An In-plant Icon Takes His Leave

Richard Beto

Despite serving as director of Document Solutions at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin for nearly two decades, Richard Beto’s heart never left West Virginia.

Born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in 1955, he spent all but one of his first 49 years in Morgantown, home of West Virginia University (WVU), and has never stopped rooting for his beloved Mountainers. But 20 years after fate and opportunity brought him from WVU’s in-plant to the helm of UT’s much larger one, Beto is finally bidding farewell to the industry he has come to love. His last day in the director’s chair was Jan. 26.

Richard Beto, John Sarantakos and John Yerger at the ACUP+ 2023 Awards banquet.

“It’s been a great experience,” he proclaims. “I’ve loved it.”

So too has he loved the camaraderie of his fellow managers around the country, whose council he credits for aiding his success through the years. He spouts name after name of managers from other institutions whom he counts as friends and advisors.

“It’s a great community,” he praises.

In his long career, Beto has been fortunate to attend innumerable in-plant conferences, where he’s become a well-known figure. His modesty and sage advice have drawn many to him, even as he strove to learn equally from their experiences.

Like many of his fellow in-plant managers, Beto had no early attraction to printing. He graduated with a journalism degree from WVU (of course) and followed it with a Master of Public Administration. Thus armed, he had one typically West Virginian goal in mind: “I wanted to go work in the coal industry,” he reflects.

Richard Beto (center) speaks on a panel at an IPI forum. With him are Sherri Isbell, University of Oklahoma, and Melynda Crouch, Texas Tech HSC.

His plan was to find a public relations job in the state’s preeminent industry, and with this in mind he took an internship at the West Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Association. There he got to know a man whose father happened to be the plant manager for WVU’s print shop.

After moving on to a writing job at a local newspaper called The Shopper, where he got his first experience in photography, typesetting, and platemaking, Beto caught wind of a job opening for a writer at WVU. But after phoning his colleague’s father for information on the position, the trajectory of his life changed completely.

“It just so happened at the time that his assistant manager was about ready to retire,” Beto recalls. “He asked me if I had any interest in becoming the assistant manager of Printing Services.”

Beto readily accepted the offer, and in April 1980 began a trial by fire. For six months he learned the ropes from the outgoing assistant manager, and then he was on his own, supervising 23 employees in a shop running small Heidelberg and Multigraphics presses.

In 1994, Beto was promoted to assistant director and given responsibility for the university’s six copy centers. He oversaw their transition from Multi presses to digital printers.

The Networking Begins

Showing off UT Austin's winning poster and Best of Show trophy are (from left) Mike Pappageorge, Vince Serna, Richard Beto, Mark Canepa (holding the Best of Show award), Landon Beisert and Victor Castillo.

It was around this time that he was first exposed to in-plant conferences like the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) and the Southeastern University Printing and Duplicating Managers Conference (SUPDMC). After meeting other managers at these events and getting ideas from them, he began introducing new services at WVU, something he never stopped doing throughout his career.

When attending ACUP 1998 in Louisville, Kentucky, he learned that host Ray Chambers was providing mainframe printing for the University of Louisville. So Beto returned later with his IT manager to learn more.

“Ray showed us the ins and outs of providing mainframe services,” Beto says. He took that knowledge home and soon assumed mainframe responsibilities at WVU.

At other conferences, he learned about wide-format printing and providing copyright clearance for course packs, and brought those services to his in-plant as well. He likewise started a copier management program at WVU based on information picked up at conferences. As he added services, he began promoting them internally.

Document Solutions Director Richard Beto (second from left) accepts his in-plant’s Best of Show award during the IPMA 2017 conference from IPMA President Dwayne Magee (left), IPG Editor Bob Neubauer and IPMA Awards Chair Chris Donlon.

“We increased the marketing effort dramatically as I assumed more responsibility,” he says.

That added responsibility included a promotion to interim director and then to director of Printing Services in October 2001.

