James Glover II / Star staff Employee Jeff Gardner of Ventura checks out a photo copier at DocuProducts' facility on Eastman Avenue in Ventura.

Signaling a significant expansion for a company that started out of a living room, Ventura-based DocuProducts Corp. has been authorized to sell Canon Inc.'s full line of products.

The deal essentially doubles the Canon product line available from DocuProducts, which sells copiers and printers. The company was founded in 1996 by Steve Wolff, its president and chief executive officer.

"We're really happy that DocuProducts has made the decision to be a full-line dealer, and we feel that this decision will be to the advantage of their customers," Canon spokesman Mike DeMeo said Wednesday.

Wolff said it isn't easy to become authorized because Canon doesn't want just anyone representing its brand.

"They come out, interview us, meet with our service team, and they do a walk-through and a financial evaluation," he said. "It's a prestigious authorization."

The deal was reached in early April.

Wolff has taken DocuProducts to a new level since its modest inception, when he spent his own money buying products and selling them out of the living room of a rented two-bedroom house in Santa Barbara.

Wolff got his first taste of the document management industry after graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 1988. After a campus interview, he was hired by Xerox Corp. He stayed with Xerox for more than seven years but wanted to start his own business, so he started buying and selling products on his own.

At first, he operated alone, but later hired two people. They set up work stations in his living room.

Eventually, the company grew to six employees, so the operation relocated to a 1,000-square-foot office in Santa Barbara.

About four years ago, the company moved to a 3,000-square-foot office at 2368 Eastman Ave., Ventura.

"A lot of our customers were out in this area, and we felt it would be a more centralized area because we cover from Goleta all the way to Calabasas," he said.

The company caters to small- and mid-sized businesses, schools and government agencies.

With the new Canon deal, DocuProducts expects to continue growing. Revenue has averaged more than 50 percent year-over-year growth, Wolff said. The company is hiring to fill sales positions, adding to the nearly 20 employees on the payroll.

The Canon agreement will allow DocuProducts to offer its customers equipment that produces higher volume at a faster rate of speed, Wolff said.

"Before, if they needed a higher speed, we would have had to recommend a different product line," he said.

One of DocuProducts' clients is Montecito Bank & Trust in Santa Barbara.

Clay Decker, the bank's facilities manager, said the bank has used national providers but prefers the local company.

"He provides superior service," Decker said of Wolff. "The difference is you get expedited service, personal contact with the person in charge and decision maker, and that's makes a big difference."