they do all the prep work on site. They have a large commercial camera to shoot images; they develop the film themselves, strip the film on a stripping plate and burn the metal plate to run the job.
“Even our children have grown up in the business,” said Pat. “Our children never went to daycare. They stayed with us the whole time and learned a lot about being business oriented through the years as a result.”
Two of their children still live on Pine Island and one lives on Fort Myers Beach, she says. She and Mike decided early on that they were going to be self-employed, although she says sometimes being self-employed is not all that people assume it is.
“As all self-employed business owners know, working for yourself is not always easy,” said Pat. “Many long hard hours and money goes into running your own business. You do not receive a paycheck every Friday, but you keep on striving to make it work. This is what we did and still do.”
Of all the projects they’ve taken on in their 44 years in business, working with the Beacon of Hope after Hurricane Charley is most memorable.
“We did a hurricane book for them,” said Pat. “We printed an informational booklet, which was absolutely wonderful for the island. It told people what to do with their pet, where to go in the event of a hurricane. Working with them on that project was very fulfilling to us.”
With so many newcomers on the island, Pat says, people may not realize how long she and her husband have been here in Bokeelia, where they continue to work from their home.
“When people ask what we do, I tell them we have the printing business in Bokeelia, it’s been there forever, and some people seem surprised,” she said. “I want people to know that they don’t have to leave the island in order to get good service. We guarantee our quality, from black and white and color printing to scanning and faxing. Nothing is shipped out. This is a local business taking care of local customers.”
In all the years of working and living on Pine Island, she says, they’ve always made time to volunteer, helping or serving on many boards of directors, such as the Pine Island Chamber of Commerce, Pine Island Kiwanis Club, and other non-profit organizations.
“Being active in the community is something that is very rewarding,” said Burman.
Ad&PrintCraft is located at 7082 Hibiscus Ave., Bokeelia. For additional information, call 239-283-0777.