FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2, 2013
Contact: Michael Fontana
American Litho and Grand River Printing & Imaging announce definitive agreement
Carol Stream, IL.— American Litho, Inc. of Carol Stream, IL and Grand River Printing & Imaging of Belleville, MI., today announced the combination of the two entities under the direction of American Litho, Inc.
Mike Fontana, president and one of the owners of American Litho stated “We are excited about the opportunities that this combination offers; the combined company will offer a broader range of product and service capabilities to both GRP’s and American Litho’s customers. With the incorporation of GRP’s facility into the mix, we add considerable capacity in the area of direct mail, particularly inline-finished work. We look forward to offering new services to the existing GRP customers, such as, in-line imaging, conventional sheetfed, U.V. sheetfed, digital, wide format digital, fulfillment, signage and packaging.”
“We are excited to move into the Detroit market,” Fontana added. “Led by the rebound of the auto industry, Metro Detroit is a very attractive growth market. GRP has 34 years’ experience here, a strong corporate base and a world-class facility. Ann Porster, President and CFO of GRP, and her fantastic sales team will be introducing me to clients to further explain the wide range of services that we provide and I look forward to these opportunities.”
Ann Porster, President and CFO of GRP, remarked: “After decades of attrition in the local print market, the decision by American Litho to invest in Detroit is a major event. By bringing its capabilities here, and pairing these with GRP’s own infrastructure and sales force, American Litho is leading an enormous expansion of the services available to the local print-buying community.”
American Litho, founded in 1994, is a provider of print communication for retail inserts/circulars, direct mail, catalogs, brochures, packaging, magazines, publications, books, and specialty products, including in-store signage, digital store fronts and fulfillment. In all these areas they offer list management and mail and postal logistics. In addition they also offer data driven, highly targeted in-line and off-line 600dpi digital imaging in both Black and CMYK. The company works collaboratively with more than 2000 clients worldwide in an effort to produce the best quality. Headquartered in Carol Stream, IL. (just west of Chicago), the company has approximately 750 full-time equivalent employees working in two print-production facilities as well as other support locations throughout the United States. American Litho currently operates web heat-set, web cold-set, conventional and U.V.sheetfed, digital and large format digital printing presses, along with one of the largest binderies in the Midwest. The company has been recognized by its customers for its quality and commitment to printing technology. American Litho is G7 certified and a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified chain-of-custody company.
GRP is a G7 certified web offset commercial printer with a focus on managing complex print projects. The company offers heatset six-color web presses as well as database management, pre-press, bindery and direct-mail services. GRP is twice the recipient of the RAVE award for customer satisfaction presented by the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL). It has won recognition as a “Best Workplace” three times in contests sponsored by Crain’s Detroit Business and IRI Consulting. Its most recent award was given by Hartford Insurance for marking 1,000 days without a workday lost to accident.
The Definitive Agreement, which results in American Litho purchasing certain assets of GRP and executing an assignment of GRP’s existing 86,000 square foot lease in Belleville, MI. Key management from GRP, both Jim Hartnett (COO) and Ann Porster (President and CFO), will be joining the management team at American Litho with responsibility for the direction of the Belleville, MI. location.
American Litho 