A year after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy the economy finds itself off life support, and it has experienced only modest growth.

But none of this has really mattered to the local print and copy services in Athens.

Julie McLeod, owner of Bel-Jean copy and print center, said Bel-Jean has done fairly well during the economic recession.

“Even with the local business cuts, there really has been no dramatic downsizing,” McLeod said. “There is always more activity when students come back, but local businesses have been trimming down.”

Bel-Jean’s sales come equally from students and local businesses, McLeod said.

“I think there’s a huge misconception that all of our business comes from students, when it really doesn’t,” she said.

But even with those business losses, McLeod said she expects increased sales in the coming year to make up for losses in 2009.

Bobby Woodard, facilities and services director for the Tate Student Center, said Tate Print & Copy Services is faring even better now in its new location in Tate II.

“We’re doing well in this new location. I think it gives Print & Copy more visibility,” Woodard said, adding the increased night and weekend hours of Print & Copy has changed the flow of business. “It’s the same size, same square footage, just with a bigger clientele. I think this new location is also set out better and is more functional.”

Both Tate Print & Copy and Bel-Jean provide services that cater to students and student activities. Print & Copy prides itself in providing “quick, inexpensive print and copy services for students, Division of Student Affairs departments, and registered student organizations,” according to its Web site.

However, Woodard said most student packets for professors are made at off-campus print and copy sites, such as Bel-Jean.

McLeod said most of Bel-Jean’s business with students comes from those student packets.

“We also offer services to individual student needs, [University] departments and student organizations,” she said.

And though local print and copy services are faring well during the economic downturn, international companies such as FedEx and Hewlett-Packard are not doing so well.

According to a Wall Street Journal report last month, H-P’s fiscal third-quarter profit dropped 19 percent due to lower international sales and falling margins.

FedEx also experienced a substantial decline last year due to dramatic increases in fuel prices and shipment declines, according to a Sept. 11 FedEx news release.