| Gering attracts entrepreneurial spirit | |
| January 05, 2012 Elizabeth Gross | |
 Jeremy Dollarhide works with one of the screen printing machines at LOGOZ. The technology of the state-of-the-art machine enables him to use several layers of colors on a single design. Tired of working for someone else, Jeremy Dollarhide and Jared Michaelson both realized they had the skills it would take to run their own business. Dollarhide had the artistic talent and Michaelson had the management experience. Together they created LOGOZ, Gering’s own screen printing and embroidery shop. Dollarhide is originally from northern California. He admits that while in high school there were only two classes in which he excelled; art and PE. After graduation, Dollarhide moved to Denver where he attended Westwood College of Technology to study art. During his time in Denver, he met his wife who was attending nursing school. After art school, he worked for an aerospace company and the Department of Defense. Dollarhide and his wife wanted to be closer to family so they moved back to Gering. He worked locally at three or four graphic-related jobs until he was able to get everything needed to open his own store. “I’ve always been a sports guy. So the artwork and the sports have always worked well together,” explains Dollarhide. He is involved with all of his kids’ sports and even serves as a coach. ”I’ve been able to take the artwork side of things and apply it to almost anything,” explains Dollarhide. “From random holiday cards to website design, I’ve always been able to have someone tell me what they are looking for and create it for them. It’s always been a dream to use artwork to pay the bills,” says Dollarhide. Jared Michaelson takes care of accounting, bookwork, sales and production. He is originally from Rushville. After high school, Michaelson moved to Laramie, Wyo., to attend WyoTech. Michaelson has always had an interest in cars and art. When he was 16, he did custom designs and paint jobs. Michaelson restores old vehicles in his spare time. He met Dollarhide about eight years ago when they worked together at Peerless Tire. Dollarhide was working as the manager and hired Michaelson on as a tech guy. Though Michaelson is an automotive man, he credits Dollarhide for getting him interested in screen printing. “He starts with a blank shirt and comes out with a cool design. It’s really intriguing,” says Michaelson. The love of art and cars shows in their store. A fusion of wood and sheet metal gives the store an industrial feel. This is one of the many things that makes LOGOZ a different kind of place. “What is nice about us is that we screen-print and embroider in house. A lot of the market is clip art packages. We are anti-clip art, we want to make something custom all the time, something different you can’t get out of clip art,” explains Dollarhide. Their goal is to be more than a custom design shop. They will have a lot of in-house custom items for sale. They plan to carry custom shirts from all of the area high schools, not just Scottsbluff and Gering. This way, customers from any of the surrounding towns can walk right in and buy something off the rack. They chose to locate in Gering because they both live in Gering and they both coach in Gering. “A need was already filled in Scottsbluff, not really here in Gering,” explains Dollarhide. “There just seems to be fewer and fewer businesses in Gering,” says Michaelson,” I come from a small town, I like the small town atmosphere and we came here to support the area.” “We wanted to get out and do something on our own. There are 30 tire stores in town but not many screen-printing stores,” says Michaelson. “We’ve succeeded everywhere we went and have proved that we can do it. Why can’t we do it for ourselves?” “We appreciate everyone’s support. All of the downtown people have been great and we really appreciate that,” says Michaelson. If you would like to check out some of their work you can visit their website at www.logozne.com They are open Monday thru Friday, 8 am to 5 pm and are located at 1344 10th St. in Gering, across from the Gering Civic Center. You can also call them at (308) 633-5040. Read more by Elizabeth Gross |
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