ARGYLE - Thirty years ago in a dorm room, college art student Keith Ritschard started making screen prints on clothing. Today, his company, RBS Activewear, is celebrating its 30th year in business.
"I went to Carthage College to go into art education to be an art teacher," Ritschard said. "I was intrigued by a class that showed screen-printing by hand, so that's where it derived from."
Ritschard said the overhead cost was cheap - starting a business rent-free in his dorm room - but once he moved to his hometown, in Argyle, there was a learning curve.
"(I) rented a building that was only $125 a month. So, it was really low rent," Ritschard said. "And it wasn't going that well."
Three years later, Ritschard said his business started picking up steam.
"It started getting going when local schools started buying from us," said Ritschard. A friend from New Glarus gave him a Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association book with all the addresses of schools around the state. "We started handwriting all the envelopes and sending them to all the schools in the state of Wisconsin and followed the sports theme. That's where it started to grow from."
RBS now distributes to 14 states, according to Keith's wife and co-owner, Tina.
"We can't do all 50 because they'd all want it at the same time. The demand is just too great," said Tina.
In 1989 the Ritschards built their first expansion.
"We added onto the existing building twice and then we outgrew those," Keith said. "In '97 we built a big large building at a different location in Argyle and then added onto that in 2008. And we're as big as we can get in that lot."
RBS now has three locations: Argyle, Galena and at Thunder Bridge Trading Company in Monroe. Keith said today his company completes over a million compressions a year and that RBS currently employs about 45 people, which is a point of pride for them.
"(Our employees) are very talented. I know a lot of (screen) printers in the country and I'd put them up against anybody. They are a good talent for a rural town. We've got them coming from Monroe, Darlington, Winslow, Blanchardville - they are all over," Keith said. "We actually feel like we're providing jobs and a good place to work."
"They're not just employees - they're family. You take care of your family," Tina added.
The duo has no plans to look toward any sort of retirement. Keith said that to hand the baton over, he'd have to make sure it would be someone well trained.
"It's one of those things that's hard to train somebody. I know ink, I know embroidery, I know art. It's something that somebody's got to hang around a long time to learn a little bit about everything and not a lot of about anything," Keith said, chuckling.
The couple's daughter, 24-year-old Melissa, has finished college and recently joined the staff to help with social media marketing.
"That social media and that kind of stuff is the newer way to advertise," Tina said. "Getting the word out more and the ability to have people share things through Facebook or Instagram and that, there's a lot to do."
Keith added, "We're trying to get analytics that will find us on Facebook and on computer websites. It's fortunate that Melissa started working for us. She's kind of the new one on the block that gets the new technology."
"I went to Carthage College to go into art education to be an art teacher," Ritschard said. "I was intrigued by a class that showed screen-printing by hand, so that's where it derived from."
Ritschard said the overhead cost was cheap - starting a business rent-free in his dorm room - but once he moved to his hometown, in Argyle, there was a learning curve.
"(I) rented a building that was only $125 a month. So, it was really low rent," Ritschard said. "And it wasn't going that well."
Three years later, Ritschard said his business started picking up steam.
"It started getting going when local schools started buying from us," said Ritschard. A friend from New Glarus gave him a Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association book with all the addresses of schools around the state. "We started handwriting all the envelopes and sending them to all the schools in the state of Wisconsin and followed the sports theme. That's where it started to grow from."
RBS now distributes to 14 states, according to Keith's wife and co-owner, Tina.
"We can't do all 50 because they'd all want it at the same time. The demand is just too great," said Tina.
In 1989 the Ritschards built their first expansion.
"We added onto the existing building twice and then we outgrew those," Keith said. "In '97 we built a big large building at a different location in Argyle and then added onto that in 2008. And we're as big as we can get in that lot."
RBS now has three locations: Argyle, Galena and at Thunder Bridge Trading Company in Monroe. Keith said today his company completes over a million compressions a year and that RBS currently employs about 45 people, which is a point of pride for them.
"(Our employees) are very talented. I know a lot of (screen) printers in the country and I'd put them up against anybody. They are a good talent for a rural town. We've got them coming from Monroe, Darlington, Winslow, Blanchardville - they are all over," Keith said. "We actually feel like we're providing jobs and a good place to work."
"They're not just employees - they're family. You take care of your family," Tina added.
The duo has no plans to look toward any sort of retirement. Keith said that to hand the baton over, he'd have to make sure it would be someone well trained.
"It's one of those things that's hard to train somebody. I know ink, I know embroidery, I know art. It's something that somebody's got to hang around a long time to learn a little bit about everything and not a lot of about anything," Keith said, chuckling.
The couple's daughter, 24-year-old Melissa, has finished college and recently joined the staff to help with social media marketing.
"That social media and that kind of stuff is the newer way to advertise," Tina said. "Getting the word out more and the ability to have people share things through Facebook or Instagram and that, there's a lot to do."
Keith added, "We're trying to get analytics that will find us on Facebook and on computer websites. It's fortunate that Melissa started working for us. She's kind of the new one on the block that gets the new technology."