PPB February 2018

Tom Me r t z T omMertz was a bit reluctant to be interviewed. Although he has built an illustrious career in the promotional products industry and holds a high-profile position as chief executive officer for TradeNet Publishing Company, he prefers to stay behind the scenes and let his employees shine in the spotlight. But Mertz’s life and career are too remarkable to gloss over. Growing up on a farm near Manhattan, Kansas, Mertz and his family put in long, hard hours. He received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State University and then returned to help his father and brothers on the family farm for 10 years. It was here that his gift for innovation was first realized. His childhood exposure to machinery and mechanics, combined with his interest in the introduction of computers at Kansas State, motivated him to try his hand as an entrepreneur. Or, as he humbly puts it, “I got bored and wanted to try new projects.” As a side business to farming, Mertz started a machinery and livestock locator service. “The service started out as a toll-free phone number with operators,” Mertz explains. “I then learned typesetting and printing, and I hired several artists so we could evolve to [produce] a paid circulation shopper.” In 1986, Mertz left farming and interviewed for a job with a company that sold ads on phone book covers. He didn’t take the job because he felt strongly that the ads would work better as part of a wipe-off memo board. Using his design experience, he began building and selling erasable message boards with business card-sized ads around the outside of the board. It was a manual and tedious process that he ran from home. “I started out designing boards at night and selling during the day. I printed and cut the ads, then I would laminate them and attach magnets. As the business grew, I hired some home-based workers to help me, and after a fewmonths we moved to a small office,” he says. The message boards were a hit with insurance and real estate agents, and the business took off. To better understand the business, Mertz turned to Charles and John McNeer at The Innovator Behind The Scenes Tom Mertz is a man of few words and a ton of ideas. by Terry Ramsay Mertz enjoys watching a Kansas City Royals spring training session while grandson Cal takes a break. 62 | FEBRUARY 2018 | THINK