SOUTH POINT — The only place you find success before work is in the dictionary.

At least that is the way Ken McGuire sees it.

McGuire started his mailing company with $18 and a dream of becoming a business owner. Now, more than two decades later, his business has grown by leaps and bounds, so much so that he is building a new home for M & M Mailing at The Point industrial park.

McGuire’s company, started after he lost his job at Allied Chemical in Ironton in 1982, does direct mailings, billings, advertisements, and news publications, among others. He has about 700 accounts and has high-speed pieces of equipment that can fold, sort and process nearly 10,000 envelopes an hour.

McGuire decided to move to The Point last year, saying that his current location on Madison Avenue in Huntington was no longer feasible.

There was equipment squeezed in every nook and cranny, the business owner said, and some of it was even in an old truck in the parking lot.

He said his new 16,500-square-foot building on the 1-acre tract of land will give him the space he needs to run his business efficiently and, hopefully, expand in the near future.

“This gives us a lot of nice, open space, dock space and lots of room for tractor-trailers. There is easy access from a major highway and this will allow us to provide service to our customers,” McGuire said.

He hopes to open his new operation shortly after the first of the year.

McGuire said the cooperation among everybody at The Point, the Lawrence Area Chamber of Commerce and others involved with the project has made his pending relocation much easier than he anticipated.

“There is such a willingness to work together. They all realize the importance of creating jobs and helping the local economy,” he said.

In the near future, McGuire said he is planning to expand and possibly hire more employees, he currently has 19.

Although he admits it may sound a little funny, McGuire said there was also another factor affecting his decision to move to The Point — the nod from his 5-year-old West Highland terrier Bailey. The dog comes to work with him everyday.

“She is quite excited about it,” McGuire said with a laugh. “I took her over there and she ran around. There will be lots of room for her over there. There is not much grass there right now, but she seemed to like it.”