Spectra Print

Timely support during critical times

A family passion

The Hofmeister family’s passion for commercial printing began in 1930 when Oscar Hofmeister sold and distributed trading stamps. In 1958, his son Richard joined him in the business, and the next year they installed their first offset press. Today, Richard’s children—Eric, Heidi, and Hans—are leading operations at Spectra Print in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

And Sentry has been right beside them on their journey, providing business insurance and retirement planning services for the past two decades.

The fire

In September 2021, a printer fire became one of the biggest challenges the company has faced in its 93-year history.

Spectra Print President Eric Hofmeister says most of their printing is done on three presses, and the fire happened to their UV printer—the higher-end model of the two sheet-fed presses. “To say that this machine was a very important part of our business is an understatement,” Eric said. “It was really devastating.”

The challenge

Although Spectra Print’s insurance claim was filed immediately, the challenge in resolving it centered around the fire’s origin and cause. Sentry had to coordinate a joint inspection with several entities. Because of that subrogation process, it took 30 days to release the scene.

At the same time, Eric was racing against the clock to find a replacement printer. The fire happened during the COVID-19 pandemic and manufacturing in general was substantially behind. There was, literally, only one machine being shipped to the United States at that time.

“For us, it was difficult to wait. There were a lot of sleepless nights,” Eric said. “But once Sentry determined we were going to be able to replace the press, every step thereafter was quick. That really helped us.” Spectra Print acted immediately to secure that press. “If we hadn’t gotten that one available press, it would’ve likely taken another nine to 12 months to get back up and running.”

The results

Thanks to Sentry’s timely release of the fire scene and go-ahead to replace the machine, Eric said they had a new press operating within eight months of the fire.

“The thing that helped us immensely was that we had all our insurance with Sentry—the physical press insurance and lost income,” Eric said. “It was great to have Sentry on both sides of that to help us expedite this as quickly as we could.”

There’s a reason Spectra Print has had Sentry as their insurance provider for decades, Eric said. “Sentry has always taken care of us above and beyond when we have needed them.”