Freeport Press Announces Plans to Open Second Ohio Manufacturing Facility

FREEPORT, OH—April 24, 2015—Established in 1880 as a weekly newspaper, Freeport Press has been in continuous operation here ever since, and is celebrating its 135th anniversary in 2015. "Since I first arrived at Freeport Press in 1998 I not only gained a great respect for the legacy this company, I also saw great potential for the future," said David G. Pilcher, president and CEO of Freeport Press. "Yet never did I dream of what we have accomplished to this point."

Pilcher added that with a focused understanding of the industry and the hard work of the Freeport's executive team, a great sales organization and a strong team of managers and employees, the company has seen incredible growth and is recognized today as an industry-leading print production facility of national acclaim, producing millions of magazines, catalogs and direct mail pieces each year. "We believe that God has richly blessed our business and the efforts of our entire team," Pilcher said.

Over the past year, Freeport has worked with its architect, engineers and contractors and conferred with Freeport city officials and Harrison County commissioners on how to best expand its current Freeport location.

Today, the company is officially announcing a significant change in those plans. "We have signed an agreement to purchase a large manufacturing facility in New Philadelphia, OH, with a closing scheduled on or before July 15, 2015," he noted. "The new facility located on an 18-acre site will add 253,500 square feet to our current 99,000 square feet, giving us a total of 352,500 square feet or eight acres under roof." The current manufacturing plant will continue its operation in Freeport, OH, without any significant modification to the building as it now stands.

The New Philadelphia facility Freeport is purchasing is the (most recently, Mondi Corp.) and (formerly, Graphics Packaging Plant) at 2127 Reiser Ave. SE, and will be brought online over the next year as the infrastructure is upgraded and equipment arrives to meet its growth requirements.

The Freeport, OH, and Freeport New Philadelphia production facilities will be designed to work as an integrated operation. They will share administration, sales, customer service and prepress functions as a seamless operation. Any transport of materials between the two locations will be limited and on an as-needed basis. The company will be working out the details of exactly how that will be accomplished over the next year. Equipment for each location will be allocated to match future product and production demands with additional equipment soon to follow.

Source: Freeport Press.