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 Barry
Ferrari has a smooth, deep bass voice and a measured cadence that
makes you think he must be an anchor on some television station's
newscast.
Barry Ferrari
Ferrari did, in fact, study communications in college
and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida International
University in communication technology. His intent, he says, was to
enter broadcast journalism.
"But, the money wasn't good enough in those
days," he said when asked about his career decision. "And, I
was already in the printing business."
Ferrari, 46, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and came to
Miami in 1960 at age seven. He grew up in the Coral Gables-Coconut
Grove area, attended Kinloch Park Elementary and Junior High Schools
and graduated Coral Park Senior High in 1971. After two years at
Miami-Dade Community College, he entered Florida International
University intending to follow in the footsteps of Walter Cronkite.
But, he landed a printing job while in college and, as the old saying
goes, got printer's ink in his blood and never left the field.
Asked if he has any regrets about not following a
broadcast journalism career, Ferrari laughed and said, "Every
time I turn the television on."
Today, Ferrari owns North Star Communication
Technologies, which includes North Star Press, North Star Graphics and
North Star Films.
"Ninety percent of our business focuses on
printing, on commercial offset photography," Ferrari explained.
"We have expanded our business to do corporate documentaries and
putting them on CD-ROM or DVD."
Ferrari recently bought out his partner in North Star
and invested a million dollars in new equipment, buying a new printing
press for $600,000. North Star is the third printing company Ferrari
has owned in his career, though it technically is one he helped found.
"It's a funny story," he said. "I
started a company in Homestead called Aries Press and then became
partners with a guy who started a company called the Print Machine in
Coral Gables. I later sold Aries Press to an employee and went to work
for the Print Machine. I later sold my shares in the Print Machine to
my partner and worked for Avanti Press from 1980-85. My former partner
in the Print Machine subsequently sold out to another guy in Coconut
Grove, who changed the name to Printers in the Grove and went
bankrupt. A court-appointed accountant took over and changed the name
to Classic Printing Group and I went to work for Classic Printing,
took over the company in 1996 and changed the name of the company to
North Star. So, essentially I now own the same company that I helped
start in 1979."
Ferrari is an active member of the Coconut Grove
Chamber of Commerce and readily admits that his membership generates a
lot of business.
"One of the first things I always do is join the
chamber of commerce," he said. "It's a good way to meet
people and get new business. So, I became really involved with the
Coconut Grove Chamber and I still do a lot of business there. I'm
still very active in it and I'm very much a proponent."
Some of North Star's Coconut Grove clients past and
present include Streets of Mayfair, Om Jewelry, Mercy Health,
Hooter's, Monty's, the Chart House, Dan Marino's and the Baja Beach
Club.
"I really like Coconut Grove," said Ferrari.
"I like all the people there. My fondest memories have been of
being involved in all kinds of activities in the Grove over the years,
particularly the bed races. I was a major sponsor of the bed
races."
Ferrari also is one of the all-star sponsors for Zo's
Summer Groove and supports Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart, the
Children's Home Society and the Jim Kelly Foundation Hunter's Hope by
donating or discounting his printing services.
"It's not just that I'm giving something back to
the community," he said. "But, I tend to have a direct
inroad to a lot of other major corporations and we support each
other."
Ferrari says he is working with the Grove chamber of
commerce to give the Grove a new direction at a time when business has
fallen off in some key locations.
"The Grove always has been a very cyclical type
of community," he said. "It's our function to market the
place the best we can, whatever the current market condition. We have
a great little village here, with an historic past and a great
future."
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