Bob Roperti Sells Jiffy Reprographics!

As reported in the most recent IRgA Newsletter, Bob and his wife, Mary- Dianne, have sold Jiffy Reprographics. 

Apparently, Jiffy was sold to a gent not in the reprographics business, and that gent (Travis Masters) will be morphing Jiffy’s business offerings to suit his objectives.  Jiffy operated out of one location in Clearwater, FL.  Masters has renamed the business, “Jiffy Graphics.”  (You can read more about this at IRgA.com)

Hearty congratulations to Bob and Mary-Dianne!

A few comments about Bob Roperti:

An absolute class-act by any stretch of the imagination.  Of all the wonderful people I had the pleasure of getting to know in the reprographics industry during my 45+ year involvement, Bob stands out as one of the nicest, kindest, giving people I ever met.  Bob took seriously the idea of giving back …..and did so in large measure.  He is a past President of the IRgA and served on the IRgA Board for several years.  He guided the IRgA through the Great Recession.  He has been very active in the RSA, one of the industry’s leading trade associations.  He was always willing to share his knowledge ….. even if you were one of his direct competitors.

I first met Bob when he was a VP with Dupont.  Bob managed the two Dupont reps (Fred in DC and Paul in Baltimore) who called on our first reprographics company (then known as Rowley-Scher Reprographics).  Back in the ‘80’s, we were a big buyer of Dupont’s film products (for our engineering photographic labs.)  Bob was instrumental in developing a program for our business, which involved Dupont placing film processors at our main plant, without us having to purchase or lease those processors, in trade for us exclusively buying Dupont film products.  They even stocked film products at our warehouse, and we did not have to pay for film until we took it out of inventory.  Thanks to Gary Rowley, Rowley-Scher developed a very large (and very profitable) engineering photographic services business, and Bob and his Dupont team members helped enhance our profitability. Thank you, Bob!

After several years out of the industry, in 1997 I relocated to Florida, eventually joining National Graphic Imaging (NGI), which was based in Tampa, FL, across Tampa Bay from Clearwater, where Jiffy conducted operations.  So, at that point, Bob’s company, Jiffy, was my competitor.  And, a tough one to compete with, because Jiffy provided excellent service to its customers.  Under Bob’s management and guidance, Jiffy was one of the key players in the Tampa Bay reprographics market.  A well-respected key player.

As we all know, the Reprographics Industry community took a severe hit during the Great Recession.  During the several years that recession lasted, Bob was a member of the IRgA Board and, for one of those years, was President of the IRgA.  In spite of the fact that, during that period, Jiffy required Bob’s keen attention – to successfully navigate Jiffy through the recession – Bob devoted a significant amount of his time to IRgA affairs; his objective – keep it going, keep the IRgA vital and of interest to its members. And, that is what he did!  I’d like to thank Bob for inviting me to spend time as Managing Director of the IRgA.  And, we should all reach out to thank Bob for replacing me with Ed Avis, current Managing Director of the IRgA (Ed is absolutely awesome.)

Best wishes to Bob and Mary-Dianne for many, many forward years of great health, lots of fun and adventurous travels!

On behalf of the Reprographics 101 Blog, I’d like to thank Bob for his many, many years of service to the Reprographics Industry and Community.