Terri Quinton of Dallas was the first black woman to become a division manager at Southwestern Bell in the mid-1980s, but left soon after because she didn’t think she could advance much further.

She co-founded a telecommunications company. Next, she launched a printing company by knocking on doors to show people her product.

Most recently, Quinton co-founded her fourth company to pursue large printing contracts through a national network of 30 minority- and women-owned firms.

That kind of drive and leadership makes Quinton stand out. She is one of eight Dallas-Fort Worth entrepreneurs who today will receive Quest for Success awards from the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce based on their business and community achievements.

Quinton, 58, is founder and president of Dallas-based Q2 Marketing Group, which creates and prints newsletters for apartment and retirement communities across the country. She started the four-employee company in 2006.

In July 2008, she teamed up with three other minority-owned business owners in Dallas, Miami and Rochester, N.Y., to form the Alliance of Diversity Printers LLC to help minority- and women-owned companies better compete for large corporate contracts.

“I wanted to prove that minorities and women can work together to grow big companies and have an impact on their communities,” said Quinton, CEO of the new venture. “It’s taken about 18 months for people to believe in us. People don’t understand the model.”

ADP-LLC provides print services from paper and design to fulfillment and all types of printing. So far, its largest contracts – each worth about $500,000 – have been for Plano-based Frito-Lay Inc. and Dallas-based Texas Instruments Inc., Quinton said.

“It’s the creativity, innovation and willingness to partner with what we usually see as competitors,” said Debbie Hurst, president of Arlington-based Women’s Business Council Southwest, which helps women-owned businesses secure contracts. “Terri is a natural leader.”

The group’s 900 regional members elected Quinton to its 2010 board of directors.

Last year, Quinton scaled back Q2 to focus on her new venture. She moved Q2’s printing presses to Ferris –about 20 miles southeast of Dallas – to be closer to her lead pressman and moved into a small office.

ADP-LLC’s revenue is growing fast, and Quinton expects the company to turn its first profit this year. Q2 is profitable, she said.

Printing is Quinton’s second career. Armed with a computer science degree, the Topeka, Kan., native’s first job was a computer room manager for Southwestern Bell.

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