This article was written for our local Chamber of Commerce Newsletter, but the original copy got edited considerably when placed in the newsletter.

Here is the original "as written".

How were you inspired to start your business?
While in junior high school in Lawrence Park, I purchased a letterpress and small printing outfit from a friend’s father - that was the beginning of my printing business. After high school, I studied typography and graphic design at Rochester Institute of Technology and was hired by an Erie advertising agency to run their letterpress printing department, while maintaining my own business on a part-time basis.
My print shop became a full-time endeavor at age 20 and a few years later in 1976, I moved to my present location in North East. My connection to North East, however, was established much earlier. As a teenager, I befriended and had as a mentor F. Earl Bonnell, who owned “The Bunny Press”, a private press, located in his home on Robinson Street in North East. Earl was a fine-press letterpress printer who hand-set, hand printed and hand bound a number of small edition books as an avocation. Today, Earl’s books are sought after by both libraries and rare book collectors. The assets of the Bunny Press are now a part of my archive of printing types and equipment.

You’ve been in business for more than 40 years - how have you managed through the many changes within the printing industry?
I have seen a lot of changes to printing. In the early stages of desktop publishing and use of computers for graphic design, I was involved in developing a major computer graphics program as a consultant for the handling and use of type fonts. Over the years I have drawn and digitized a number of typefaces for computer use, and I continue to use that same drawing software for much of my design work. Offset printing and now digital printing have been the biggest factors of change in the industry, and the letterpress process that I began with many years ago nearly faded into history, a forgotten craft.

What about the future of your business?
While relying on current technology to provide for much of my clientele’s needs, the past few years I have made an effort to promote and concentrate on letterpress printing. This is the work I enjoy the most. It’s very much a hands-on craft that is practiced by few, although there is a recent revival and growing interest in quality letterpress printing. My letterpress shop, named the Nickel Plate Press, has hosted visitors from around the world, most recently folks from England, sponsored by the Winston Churchill Historic Trust - they are visiting contemporary letterpress shops in the US. Of particular interest is my collection of metal and wood type fonts. Since my early days in business, I have collected type from many different shops in the region. I even have some type that was used at the North East Sun, a newspaper and printing office that was on West Main Street in North East in the 1800’s. Some of my letterpress work can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce gift shop and at the Marketplace on Main Street, as well as at my shop. Custom print work from new customers is welcome, too.

What is the number one thing you want the community to know about your business?
Most of the work that comes to my business is produced right here in my shop. Some graphic designers, printers and print resellers, as well as online printing companies outsource their work to big out-of-town factory shops, some of which are owned by overseas investors. Just like other businesses that promote “buy local”, I encourage support from within the community by reminding folks that supporting local small businesses like mine keeps more of their dollars closer to home. And, that’s good for everyone.