Company History

Webb White, a studio owner, founded WHCC in the 1970s. He simply could not find reliable professional photofinishing in the Twin Cities for his growing wedding studio. WHCC was in demand as a lab servicing local wedding photographers and over the years grew to serve photographers in a four to five state region.

In 1996, Mike Hanline, a lifelong photofinishing executive, joined Webb as a partner in WHCC and began the quest of further growing the business. In 1999, as the digital transition of the portrait/wedding industry began, Webb and Mike made the decision to invest heavily in the new technology and develop the systems to succeed with this new opportunity.

Their goals were to create a set of simple, easy to use systems that photographers could understand and implement as they grappled the difficult transition to the digital technology at the retail level. By helping their clients understand the process and advantages of a simple digital workflow, WHCC became a popular choice for digital studios that desired to make more money and convert to digital capture with relativity few problems.

Digital Photo Printing

Digital printing growth became commonplace at WHCC, especially as word of great quality, excellent customer service and unheard of print and finishing prices spread throughout the Midwest. With the client base rapidly growing and the need for film equipment dwindling, all the film equipment was removed. WHCC was a 100% digital color lab by the spring of 2002.

The product line began to grow with the addition of digital sports and event printing, expanded finishing options, lower cost proofing, proof books and Kodak Metallic paper. In 2003, WHCC started to market their services on the convention circuit. Now, WHCC regularly exhibits at over sixty trade shows and events in all parts of the country.

Leaving Selby Behind

By early 2004, it was clear that WHCC had outgrown the 4,000 square foot facility in Saint Paul and plans were laid to build a new lab. This new lab was 11,000 square feet and located in South Saint Paul. We moved and brought up our entire new operation, without missing a day of production in June 2004. The new lab provided an outstanding environment to continue the dynamic growth WHCC has been experiencing. This facility allowed WHCC to continue serving the entire client base in an outstanding manner.

As WHCC continued to grow and with new market opportunities available, a decision to invest and offer digital offset printed products was made in early 2005. An additional 3,000 square foot production facility was designed and built to handle these new and exciting products that launched in the summer of 2005.

Leaving South St. Paul Behind

In 2007, WHCC had a need to build and expand its production facilities again. A new 47,000 square foot building was designed and built in Eagan, Minnesota. With an addition added in 2008, the Eagan Headquarters and Production facility grew to 81,000 square feet.

WHCC has built a solid base of digital clients throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and other parts of the world that continues to expand and grow. The fundamentals of this growth are great quality and customer service, combined with industry setting pricing and service times. Digital technology and sound management lead the way, with client satisfaction on the top of all WHCC staff member minds every day.

Satellite Production Locations

In 2008, WHCC opened its first satellite photographic and press printing facility in the Dallas, Texas area. In 2009 our second satellite facility opened in Fresno, California, putting us closer to thousands of our clients in the southern and western US. The Dallas and Fresno Production Facilities allow us to better serve our clients with quicker service. From our Dallas facility, most of Texas and Oklahoma have UPS overnight shipping zones and from Fresno most of California is overnight shipping. We also participate in the local economies by providing investments in facilities and jobs. By shipping more product ground service, with the delivery schedule of the previous air service, we lower the environmental impact of shipping product by airplane. Ground shipping utilizes more environmentally friendly transportation such as rail in addition to trucks.

Acquiring PickPic

Another first for WHCC occurred in 2008 with the acquisition of PickPic (formerly Lickity Pixel), a company renowned for empowering photographers with the tools to control their own online photo proofing galleries and shopping experiences. We feel very strongly that PickPic is the best-in-class online proofing and order fulfillment solution without the frustration of dwindling profits at the hands of high commissions. We look forward to creating additional PickPic and WHCC innovative solutions to help you as a professional photographer.