‘ ‘ ‘ They were at the Olympic Games. They are in your wallet. They are everywhere you want to… ‘ ‘ ‘ They were at the Olympic Games. They are in your wallet. They are everywhere you want to be. Or so they say. ‘ ‘ ‘ For Omni PrePaid Group, a Pittsburgh-based company revolutionizing the gift card industry, Visa really is the enabler. ‘ ‘ ‘ OmniPrint, a department within Omni PrePaid, makes, prints and sends gift cards and is actually the muscle behind the self-explanatory domain name Giftcards.com. And in a move seemingly out of step with the U.S. economy, Omni’s gift card business is vertically integrated. Everything is done in house. And at a size of 20,000 square feet, this is no ordinary house. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘A lot of gift card companies outsource all of their printing, their shipping, but we handle everything that’s involved with the production of a gift card,’ said Desiree Wienand, Omni’s marketing manager and a Pittsburgh native. While Weinand does not see OmniPrint ushering in a new wave of business that bucks outsourcing, she does see the company staking a large claim on business’ latest trend. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Personalization is a huge trend right now,’ she said. ‘You take a product and allow customers to personalize it, make it more their own. Bringing all of our operations in house is allowing us to do that.’ In just a few weeks, individual consumers and companies alike will be able to create, personalize and order their own gift cards online. Those cards, whether 100 or 500 are ordered, will be printed on demand in OmniPrint’s facilities. ‘ ‘ ‘ At first, one might underestimate the value of being able to spend nights crafting a gift card that perfectly expresses gratitude for your cat-sitter. But gift cards are no longer the sole territory of the gift giving impaired. ‘Corporate uses gift cards a lot as incentive. It’s such an easy thing to use,’ said Weinand. ‘ ‘ ‘ Okay, maybe gift cards are for the gift giving impaired. But at the very least, those seemingly pointless slabs of plastic will look unique. In terms of design, though, it’s not hard to improve upon Omni’s raw material. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘When an order comes in, the cards roll into the machine. They’re just blank white cards that say Visa,’ explained Weinand. But those unassuming white cards represent an intensive process of gaining Visa certification and customer trust that goes along with it. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We’ve been going through the process for over a year now,’ said Weinand. ‘It requires really high security. You need to use your fingerprint to enter the building. We all have picture ID badges.’ There are a lot of standards that people have to go through to even get in, like really expensive background checks,’ she said. This is part of the reason why only three people work in OmniPrint’s printing facility. ‘ ‘ ‘ Chris Billiar, the director of OmniPrint and one of the three employees allowed on the floor said, ‘It’s kind of overwhelming at times. There are a lot of things that need to get done and not really anyone to delegate to.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Though the machines housed at OmniPrint do everything ‘mdash; print the design, apply the all-important magnetic strip coded with the dollar amount, add an activation sticker and the please call number ‘mdash; Billiar and his associates are responsible for the company’s 24-hour turnaround time. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Before we can even start the machines, we have to ensure that we’ve got a plan for the day,’ said Billiar. ‘It’s been kind of hectic,’ he laughed. ‘But we’re hiring more people,’ said Weinand, a fact that fits the company’s overall growth trend in the last eight months. ‘At that time I started working here, there were only 12 employees, and now we’re up to almost 50,’ she said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Previously in the non-profit sector where imaginative thinking and good marketing skills are a must to raise money, Weinand finds the same creative outlet in Omni. ‘Though it’s a learning curve working for a company that actually has money to spend,’ she said. And for Pittsburgh, a cutting edge company experiencing rapid growth is a boon’ ‘mdash; especially for the freshly graduated. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We’re losing young people to other cities who have technology,’ said Weinand. ‘This is a high-tech environment and will help us and Pittsburgh to keep some of the recent grads.’ With all of the technological advances at the company, Visa visits OmniPrint a couple times a month to make sure they’re up to standard. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘They’re very normal looking,’ said Weinand when asked to describe the corporate entity. ‘But in order to get into the Visa facility you do have to wear an official smock ‘mdash; it’s just because of ink, though.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Despite the lack of HAZMAT suits or slick walkie-talkies, Omni ‘is a really good work environment. People here are really hard workers, innovative and the CEO is really concerned with making everyone happy.” ‘ ‘ ‘ Is that indicative of the city? ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I don’t know, that has not been my experience at other Pittsburgh companies,’ said Weinand. ‘But it certainly is a nice place to work.’