Grand Rapids has a rich
history in the printing industry as most area printers agree that the city has more printers per capita than any other city in the United States. On June 6, 1948, Lars Gilson bought
letterpress printer
Dependable Printing, renamed it
Gilson Press, and invested in new technology to supplement the existing equipment. As
offset printing began challenging letterpress for speed and economy of operation, Gilson Press purchased its first
lithographic offset
press in 1952. Construction of federal highway
U.S. Route 131 in 1957 caused Gilson Press to relocate to 631 North Avenue, which is the current location of their print production department. In 1974, Lars Gilson's oldest son, David, joined the company and four years later his second son, Mark, became an employee as well. In 1980, Gilson Press became the first printer in Michigan to allow
text from client
word processors and
main frames to be electronically transferred to the composition stage. This venture began the practice of Gilson Press being a
beta tester for new technology from manufacturers. That same year Lars Gilson's youngest son Chris entered the business, creating a
family business where all three sons worked for their father's company. A year later, seven employees from
Axis Digital Print and Imaging joined Gilson Graphics, adding short run color,
variable data printing, and large format capabilities. In late 2002, Gilson Graphics opened its educational composition and
quality control department in Atlantic, Iowa, working mainly on
standardized testing material. In early 2003, Chris Gilson started
North Star Teacher Resources to design, produce, and
distribute its own line of educational material. In 2006, Gilson Graphics acquired assets of two companies –
Photolith, Inc. (which increased sales and prepress capabilities) and
Commercial Printing Co. (which added
web development, small press capabilities, and increased print sales). Acquiring assets of Commercial Printing Co., a former winner of the national
Addy Awards, led to the addition of
Ignition, a division within Gilson Graphics that offers multimedia services. In early 2009, Gilson Graphics also purchased selected assets of
Integra Printing, Inc., adding about 70 employees as well as a new headquarters. This move expanded the company's capabilities with offset and digital printing and created a Fulfillment and Mailing Services department, altogether nearly doubling sales revenue. Most recently, Gilson Graphics became the first company in North America to install
Fujifilm's new J-Press 720 system, a high quality sheet-fed inkjet press. ==Awards and recognitions==