PITTSBURG, Kan. — Renato Pinto, owner of Marathon Graphics, was recognized as the 2026 Young Professional of the Year at the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet on May 7. The award was sponsored by Pittsburg Area Young Professionals (PAYP), an organization of young leaders committed to personal and professional growth.
Prior to opening his own business in September 2025, Pinto and his wife, Katherine, established The Running Collective, a group that later became a non-profit organization for runners and bikers. The duo has organized the Turkey Trot 5K for the past four Thanksgivings, and the event has continued to grow each year. In 2025, The Running Collective was able to donate $28,000 to the Children’s Advocacy Center from the proceeds of the Turkey Trot 5K and had a record number of 1,140 participants. The Running Collective also started a Stars and Stripes 5K for the 4th of July and the Coal Miner’s Gravel Ride. These events drew numerous people from different cities and different states.
Since launching Marathon Graphics, located at 1220 S. Broadway Street, Pinto has been hired by both national and local companies. His business specializes in vehicle vinyl wrapping, signs and other graphics.
“It’s definitely grown significantly faster than I though it would,” Pinto said about his business. “I’m pretty proud of a lot of the stuff that we do locally with a lot of the people we know in Pittsburg and then we obviously try to reciprocate and only use local people for stuff we do as well, so it’s nice to give back in that way.”
Pinto just hired his first full-time employee, a recent PSU graduate who will focus on designing graphics. Hiring a designer, he said would free some of his time and allow him to actively promote himself and his work to businesses.
Previously, Pinto completed all projects from the design to installation by himself with the help of a part-time employee who helps organize his schedule and input orders. He occasionally sub-contracts installers, but the majority of his business is completed by him.
Pinto’s goal is to continue to grow the businesses and eventually hire a full-time installer, purchase a printer and laminator and hire a full-time production person.
When Pinto decided to open Marathon Graphics, he said he was inspired by friends and family who were opening their own businesses.
“I felt like ‘if they can do it why can’t I?’” he said.
Pinto has been a member of PAYP for roughly eight years and has held several positions on the board. He joined with the goal to meet new people after graduating college.
“It turned into creating a lot of good relationships that I still have to this day,” he said. “So that’s worked out great and we’ve done a lot of great things in all those years.”
Pinto earned a graphic communications degree at Pittsburg State University and worked at CDL for more than eight years.
Pinto credits a lot of his success to his time spent in PAYP and the network of relationships and connections he built. He said three quarters of the business he gets is through word of mouth.
“I wouldn’t be where I’m at today or as far as I am today if it wasn’t for how involved I got in PAYP, that’s for sure,” he said. “I think you just have to put yourself out there and make those connections with people and you end up growing with them.”
Pinto said he was surprised and thankful to be named the 2026 Young Professional of the Year.
“It’s one thing to be recognized period, but to be recognized in a room full of your peers from the area is really nice,” he said. “They could have recognized 10 other people in this area, there’s so many, so I’m just glad I was one of them.”
This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews.
