2013 Hall of Fame : David Pilcher Sr. - Inspiration and Reclamation

Opportunities seem to find Pilcher. One day, he was contacted by the owners of Freeport Press, which was struggling mightily and looking for a buyer.

"The company was upside down in serious financial trouble and was facing a bank foreclosure," Pilcher remarks. "I started doing some due diligence on it and liked what I saw. It had been in continuous operation since 1880, and had loyal customers and dedicated employees—some of whom had worked there for more than 40 years. And it had been profitable. But the owners were taking money out and not investing in it, so there was a lot of old equipment, some of it 30 years behind the times."