When it came time for the Toronto Blue Jays to build a new nest for the 2020 season, a local company was called on to make Sahlen Field in Buffalo look like home.
Unitech Applications opened in Le Roy in 1989 and owner Guy Laesser focused on the bigging on landing big-business clients. The company specializing in large-scale vinyl design applications, like car wraps but on large vehicles -- trucks, buses -- and buildings.
The effort paid off in a big way in 1996 when he was hired to wrap all buses for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Since then, Unitech has been Laesser's full-time occupation.
He calls himself a perfectionist and that has helped the company grow. Other clients include the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign, Dick's Sporting Goods, Old Navy, Ice Road Truckers, the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, and Scooby-Doo's "The Mystery Machine" movie tour.
It's no wonder, then, when the Blue Jays called 3M looking for a company to work within the Buffalo region to get Sahlen MLB-ready, 3M recommended Unitech.
"Our job is to provide whatever the client needs," Laesser said.
When the Blue Jays wanted a wrap on the scoreboard, Laesser, who doesn't like getting up higher than 12 feet himself, had a friend who did just that kind of work, so he called him to complete that part of the project all in the name of taking care of the client.
For the Blue Jays, Unitech provided signage and wraps for the concourse, the dugouts, the stands, and the outfield walls. The company even used vinyl to tint the windows on the tents being used as the visiting team's locker room.
That wasn't as big of a frosted vinyl project as Unitech did for a company in NYC, which involved wrapping a 40,000-square-foot building.
Not every project Laesser and his lone full-time employee Fred Crimes take on is all that big. The company also wraps the covers of medical equipment used to treat children going through cancer treatment.
Unitech also supports the charity Special Spaces, which provides unique and specially designed bedrooms for children going through cancer treatment.
"That (the vinyl wall covering) was the biggest bill they had, it cost the most, so when we got involved, we volunteered all of the time and material so it didn't cost them anything and they could put their money elsewhere," Laesser said.
