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“Passionate” is not a word most people would use to describe their feelings about identification badging.

Joe French, vice president of eXpress Badging, Inc. has more than 20 years in the identification industry and uses his knowledge to identify unmet needs.

But Joe French is not like most people.

Standing, because he has officially given up sitting in his office in the Cape Royal Building in Cocoa Beach, French explained that he is passionate about identification.

Joe French is Vice President of eXpress Badging, Inc. The company was founded by him and his wife, Laina, in 1993 when the couple decided to make a move to Brevard County from Seminole County to start a family.

“We wrote a business plan and presented it to my employer at the time, Identicard Systems Inc.,” Joe French said, who was a former sales manager for the company. “As a home-based business, Laina could provide solutions for organizations that needed fast turnaround time or small quantity needs. Our business was built on that foundation.”

The business grew rapidly, with Laina becoming one of Joe’s biggest referral companies for some of his smaller jobs until the couple had children: Nick, 10 and Luke, 7. At that time the business went into a “reactive” state of only filling orders for previous clients.

Three years ago, the Laina and Joe reorganized their business plan to include Joe French as a full time owner/operator and to take the business from a home-based level to full-service one. eXpress Badging was incorporated at end of 2003 and Joe French came on full-time in January of 2004.

“We have been progressively building the business since,” he said.

Laina and Joe were not new to the industry. Joe French has been in the identification industry for more than 20 years and used his knowledge of the market to identify unmet needs.

eXpress Badging has created identification solutions for prominent Brevard County organizations and government entities.

“We are beginning to end service providers,” he said. “I pride myself on listening to customer needs and presenting a solution. Sometimes the best solution is out of their price range but by putting all solutions in front of them, as decision makers they are able to make their decision based on all factors.”

The premier provider of automated employee time and attendance, ID, and campus cash card solutions, eXpress Badging offers on-demand photo and non-photo identification (ID) cards, as well as innovative ID software and high-tech tools.

Comprehensive packages range from basic membership ID cards to bar-coded photo badges to smart cards featuring advanced computer chip technology. 

To meet the specific needs of clients, the company offers two unique ID options: ID services - produced IDs for clients on a continual, expedited basis; and ID systems – to allow clients to produce IDs in-house.

eXpress Badging’s customers are diverse and range from businesses with as few as five employees to global businesses with far more than 1,000. They service educational institutions with as few as 50 students and campuses with more than 15,000 badge holders. They also provide products and services to non-profit organizations with limited participant levels to those with thousands distributed worldwide.

The company even provides solutions to government entities ranging from small municipalities to secure military bases and DOD contractors. They are also partnering with another company in a new business venture to offer products and services to merchants who use loyalty card programs.

“We say, ‘One card – multiple solutions,’” Joe French said. “It could even be multiple technologies.”

Joe French is also skilled at partnering with other like-minded businesses to share referrals and often to combine forces to find solutions.

He actively participates and promotes the local chapter of Business Network International (BNI), a networking group that meets regularly to get to know and support each other and is also active with the two local chapters of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management).

“BNI has a direct relationship to new business for eXpress Badging,” he said. “30-40% of our new business referrals come from my local chapter.”

Joe French also noted that the Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce has been a significant benefactor for the company. “They have been an important local resource for eXpress Badging regarding exposure to the business community, in both business development and vendor relations,” he said.

Although Laina French is the President, the couple works in tandem to provide executive leadership. While she functions primarily as Chief Financial Officer to makes sure financial systems run smoothly, Joe French operates as the Chief Operating Officer level.

“As a team we operate as the CEO and we also have a board of directors we consult with,” explained Joe French.

Their business struggled at first because of Mother Nature.

“The biggest challenge was being hit by a series of back to back hurricanes during 2004 that all but stopped business development efforts for the remainder of the year,” Joe French said. “That even impacted 2005 sales.”

As the community has recovered from the 2004 Hurricane Season, eXpress Badging has bloomed.

What the owners said makes their company unique is their proven expertise in card technology integration and in developing cost effective authentication solutions. 

“eXpress Badging’s reputation is based on a consultative solution approach, verses a product oriented one,” Joe French said.

eXpress Badging is a committed authentication systems integrator, specialized in card-based solutions delivering, ID production systems and services, employee time and attendance systems, loyalty card systems, “closed” point of sale solutions, and door access control systems - all using a single common card.

The company uses a catchy tagline, “Can you tell an employee from an imposter?” to promote their primary services and products for employee photo identification services and systems.

“Locally, we have no competition that does what we do,” Joe French said. “What separates us are two things: experience in the industry of visual identification and electronic authentication, and prepaid photo identification fulfillment service.”

With the prepaid fulfillment service, for example, a company is able to order badges and have eXpress Badging hold several in reserve to be printed on demand in one to three days.

eXpress Badging Inc. promises a three business day guaranteed turnaround or products are shipped at no charge up to $100.

“We have to allow customers to get badges quickly: it is the core of our business,” Joe French said.

French also believes his is the only company in Brevard to promote themselves for time and attendance monitoring also although he said there are at least 20 manufacturers of identification badges that can also be used for time-clock type monitoring.

“For a small company of 100 employees or less: they used to fall by the way side,” Joe French said. “I bring them the ability to find the product mix to meet their needs to track employees.”

With a plan to continue at a growth rate of 25-35% a year for the next three to five years and grow from a staff of four to a staff of seven to ten employees, Laina and Joe French are “working like banshees.”

They do make sure, however, to keep their employees and their customers happy.
“I really look forward to coming to work and my staff shares the excitement,” Joe French said. “I am building the business with employees that enjoy what we do and with a focus on meeting the expectations of the customer.”

For more information, please visit www.expressbadging.com

Customers include:
Keiser College
Carroll Distributing
Richard’s Paint
Downtown Discount Produce
Helicopter Adventure
Brevard Public Library
City of Cocoa Beach (Fire Department)
A Department of Air Force
Ron Jon’s Cape Caribe Resort
Discovery Beach Resort
Ocean Landing