Cincinnati PR

For the second year in a row, SpringDot Inc. – one of the largest printers in the Greater Cincinnati market, branded by a thriving nationwide footprint and dynamic market presence – has closed out a banner, recession-busting year with an acquisition.

This year’s version: the purchase of Litho Print Ltd. of Dayton, Ohio, strategically executed Dec. 14 to further the 105-year-old Camp Washington firm’s unique brand of customer service, business acumen and top-quality communications.

Last year, SpringDot closed out the annum by purchasing two divisions from Steinhauser Inc. of Northern Kentucky, itself a family-owned company and hallowed name in the storied tradition of the Greater Cincinnati printing industry.

As the countdown in Times Square approached this year, SpringDot looked a little further north, purchasing 58-year-old shop Litho Print, a company whose owners were looking to strategically diversify and grow service offerings.

Litho Print was sold to SpringDot by president and co-owner Darrell Templeton and his partner, Paul Obolewicz. Mike Feeley, an account representative, will be staying with the new company to coordinate the offerings of the more powerful combined entity.

“Paul and I were looking to sell a printing business and keep a lifelong friendship together for ventures in real estate and a pulp importing venture from Brazil. Neither was more important than the other,” Templeton said.

“We have succeeded at both, and the Dayton market will now have the opportunity to work with a new Litho Print, a larger and more robust Litho Print, in the form of SpringDot, with greatly enhanced capabilities, particularly in the digital and distribution arenas.”

SPRINGDOT LEAPS AT DAYTON OPPORTUNITY

The deal is expected to kick in at least $1 million to total revenues at SpringDot next year, and paves the way for the Cincinnati printer to launch its first Satellite Office expansion since Sidney Deutsch, great-grandfather of CEO and President Josh Deutsch, opened its doors in a downtown alley shop in 1904.

“Litho Print has always had some very large, very impressive customer accounts. We look at this as an incredible opportunity for us to continue to grow, to keep adding to our customer base, and to showcase for the Dayton market what we’ve been doing for the last century-plus in Greater Cincinnati,” Deutsch said.

Financial terms of the acquisition will not be disclosed. Templeton is considering staying with SpringDot in a part-time capacity, but no final decision has been made.

SPRINGDOT CLOSES OUT 2009 WITH REVENUES UP 20 PERCENT

Revenues at SpringDot were up 20 percent in 2009. For that, Deutsch credits his company’s longstanding philosophy of:

– providing superior customer service;
– pursuing a continual expansion program; and
– maintaining a relentless investment in technology.

Formed in 1951, Litho Print Ltd. was purchased by Templeton, a former executive with the Adolph Coors Co., in 1997. Born in South Dakota, Templeton worked more than two decades with Coors, opening their Franklin, Ohio distribution facility. Templeton was one of several key individuals who contributed to Coors tripling the size of the plant. When Coors divested the plant, Templeton was on the prowl for new business opportunities, which brought him to Litho Print.

Litho Print employs eight and has generated an average of about $2 million annually in sales over the last several years. The deal calls for SpringDot to purchase the company’s name and a book of business that will add as much as $1 million to annual revenues.

With the closing of the deal on Monday, Dec. 14, SpringDot continues to diversify its traditional, sheet-fed printing services with its own Digital Printing Division. In 2003, it added a Fulfillment Division. Late last year, the company purchased the Commercial Printing and Specialty Finishing divisions of Steinhauser.

All will play a critical role as the company repositions itself for a second century of providing solutions to small clients and major national brands. A big piece of the SpringDot solution is its online procurement system, providing management and fulfillment services and utilized as the fulcrum of cornerstone client accounts such as Kroger, Sara Lee and GE Financial.

“The online procurement system works fantastic for point-of-sale customers, those who have multiple locations and a national client base,” said Deutsch.

SPRINGDOT GROWTH STRATEGY CONTINUES WITH ‘TRI-CERTIFIED’ GREEN FOCUS

Entering the new year, SpringDot officials have not closed the door on other acquisitions, capital investments or similar expansion opportunities.

Now in its second century, the company prides itself on an innovative approach to the web-to-print portal of the printing industry. Its commitment to the environment continues unabated as well, as evidenced by SpringDot recently completing the trifecta of green printing achievement as a “Tri-Certified” green printer.

“Growing as a green printer and becoming ‘Tri-Certified’ requires more than lip service for the environment. It’s reflected in the way we do business every day,” Deutsch said. SpringDot is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (FSI) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

Having all of a company’s printing practices aligned with such a meticulous ecological approach isn’t easy, isn’t cheap, and isn’t temporary.

Then again, SpringDot has seen its share of printers come and go since it opened in 1904, the year President Theodore Roosevelt and his “square-deal” politics swept their way into the White House.

For more information, please call SpringDot at (513) 542-4000, visit the company’s website at http://www.SpringDot.com or send Mr. Deutsch an e-mail at josh@SpringDot.com.

For media inquiries, please contact Mr. Andy Hemmer, President of AndyHemmer.com PR/Writing Services at (513) 604-5428 or andy@andyhemmer.com. Footage of the Business Courier photo shoot is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRiKnNYSI4o .

Hemmer coordinated PR efforts for both the Cincinnati Business Courier article on Dec. 18 – and the Dayton Business Journal article one week later on Friday, Dec. 25 – as well as two previous SpringDot stories published in The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Those previous Enquirer stories on SpringDot appeared exactly one year apart. The SpringDot/Steinhauser deal was detailed on Dec. 2, 2008 (the story on your right) …..

……. exactly one year after a SpringDot profile was published in The Enquirer on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007 (the item down below).