Bitterroot Screen Printers has outgrown its facility and recently moved into a bigger space.

The family-owned business have been at its new location at 365 Seventh Ave. E.N. — off Whitefish Stage Road in the former Open Hearth building — for nearly three weeks.

“It’s been real nice to be able to spread out,” owner Janeen Kinniburgh said.

“And not be so cramped,” added Jerry, Janeen’s husband and also an owner of the business.

The new 6,000-square-foot building gives them almost twice as much space as their old location. Included in the extra space is a large garage, which allows them to do vehicle graphics in-house for the first time.

The Kinniburghs’ son Scott, who handles the vehicle graphics, said doing the vehicle work inside is not only convenient but also raises the quality of the product.

“Even in summertime you face wind and dust and those things make an install more difficult,” Scott said. “Inside you have a controlled environment and that makes a big difference.”

Being able to control the temperature is crucial in vehicle graphics, he said. The vinyl will stretch if it gets too hot and if it’s too cold it becomes brittle.

Vehicle design is the newest division of the expanding business. Bitterroot Screen Printers was founded in 1991 in Kalispell and focused initially on a traditional screen-printing process centered on garment printing. Since then the Kinniburghs have added two digital printers. The digital printers allow them to do items that require high amounts of detail and orders of all sizes.

“With the digital printers we can do orders as small as one and as big as 1,000,” Janene said.

They not only added to their printing process but also have expanded their product line. Besides doing all kinds of garment printing, they also do banners, embroidery, decals, magnets, signs of all sizes, printed wallpaper and printed canvases.

Bitterroot Screen Printers was founded in Kalispell in 1991. They moved into their last location on Third Avenue West North in 1997.

Janene oversees the day-to-day operations of the business and operates the digital garment printing. Jerry is responsible for purchasing, public relations and screen printing.

Scott joined the team in 2007 and is the primary operator of their roll-to-roll printer, new digital garment printers and vehicle graphic applications.

“We do really well together. We each work in different areas and I think we complement each other,” Janene said.

Bitterroot Screen Printers is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information go to www.bitterrootsp.com or call 752-1386.  

Reporter Aaric Bryan may be reached at 758-4474 or by email at abryan@dailyinterlake.com.