Lucas Vandermolen

Thanks for taking some time for us today, Lucas. Let’s start by taking us back to how long you have been with the company and how you got your start here.

Sure. In 2000 I was going to college at Western Michigan and ended up in the printing program. I found Walsworth, which back then was still IPC, through an internship program. I took an internship in the plant for a year and worked in the finishing area.

As I entered my last year in college, they offered me a full-time position. I interviewed for a couple different spots and ended up landing in a production planner role in 2001.

Can you tell us about some of the different roles you’ve had with the company?

I’ve moved around within the company – starting as an intern, then production planner and scheduling for several years. After that, I became an estimator and was in estimating when we were acquired by Walsworth in 2010. I did that for a couple more years and then became the Purchasing Supervisor.

I left for a year, but then a friend of mine let me know Walsworth had a Finishing Manager position open and asked if I would be interested. I came back as Finishing Manager in 2016.

I had an opportunity to take over our Mail Office and become our Mailing Specialist after Kerry Still decided to retire.

My current position is Manager of Business Services where I oversee our Mail Office, Prepress, Estimating, Purchasing, Fulfillment and have some financial duties.

If you were to explain to folks outside Walsworth what you do, how would you summarize it?

What it really boils down to, I oversee estimating and purchasing, fulfillment operations, the mailing office and our pre-press department here in St. Joe. It’s a good mix of work, and my days are pretty unique.

What does a typical day or week look like for you? Can you walk us through that?

I interact with estimating a lot in coming up with different plans to land work, and I work with the leadership team on some of the higher value opportunities.

I could be doing that one day, then the next day I might be doing analysis on what jobs are in our plant versus what our sales forecast is to see where we’re going to end up for the period.

I support the sales staff with onboarding and fulfillment opportunities and also work on integrations with customers and databases with our IT staff. And of course, we work with the other plants – their estimating and purchasing teams, mail processing and things of that nature.

As the company has continued to grow, has it been difficult for departments like Estimating and others to get everyone’s different processes and ways of working together aligned?

It’s always about teamwork, right? I think Walsworth has done an excellent job of finding companies that are similar, and we all want to do the best we can for the company. So, a lot of it is teamwork and going through process mapping and looking for the opportunities to get as close to uniform as we can, so that when work moves back and forth, or we’re doing customer onboarding, everything is similar.

For the most part, you’ve made your entire career with Walsworth. What has prompted you to stay here as long as you have?

I would say it’s the people – they are professional, courteous and passionate about what they do. As a company, we all want success, not just for themselves, but for the entire company.

And there’s something to be said for that. It’s not just business as usual – there’s teamwork. We’re all willing to help and look after each other.

What do you enjoy most about your job, week-to-week, day-to-day?

The variety of things I get to do. I could work with onboarding customers one day and then work directly with the sales team or the senior leadership team next. It’s always different.

As a company, we want to continue to grow and be successful. From your perspective, how can we do that? What are the keys?

Continue to embrace change. There are a lot of technologies coming, whether it’s ChatGPT and AI, digital printing, or other things of that nature. There’s new technology coming that will change our jobs, different capabilities out in the industry. Embrace that change.

Are you originally from the St. Joe, Michigan area?

Yeah, born and raised here. I’ve actually lived in Stevensville all my life, which is about 12 miles down the road. I graduated from here, then went to Western Michigan University for college, which is in Kalamazoo.

What about your family?

My wife, Cindy, and I have three kids, Emma, Abby and Ethan.

My oldest daughter, Emma, recently got married and I gained a great son-in-law, Dylan.

Congrats! Is the whole family still local and around the area?

They’re all still around. My daughters both work in the area. Abby attends a local college, and my son is in his senior year of college, so it’s an exciting time.

What do you guys like to do with your spare time when you’re not planning a wedding? Any hobbies?

Lately we like to go watch our niece’s softball games. My kids are all grown and either in college or have their own lives, but we used to follow them around for their sports. We do a lot of hiking or just hanging out on the water.

Did you do a lot of traveling when the kids were younger?

Mostly for sports, because our kids were on travel soccer and baseball teams. We spent a lot of time doing sports on the weekend. We really enjoyed that.

Any memorable trips or favorite vacation destinations?

I always think back to my honeymoon with my wife. We went down to Isla Mujeres in Mexico and spent a lot of time there. It’s an island with some beautiful reefs. We enjoyed snorkeling and seeing all the beautiful fish.

What’s an interesting thing about you people might not know?

(laughs) Well, when I was in college, I went to Woodstock 99. That was a lot of fun. I went there with my dad and my sister, and I had a lot of other friends there too.

We spent a couple nights out on an old Air Force base. It was over 100 degrees with no shade. That was a great experience. We got to see some great artists perform. When the fires started, we got out of Dodge.

Who were some of the most memorable bands you saw?

I would say Limp Bizkit, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine. Everclear was there. That was fun. Dave Matthews Band. Love them.

Do you still go to a lot of concerts?

I wish we did. We don’t as much anymore. My dad loves music, so we went a lot when I was younger. 

What’s your favorite movie or TV show?

Last of the Mohicans was one of my favorite movies. I always liked Friday too. That’s unique, a little bit different.

We talked music. Do you have a favorite band?

Not necessarily a favorite band, but if I’m traveling, I’m mostly listening to country with a little rock and roll splattered in there.

It’s a little different now. When I was younger, you would go buy the albums and listen to that over and over. Now it comes to you streaming and you don’t necessarily pay attention to all the songs on an album.

Do you have a favorite food?

My wife can really cook some great food. I would say her chicken chili lasagna.

If you had a personalized coffee mug, what would it say?

You know, I’m a simple person, but on every trip we purchase a coffee cup. It’s not really personalized for me, but it is kind of a unique thing we do.

So, you’ve already got a collection?

Yeah. One from Arizona, from Florida, we went to Traverse City, Michigan not too long ago.

As you look back on your 20-plus years with the company, do you have a favorite memory or a specific accomplishment that you’re proud of?

Looking back on it, I’m happy with the path I took. I’ve learned so much from the people here. We have a lot of skilled and knowledgeable employees who truly care about each other, our company and our customers. Being part of that is really special to me.