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News Brief

July 23, 2025 |  By: Gavin McGough

MTE Office Center to celebrate 90 years of business

MTE celebrates 90 years

 A longtime Maryville business is celebrating an anniversary this week. KXCV's Gavin McGough stopped by to learn about their history: 

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A typewriter repair shop opened in Maryville during the Great Depression. You might think such a business was bound to fail, but you'd be wrong. That shop is going strong after 90 years. It's the MTE Office Center, which provides IT support and office supplies to homes and businesses across the region.

Elizabeth Christiansen, whose great grandfather opened the shop back in 1935, grew up around the MTE offices. She always wanted to come back and work in the family business, she says.

 "I came in because we had three guys retired that had been here over 50 years, and so they had just always been a staple. Dad and I were talking, what's next? What is this gonna look like? And so then that's when we put together like, oh, well I could come back and like do some of those things."

 That makes her the fourth generation to work in the shop.  

The biggest challenge facing MTE today, something that was probably unimaginable back in 1935, Christensen says.

"I think the biggest challenge is obviously online retailers and just the convenience and the costs. We try to offer the customer service that goes above and beyond what online retailers can do."

While things have changed, some things remain. Christiansen says they still sell the occasional typewriter to local businesses, which are not ready to let go of their beloved analog machine.

MTE is having an open house this Thursday, July 24th at its Maryville office to celebrate its 90th.