accordance with wikipedia s deletion policy . please share your thoughts on the matter at this article s entry on the articles for deletion page . feel free to edit the article but the article must not be blanked and this notice must not be removed until the discussion is closed . for more information particularly on merging or moving the article during the discussion read the guide to deletion . % 5b % 5bwikipedia % 3aarticles for deletion % 2flexjet % 282nd nomination % 29 % 5d % 5dafd lexjet corporation type privately held company industry digital imaging founded sarasota florida 1994 headquarters sarasota florida united states of america key people arthur lambert and ron simkins co founders products wide format printers software and materials number of employees 95 citation needed website www.lexjet.com lexjet corporation is a manufacturer and direct provider of materials and equipment utilized in wide format inkjet printing . lexjet s primary markets are wide format commercial print for pay companies companies and organizations with in house printing departments and digital photographers . lexjet employs more than 90 people mostly in the company s sarasota fla. headquarters with a handful of employees operating from remote offices in dallas denver milwaukee and vancouver wash . in addition to its own line of laminates adhesives and printable films photo and fine art papers vinyl and plastics lexjet carries 23 oem brands of printers laminators software printable materials laminates adhesives and other digital imaging equipment . lexjet is a privately owned company based in sarasota florida with distribution centers in los angeles ; albany new york ; charlotte ; cincinnati ; denver ; kansas city ; milwaukee ; minneapolis ; phoenix ; portland oregon ; reno ; dallas ; jacksonville florida ; and winchester virginia . contents 1 history 1.1 background 1.2 founding 1.3 product line development 2 lexjet product lines 3 oem products 4 recent corporate initiatives 5 awards and recognition 6 references 7 further reading 8 external links history edit background edit lexjet corporation was founded in 1994 by art lambert and ron simkins two senior executives from zenith who initially launched a sign company in the early 90s in sarasota fla. called intelligent signage inc. isi . the sign company s primary business was the production of ada americans with disabilities act braille signage for public facilities . at the time one of the production methods for ada signage was to subsurface screen print lexan material emboss the braille and apply raised text to the surface of the lexan . the lexan would then be applied to a thicker gauge substrate such as acrylic and finished with square or rounded corners or framed . the printing portion of the process had drawbacks mainly that intricate logo details were often lost or impossible to produce . moreover the screen printing process was costly due to the intricate and time consuming setup required demanding large production runs that made it economically unfeasible to provide a custom short run sign program . lambert and simkins worked with tekra a ge lexan distributor to develop an inkjet printable coating for lexan from which isi began to produce custom short run ada signs for hospitals and other public facilities . first available in 8 11 sheets isi began to sell 100 sheet boxes of the new material to other sign manufacturers . as isi moved from sign production to sales of the new material a new company lexjet was formed in 1994 . founding edit lexjet then began the development of a wide format version of its product called lexjet clear in conjunction with the emergence of viable wide format inkjet printers from encad now owned by kodak and lasermaster macdermid colorspan now owned by hp . lexjet clear is printed in reverse so that the ink is protected by the textured polycarbonate surface and is typically backed with one of lexjet s white backing materials which is applied to lexjet clear with a laminator . the second generation product was manufactured in 50 widths and was primarily targeted to the trade show graphics market . lexjet clear is currently in its fifth generation of development lexjet clear prelume hd . previous generations addressed compatibility with hewlett packard wide format printers and various inksets as well as the incorporation of prelume . prelume licensed by lexjet is an additive that is designed to eliminate yellow and gray casts caused by printable papers and films . it utilizes optical reflection technology to offset color shifts and is incorporated in a number of lexjet printable materials laminates backers and adhesives . product line development edit during the development phase of lexjet clear lexjet began designing and manufacturing other lexjet branded materials for wide format printing from films to papers . at the same time lexjet built a portfolio of related products from other oems in the market that it sells direct to the end user . since 1994 wide format printing technology has developed and expanded beyond the original water based inksets and into solvent based and uv curable inks . lexjet s product development mirrored these developments with material lines for each printing technology and ink set . lexjet product lines edit lexjet s branded product lines include sunset media for photographic fine art giclee and fine photo printing ; aqueous inkjet paper ; aqueous specialty inkjet media ; solvent inkjet media ; uv curable inkjet media ; laminates adhesives and backers ; display hardware ; accessories ; finishing equipment ; laser media ; canvas stretcher bars and machines and pre made photo frames . oem products edit lexjet sells and supports products from canon canvas master clearstar corporation colorbyte software d & k dahle daige dupont efi epson expand international banner stands flexcon foster keencut fredrix canvas general binding corporation gbc general formulations hahnemuhle harman hewlett packard ilford photo kodak lacie michelman neschen nik software oki