We started these Employee of the Month write-ups in 2017. Working with Suzi Worley, I wanted our weekly email to be fun and consistent, something people look forward to every Tuesday, like those old Realtor newsletters with recipes and local reviews.

We built a carefully curated list and settled on a simple mix: a Recipe, a Feature Promotional Item, an Employee of the Month (selected at Senior Staff Meetings), a Print Partner, and a bit of inspiration when there was a fifth week.

Nine years later, about 10K people receive these emails, and the open rates are impressive, especially since there’s no hard sell, just a good Tuesday read. The piece that draws the most comments is always the Employee of the Month. It shows what JP Graphics really is: a good company with great people who have kept us going through every change in the print industry.

Looking at the plaques in the warehouse, I was struck by how many times one name appears. Mary McLaughlin has been selected seven times before—plus this year, for a total of eight. That makes her June 2026 Employee of the Month, and, honestly, Employee of the Day, every day.

Mary joined JP Graphics in May 2005. For 21 years she has learned, adapted, and grown right alongside the company, helping us reach 28 years when so many others did not. She started in prepress, where her sharp eye and meticulous plate checks let the pressmen focus on running quality work.

When we brought in our first digital press, the MGI from France (13 x 40 sheet, no click charges), I asked Mary to run it. She said yes even though computers weren’t her strong suit. That delicate machine would have frustrated most people; another company that bought one after us eventually just gave it to us because Mary was the only one who could get the most out of it. Slow and steady really did win the race.

Next came the Xerox Iridesse with gold, silver, opaque white, and clear. Mary mastered it so thoroughly that Xerox and other shops still call her for advice. We later added the HP (now our 18K), the Duplo Dimensional UV (again the only one in the area), the Aerocut for business cards and scoring, and the Skandacor digital die-cutter that replaced the MGI and made the digital area fully self-contained. Every time, Mary was the one who learned it, ran it, and made it successful.

Today she handles the specialty work for FC Gifting, printing, scoring, and cutting customized orders on unique stocks that arrive twice a day from Miguel, then handing them straight back for shipping. She cuts her own paper, reads every docket, and simply gets the job done.

The managers put it best:

• “Mary does a really great job. She does her own cutting, pre-printing and post-printing and does any bindery that she can do in the Digital Area. And if it does need bindery, she brings the jobs back to us, so we know it’s done and never fails getting the jobs out.” – Jonathan
• “Mary alleviates bindery of additional pressures. Her quality is exceptional, and if it’s done, gets it right to the shipping manager.” – Claudia
• “Mary is a Dynamo! She is always busy but always verifies if questions so she does not make any mistakes.” – Debbie
• “Mary handling the cutting of papers for her presses alleviates Production to do more.” – Joe
• “Mary works great with shipping. No complaints. Always happy.” – Miguel
• “Mary has been a rock here. She is the basis of training, as no one has the fundamentals of print like her. She communicates about papers or any issues. She is the ultimate team player. The only press I have ever had two of here at JP Graphics is the Xerox Iridesse, and you know who runs them both? Mary!! If I need something done and let her know, she never fails. This is an employee that the entire print industry would clone, but she is JP Graphics family through and through.” – Joan

Some people clock in just to do their job. Mary clocks in and makes everyone else’s job easier, and better. Thanks, Mary, for consistently making us look good!