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Positive Attitude and a Supportive Community Bolster QCC's Print Shop Supervisor

June 2019
  • QCC Reproduction Service Supervisor Paul Ledoux
    QCC Reproduction Service Supervisor Paul Ledoux

A ready smile, a helping hand and a kind, gentle demeanor are the qualities that best describe Paul Ledoux, the Reproduction Service Supervisor in Quinsigamond Community College’s Print Shop. Mr. Ledoux has become a well-known fixture in the QCC community, working at the college for 19 years since he was 18…over half his life.  Yet, what many people may not know is that Mr. Ledoux is a true child of QCC, having virtually grown up on campus.

His mother is Computer Center Manager Joan Perry and since he was a young boy, he has spent innumerable days in and around the campus.

“My mom worked here in the 80s and as a little kid I did a summer camp in the computer lab,” he said. “I’ve been coming here to QCC my whole life in some capacity.”

While QCC was his second home, he wasn’t sure it would be the place where he saw himself working when he grew up.  In 2000, he graduated from Worcester Technical High School and began working at a BMW car dealership washing cars and working to figure out his next move. It was then that he learned of a position in the print shop at QCC. He applied, went through the interview process and was hired as a press operator in 2001.

Today under Mr. Ledoux’s direction the print shop has evolved into a small scale quick copy center that utilizes some of the latest printing technologies.

“I’m a pretty private person but one of the things I’ve loved about this job is the diversity we get here. I think I was one of the first people here who was heavily tattooed and it seems to make me more approachable to students, faculty and staff,” he said.

Over the years he has developed a great rapport with virtually everyone he encounters and students will often drop by the print shop just to say hello. In his role at the print shop he helps staff and faculty in whatever printing issues they may need and has become one of the biggest evangelists of the college. He is a mentor in QCC’s mentoring program and sits on the AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) Planning Committee as well as the Operations Council for the college’s Governance. 

“I love helping people…my mom taught me that skill. The one thing I always try and do is interact with people. In today’s technology-driven atmosphere that sometimes gets lost,” he said.

In 2013 he earned his associate degree in Business Administration Career and has also earned his Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Certificate. He is working toward his Business Administration Transfer associate degree. His goal is to finish and transfer to Nichols College through the articulation agreement the colleges have with each other.

“I was hired as a press operator when I first got here and our technology has evolved so much. QCC has been my life and I want to stay here,” he said, adding that he’d like to one day see the print shop expand to include student printing projects.

In 2017, Mr. Ledoux’s world turned upside down. While he had just gotten engaged and was going to be married that year, he received news that for many people would have been beyond devastating. He was diagnosed with colon cancer. This was almost a déjà vu for him as his mother had also battled the same disease.

“Whatever you read about colon cancer on WebMD, that’s me. I saw my mom go through this so I knew what it was but I also knew her outcome was good,” he said.

Mr. Ledoux and his fiancée Alexis Sargent, did not let the diagnosis curtail their plans of a wedding that year.  He went through surgery, chemo and radiation treatments in addition to getting married and eventually was deemed to be in remission. Recently at a routine check-up, a new polyp was found. While a biopsy deemed it to be benign, he will be going into surgery to have it removed.

He said he has received support from everyone at QCC, noting that “QCC in some sense is like a family, it’s so much more than just coworkers.”

In fact QCC’s reach even touched his cancer treatment. His surgeon is QCC Foundation President Dr. Linda Maykel’s son.

“There are so many QCC connections. QCC is that community where everyone is welcome. I was welcomed here as a little kid and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.

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