printing solutions onyx photo tex rotatrim seal summa tensador 3p inkjet textiles ultraflex wacom wacom x rite and unibind . recent corporate initiatives edit lexjet expanded its distribution network to ten warehouses across the united states in 2005 and to 15 in 2011 with the addition of charlotte kansas city minneapolis phoenix and portland ore . lexjet also ships related products of its corporate partners such as canon hp epson hahnemuhle and flexcon from 30 additional distribution centers . in 2006 lexjet acquired sone systems a los angeles based wide format imaging supplies distributor opening an office on the west coast . in september 2007 lexjet launched the great output seminar tour a nationwide seminar tour covering color management workflow and marketing for professional photographers who print their own photography . the seminar tour traveled to 16 cities across the u.s. the follow up seminar tour co sponsored with canon began in pittsburgh on sept. 15 2008 concluding in orlando on march 25 2009 . lexjet expanded its inkjet cartridge recycling program beyond the hp 5000 5500 printer series of cartridges and added all cartridges for printers wider than 17 inches to the program as part of its environmental initiatives . the program allows wide format print shops and other users of wide format inkjet cartridges to send their cartridges to lexjet for recycling either to be processed into recycled materials or for use in new consumer products . in january 2009 lexjet launched a banner recycling program in partnership with trex company . the program allows users of lexjet 3r dupont tyvek suv a solvent and uv curable ink compatible banner material to bag up used banners in a recyclable bag and send it to trex to be directly recycled into trex company s line of decking railing and fencing products . in january 2010 lexjet introduces the simple line of adhesive vinyls for various applications in the graphics market including multi textured surfaces vehicle graphics floor and carpet advertising backlit displays window graphics and wall murals . lexjet 1 updates its line of laminates and backers in february 2011 grouping the products into three distinct lines elite performance and specialty . also in february 2011 2 lexjet moved its headquarters about two blocks away from its fruitville road location in sarasota to 1605 main street suite 400 sarasota fl 34236 . according to lexjet s cio pete petersen the new space allowed lexjet to incorporate wifi and digital signage technologies for a more efficient and economical operation . lexjet introduced avatrex 3 a print medium with laminate and adhesive built into one conformable material . compatible with low solvent solvent latex and uv curable printers avatrex can be applied to virtually any surface including irregular surfaces and curves using heat water or a primer . in january 2012 lexjet added sewp and gsa schedule 70 government wide acquisition contracts gwacs 4 providing government agencies with easier access to lexjet s wide format inkjet products customer support services and its nationwide delivery network . in april 2012 lexjet acquired on a roll color imaging of orange calif. 5 providing on a roll color imaging customers with an expanded portfolio of digital imaging products . in june 2012 general binding corporation gbc selects lexjet as a reseller of its laminating and binding products including laminates and coatings mounting adhesives laminators backers and binding equipment and supplies . 6 in october 2012 lexjet has its contract extended to be a preferred print shop supplier for millercoors distributor print shops through 2017 . 7 lexjet tapped as the exclusive u.s. distributor of digiprime primers and utopia digital coatings designed for hp indigo digital presses in january 2013 . 8 in february 2013 rochester institute of technology rit certified avatrex transportable imaging technology from lexjet for hp indigo presses . 9 in april 2013 lexjet and tara materials inc. lawrenceville ga. entered into a partnership whereby lexjet is the exclusive distributor of tara materials fredrix print canvas line . 10 in may 2013 lexjet named the exclusive north american distributor of gapp engineering s canvas stretch master and studio canvas master . 11 awards and recognition edit 2000 lexjet ranked first in the tampa bay business journal s fast 50 fastest growing technology companies in the tampa bay area and was also ranked 175th on inc. magazine s fastest growing privately held companies in america 12 2001 lexjet ranked 48th on inc. magazine s fastest growing privately held companies in america and 13th in the tampa bay business journal s florida 100 which ranked the fastest growing businesses in florida 2005 lexjet named by the tampa bay business journal as one of the best places to work in the tampa bay area 2006 lexjet named technology company of the year by the economic development corporation of sarasota county 13 2007 lexjet recognized by pcmag.com s 10 ways technology can make a difference for its inkjet cartridge recycling program 14 2009 lexjet named by florida trend magazine as one of the best places to work in florida 2010 lexjet cfo gina mascio named as a finalist for cfo of the year by the tampa bay business journal 2011 lexjet named for the third year in a row by florida trend magazine as one of the best places to work in florida coming in first among medium sized companies in sarasota 2012 lexjet named one of the best companies to work for in florida by florida trend magazine for the fourth year in a row 15 2013 lexjet named one of the best companies to work for in florida trend magazine for the fifth year in a row moving up to 10th from 13th in the midsized companies category 16 2014 lexjet parent company s one named one of the best mid sized companies to work for in florida trend magazine 20 of 34 17 2014 lexjet parent company s one named 67 of top 100 privately held companies in tampa bay by the tampa bay business journal 18 2015 lexjet parent company s one named one of the best