Marathon Graphics

It was a little promise he made to himself. A challenge, really. 

“I told myself I was going to own my own business by the time I turned 30,” Renato Fernando Pinto said. 

If you know Renato, you know there aren’t many goals he doesn’t hit. This one, though, was just a tad out of reach.

And when we say “a tad,” we’re talking a matter of months.

“I got my ducks in a row, made things happen and was able to open this shop a few weeks before I turned 31,” he said. 

The shop is Marathon Graphics, a 3M Preferred Installer for vehicle wraps, walls, floors, windows, and more.

“For us, it’s mainly a wrap shop … that’s what we love to do,” he said. “But we also handle signage. Vehicle graphics, car wraps, floors, doors, windows … pretty much anything you can put a sticker on, you can wrap. We do a lot of signage for customers too, whether it’s interior or exterior, whatever they need.”

The shop is located at 1220 S. Broadway inside the former Malle Automotive building. The history of the building and its meaning in Pittsburg, Pinto said, is not lost on him.

“Obviously, it’s a little scary at first,” he said. “You feel like you’re wearing shoes that are too big. But, like anything else, you grow into them. People always told me how busy this intersection is, and you don’t realize it until you’re sitting up front and hearing the constant traffic. It gets loud, but that’s exactly what you want.

“​​I like to think I’m going to do this building justice. I’m just renting it for now, but the goal is to really make it my own and let people know this is where we are. Folks will always think of it as the old Malle’s Tire building, and that’s fine. Our goal is to carve out our own identity here and make it something new.”

To say Pinto is an example of the “American Dream” could sound a bit cliche, but if ever that is a real thing, he’s proof. He moved to the United States from Peru when he was 10 years old. After living in North Carolina for a bit, he moved with family to Burlington, Kansas, and then Emporia before coming to Pittsburg to attend Pitt State.

After years of temporary resident status, Pinto became a U.S. citizen on March 17, 2021.

“Because it was during COVID, the ceremony looked a little different,” he said, “but it was still powerful. You take the Oath of Allegiance, they walk you through what it means to be an American, and then you walk out with a document saying you’re a naturalized citizen of the United States. It’s something you keep forever.”

And there is nowhere in the United States he and his family would rather be than Pittsburg, Kansas. 

“Pittsburg really has something for everybody,” he said. “For us, we found the perfect house, we built a close circle of friends, and we loved getting involved with other people and businesses in the area.

“It’s funny … you stick around long enough and suddenly you realize, ‘You know what? I actually do like it here.’ A lot of people graduate from Pitt State and feel so ready to leave, and then they end up staying for a year or two. Then those two years turn into ten, and you’re like, ‘Oh, okay… I guess I’m sticking around.’”

It’s Pittsburg and the entrepreneurial spirit here, he said, that gave him the confidence to take the leap and open his business.

“I think part of what pushed me into starting my own business was seeing so many friends and family members doing the same thing,” he said. “It was a lot of, ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’ I don’t want to say it’s easy to succeed in Pittsburg, but there are so many resources and people here who genuinely want to help you be successful. As long as you know who to reach out to and where to start, the support is incredible. 

“I think anyone who comes here and really gets involved in the community starts to see how many resources there are. The Chamber is a great resource. The university is a great resource. And the Small Business Development Center … honestly, it’s heavily underutilized. They’ve been incredibly helpful. Shoutout to Amy; she’s been great for me. It’s just easy to connect here.”

When he’s not running Marathon Graphics, Pinto is probably literally running. An avid runner who’s taken on multiple marathons (hence the business name), he’s also the founder of The Running Collective and the popular Turkey Trot event that raises tens of thousands of dollars for local charity. 

At the core of all of it, he said, is a genuine desire to help people and help Pittsburg become an even stronger community.

“I’ve always just had the mentality of wanting to help people,” he said. ”Through the business, I’m helping other businesses grow by making them more visible. And through the Running Collective, we’re raising tens of thousands of dollars for charity every year. That support rotates through different organizations, and even the running itself helps people live healthier lives and make better habits.

“My wife and I have a son who’s a little over a year old now, and we want to instill those values in him—to be a good person, to help others. It’s not hard to do; you just have to choose to do it.”