Thermocopy (Thermocopy of Tennessee, Inc.) is the oldest and largest business technology company located in

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

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Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

-based company was founded in the early 1960s as an office equipment dealer, later supplying information technology support, document management consultation, and printer fleet management services. The company's core office products are multi-functional

copier A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...

printers Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jam ...

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fax machine Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

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Ricoh is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational imaging and electronics company (law), company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Riken, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the ''Riken ...

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Kyocera is a Japanese multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power generating systems, telecommuni ...

. The company supports sustainable business practices, and helped to establish GoGreenET.com, the annual Business In The Green contest, and other environmental initiatives in the community. ''ImageSource Magazine'' named Thermocopy its 2006 Dealer of the Year with its national Perfect Image Award. In March 2010 was designated a

Certified Managed Print Services Dealer. Thermocopy is a ''vendor neutral'' managed service provider, with technicians trained to service equipment from many manufacturers.

History

On April 1, 1964, Randall Sumner, with two partners, formed a company to sell office paper with an initial investment of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

150 and a $3,000 note for operating capital. The company began as a dealer for NCR "ThermoCopy" paper. Later that year, they began selling NCR adding machines. They shifted their focus from paper sales to office equipment as copier use expanded. By the end of the 1970s, Thermocopy was the leading local dealer for color copiers, fax machines, and overhead projectors. The company changed locations within the Bearden area of Knoxville several times throughout the 1960s, until moving to their current location at 3505 Sutherland Avenue in 1971. Thermocopy experienced steady growth over the next several decades. In 1995 Steve Sumner purchased the company from its founder, Randall Sumner. In the mid-1990s Thermocopy increased its market share, and expanded its operations in 1998 with an office in

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. John ...

. Thermocopy's Mountain Empire Branch serves the Tri-Cities region of Northeast Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia. In 2014, Thermocopy marked five decades in business with its 50th anniversary celebrations.

Community involvement

Thermocopy has since its early days sponsored organizations and charities including the Historic Tennessee Theatre, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, Give Haiti Hope, Mercy Health Partners Foundation, Keep Knoxville Beautiful, and Covenant Health's Buddy's Race for the Cure. Thermocopy is a supporter of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley.

Environment

In 2008 Thermocopy was one of ten local businesses certified by the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership's Green Recognition Program in its inaugural year. The company tracks and publicly reports the results of its environmental initiatives on its ThermocopyGreenworks website. Thermocopy is one of the founding partners of GoGreenET.com and co-sponsors the ''Greater Knoxville Business Journal’s'' annual Business In The Green contest. Thermocopy supports the conservation work of the Fort Loudon Lake Association. Keep Knoxville Beautiful awarded the "2008 Environmental Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement By A Large Business" to Thermocopy for the company's internal efforts and community involvement. The next year Thermocopy received a "Keep Tennessee Beautiful" (the state chapter of

Keep America Beautiful Keep America Beautiful is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953. It is the largest community improvement organization in the United States, with more than 700 state and community-based affiliate organizations and more than 1,000 partner organiz ...

) and Tennessee Department of Transportation Award of Excellence for Business. Thermocopy has been named a Platinum Level Recycle Champion by

Knox County, Tennessee Knox County is located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 478,971, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Tennessee. K ...

.Recycle Champions - Knox County, Tennessee
"Recycle Champions - Participating Businesses"
''knoxcounty.org'', Knoxville, 14 May 2010.

Training center

Thermocopy employs an onsite, manufacturer-certified trainer

References

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External links

Thermocopy official website50th AnniversaryCustomer Feedback ForumThermocopy Greenworks programGoGreenET.comKnoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley
Information technology companies of the United States Information technology consulting firms Companies based in Knoxville, Tennessee Technology companies established in 1964