In today’s tight job market, it’s hard to find good workers. That has forced many employers to use their imaginations to find people to hire. Ellen Dee and Gail Solomon, president and vice president of Woodland Hills-based On-Site Lasermedic Corp., have found their employees by doing everything from approaching workers at car washes to running newspaper ads targeting retirees. Dee spoke to reporter Jennifer Netherby recently about hunting for workers and the laser printer repair business. “We really believe in hiring senior citizens. We find they’re extremely loyal and valuable employees. They are here every day, and they are effective. That started with my dad, who is 87 and has been a salesperson all his life. He can’t go out on calls anymore. When we started the business, he would make calls and set appointments for me and I’d got out and sell. I said, ‘There’s got to be more people like him around.’ “So we ran ads in the paper and hired more seniors. “We’ve also gotten technicians from car washes. We ask if they can change the oil (in a car) and explain that fixing a laser printer is similar. “We treat our employees good. That’s what makes the difference. We flew one of them to New York for her mother’s funeral. “We started working together in 1981. We started On-Site Lasermedic in 1992. Gail and I had a company selling computer supplies on the Westside. In 1991, we noticed our clients were calling and looking for laser printer services. At the same time, Office Depot and Staples and other stores were making it difficult for us to compete. “Gail decided to check out the laser printer repair industry. We decided to sell our business, and we went to school to become Canon engineering technicians. We got certified and got out there and educated people in how they could avoid costly repairs. We learned in school that 90 percent of printer problems were from a buildup of dirt. Part of our strategy is to help people keep costs down. “On-Site Lasermedic started in November 1992. Today we have three offices: our Woodland Hills headquarters, an office in Orange County and an office in San Francisco. We have about 50 employees now, and we started with two. “Service for a printer ranges from $55 to $85. A lot of our customers know about us through word of mouth. Our customers can be someone with one printer to GTE, with 5,000. We have a lot of law firms, CPA firms and entertainment industry clients.”