Deciding to open up their own print shop, the two refinanced their 1979 Honda Civic at an annual percentage rate of 8 percent. And while the bank took their interest, Dennis and Teri Ann parlayed the extra few thousand dollars into a multi-million dollar success story called Ben Franklin Press & Label Co.

Twenty-five years later, Ben Franklin Press & Label Co. has grown into an internationally recognized label printer that specializes in printing wine labels for such notable vineyards as Clos du Bois, CK Mondavi, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Frog’s Leap. Something of a boutique, the locally owned Ben Franklin Press & Label Co. has earned the “Benny,” printing’s most prestigious award, five times for pressure sensitive and glue applied labels.“Winning the Benny is kind of like winning an Oscar, except in the world of print,” said Teri Ann. “We were honored to win the first time. But to win five times is just unbelievable.”

For Dennis and Teri Ann, printing is an art form, and they’ve made significant investments in technology to make sure the product they turn out is art at its finest. All finishing takes place in-house, including embossing, foil stamping and die cutting.

Computer-to-plate technology, which bypasses the need for film, and stochastic, or staccato, screening—a form of printing that nearly eliminates the small dots one sees when looking closely at a photo—round out the company’s state of the art production capabilities.