A Paper Trail that Starts in Niles (MI)

French Paper, in Niles, MI, supplies corporate customers, as well as independent designers who use the company's array of styles and colors for packaging, envelopes, books and posters that pop with personality and sophistication.

Allegiance to the French Paper brand is such that artists driving through northern Indiana or southwest Michigan have exited the interstate just to see the mill along the St. Joseph River, south of downtown Niles.

Jerry French, the company's president and great-great-grandson of founder Joseph W. French, said many design firms are small and begin as family-owned businesses. He believes that helps them identify with French Paper.