The Move to Texas

In 2004, Beto agreed to serve as a reference for a fellow in-plant manager applying for the director’s position at UT Austin. Though that manager eventually turned down the position, Beto became acquainted with UT leadership through the experience. This eventually led to a job offer.

Richard Beto, director of Document Solutions at The University of Texas at Austin, detailed some of his in-plant’s offerings including QR codes, copyright clearance, Web-to-print and wide-format.

For a lifelong West Virginian, comfortably situated at the state’s top university, Beto did not have an easy decision in front of him.

“The hard part was knowing that our families were still in West Virginia,” he reflects.

But realizing their three young children would have more opportunities in Texas, he and his wife Barbera made the decision to head south.

At UT Austin, Beto took the reins of a department with three distinct units — print, copy, and mail — that did not boast much unity. Under the ambiguous banner of “University Services,” the department was largely invisible on campus. He was determined to change that.

He rebranded it Document Solutions and endeavored to unify the operation. Though he acknowledges initial resistance from long-time staff, retirements and the addition of new team members eventually brought a mood change. To better weave the in-plant into the thread of the university, he began adding new services and cross-training staff between units. The in-plant took on mainframe printing, added promotional product sales, and brought secure document shredding services in-house, after discussions Beto had with managers from other universities who had added these services.

AT SUPDMC 2019, Richard Beto, Jimmy Robinson, Drew Bergering and Theresa Hatcher listen to the opening keynote speaker.

To boost revenue and assist other UT departments, he introduced the idea of using the in-plant’s mail couriers to pick up and deliver non-postal items for departments, including bank bags for the bursar’s office. The in-plant later took on central receiving services for the entire university. He also brought check printing under the in-plant’s domain, and during COVID was quick to usher in fulfillment as both a revenue generator and a vital service for the university. Providing all these important services, he feels, helped insulate the in-plant against outsourcing.

“You never know when the threat of outsourcing is going to pop up,” he says — not that an award-winning operation like Document Solutions has seen much sign of that.

Under Beto’s direction, Document Solutions has earned many accolades over the years: The In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) named it Mail Center of the Year in 2013 and 2022, Print Center of the Year in 2015, presented it with the Organizational Impact Award in 2021, and twice honored the in-plant with its Promotional Excellence Award. Document Solutions won the In-Print Best of Show award three times, thanks both to the skill of its team and the five-color 24x29˝ Komori Lithrone SX29 press Beto was able to install in 2015.

Richard Beto (right) and friends at an IPMA conference.

In his four decades in the in-plant world, Beto has criss-crossed the country to attend conferences and network with other managers. He’s hosted in-plant conferences several times as well. In that time, he’s become well respected by his peers as a forward-thinking manager, a sharp marketing maven (even his voice mail includes a marketing message), and a compassionate boss who puts his staff first and never ceases to credit employees for their efforts.

“They’re the ones that are doing the work,” he says.

A Legacy to be Proud Of

While his retirement is sad for the industry that’s learned so much from him, his work at UT Austin stands as a noble testament to his success. He leaves behind a strong 50-employee in-plant with a $12 million budget and a great future.

“I feel pretty proud of what we’ve established here and the types of services that we provide,” he says. “I feel as if we’re a notable entity on the campus as opposed to a service unit.”

As he sets off on his retirement adventure, Beto has a few things lined up to keep him busy: The 1967 Corvette gathering dust in his garage needs work; he has family around the country he wants to reconnect with; and his wife has written at least 1,000 sticky notes detailing project for him, he jokes.

One of his deepest fascinations has always been the American Civil War, and he intends to visit Civil War sites around the country. He also plans to visit some of his many in-plant friends, and will attend the IPMA conference in Des Moines, Iowa, in June, to say his farewells.

Will retirement take him back to the place he belongs: West Virginia? With his children firmly rooted in Texas, he says, it’s unlikely, at least in the near term.

As for his legacy at UT Austin, he is very proud, and wouldn’t change a thing about his choice in careers.

“This has been the perfect job for me,” he says. “I would do it all over again the same way I did it the first time. It’s been great. I have no regrets.”