Hall of Fame--On Top of the Mountain

BY ERIK CAGLE

Mora, Minnesota—population 2,500—is as obscure as any town in America. Boasting predominantly farm land, it may seem an eternity away from the excitement of the big city for someone who calls Mora home.

A. Oscar Carlson grew up there with his six brothers and parents on a dairy farm. Such an existence is not a way of life; it is life. From before the time the sun rises to a point beyond sunset, Carlson and his family knew what work had to be done. Something always had to be done, which didn't leave a lot of time for daydreaming about a better life.

Carlson left the daydreaming to others, and forged a life and a career enviable to those born into more favorable circumstances. He has made a name for himself and his company, American Spirit Graphics. It has been a career that certainly embodies the company's name, and merits a place among the commercial printing elite with his election into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame.

Family Roots
Carlson has Mora and his brothers, in part, to thank for his success. It was during his childhood that he acquired the tools and hard-knocks education he would need to survive and thrive in his professional career.

"It was a seven-day work week for us," Carlson recalls. "We farmed on three other farms, as well. I learned to work hard, be responsible and make do with what equipment we had. It was a great place to grow up. As a family, we worked hard and we played hard. We only had one tiny bathroom, and we had to fight for that. We worked hard to get off the farm, because none of us wanted to continue doing that."

Carlson found an outlet for his home-grown aggressiveness and competitiveness in high school. Blessed with good speed, he ran track and played football. He continued track in college at St. Cloud University, where he graduated with a degree in business administration and accounting.

He followed in his older brother Lary's footsteps and joined a CPA firm in Minneapolis, where he remained for three years. The high-volume, 41⁄2-month tax season—reminiscent of a peak farming period—didn't appeal to Carlson, but the experience was invaluable. While doing audits, he was given a glimpse at the ways and means of running a successful (and unsuccessful) business—information he would draw upon later in his career.

His foray into commercial printing came in 1969 when Lary helped identify a position with a small sheetfed company as a treasurer/controller. Carlson accepted the post and quickly immersed himself into all areas of the operations, not just the books. The experience allowed him to be a factor in the acquisition of McGill-Jensen in 1976, and his work was rewarded with the position of president and CEO at the tender age of 27.

"For three years, I was controller/treasurer and vice president of finance," Carlson says. "I worked with equipment manufacturers and suppliers, trying to understand the overall business as I went along. When we purchased McGill-Jensen, I was deeply involved, helped put it together, and I became president/

CEO of the combined companies because of the experience I had gained."

Growth Explosion
The McGill acquisition triggered an explosion of mergers, acquisitions and the creation of new companies as McGill grew to new levels. Joining the fold were now-McGill-Jensen, Brookshore Lithographers, Danner Press, The Press of Ohio and The Printer of Minnesota. Carlson became CEO of each company.

As the organization grew, so did the involvement of ownership, which had not been involved to a great extent in the earlier days. Carlson soon found he had philosophical differences with ownership and decided in 1985 to resign from the chain of companies he had helped develop. The following year, Carlson laid the groundwork for American Spirit Graphics and a number of top executives from his former company joined the new endeavor. He also found support in the form of manufacturers, suppliers and customers in the industry.

The foundation was laid with the acquisition of a $5 million company, Information Publishers. He leveraged that company's workforce asset, a core of 35 employees, many of whom remain with the company 15 years later. Carlson's dynasty now consists of Carlson Print Group, a sheetfed company acquired in January and headed up by his son, Jason. Another son, Darren, leads American Spirit Graphics-Des Moines, formerly Wright Printing, a web printing operation acquired in 1996. The company also added American Spirit Mailing, a former mailing center for Fingerhut, in Alexandria, MN.

Along the way, Carlson worked with manufacturers to get the most from their hardware and ancillary devices. He worked to develop wide-format presses for four-color commercial printing before they became generally accepted.

After being turned away by several manufacturers, Carlson worked with the engineers from Toshiba to convert a one-over-one book press to a 50˝, four-color press that was used for four-color signature work, beating the competition into the wide-web four-color market by nearly 10 years. He also worked with German engineers on cutting and in-line trimming systems, which led to numerous systems currently used in the marketplace.

"This industry is always challenging because it's changing constantly," Carlson points out. "The overall challenge is to get better. We have to keep getting better, or we'll get gobbled up."

Like his fellow 2000 Hall of Fame inductees, Carlson has played a major role in the Printing Industries of America's Web Offset Association (WOA). A past president and board member, Carlson's term as president saw the association introduce the Vision Award, which recognizes web printers who have demonstrated great foresight and innovation.

During his time, the WOA funded numerous printing education scholarships and also introduced noteworthy speakers from the supplier sector. Non-industry personalities from the political sector, including former President Bush, General Norman Schwartzkopf and General Colin Powell, have also spoken at WOA events.

One of Carlson's supplier backers is Massie Odiotti of Sun Chemical, a provider of ink. Odiotti has known Carlson for more than 30 years and has great respect for his business acumen.

"He's a very good businessman, a strong finance-oriented businessman," Odiotti states. "He knows what it takes to make money and knows how to run a printing company. American Spirit Graphics is only 15 years old, but it's had a lot of success in that time.

"Oscar is an outgoing individual who knows how to balance his life between business and recreation," Odiotti adds.

Sheep Fever
For a man who spent a great deal of his formative years on sprawling, endless farmland, Carlson nonetheless seems to have an affinity for roaming far away from the beaten path rather than visiting the many attractions frequented by those who have reached his stature. By his own admission, he is afflicted with a disease known as "sheep fever," for which the only cure is globetrotting to the far reaches of the earth in search of the mountain variety of sheep. The hunting bug first bit him on the farm, where he would seek out grouse and deer. Now, sheep, goat, elk and antelope tickle his big-game fancy.

Lary again influenced his younger brother, this time in a recreational capacity. He arranged for a trip to Alaska with Oscar and another brother, Jerome, in search of Dall Sheep, and immediately he was hooked by the physical challenge of hiking and mountain climbing, combined with the thrill of the hunt. Carlson has now twice achieved the Grand Slam of sheep, with trophies for the Dall, Stone Sheep (British Columbia), the Rocky Mountain Big Horn (northwest states) and the Desert Big Horn (Mexico and southwest states). He remains one trophy away from the World Slam of sheep, needing only the Gobi Argali, which he will soon seek out in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. He has traveled to six foreign countries—Canada, China, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mexico—in search of these desired sheep.

Oddly enough, there's a lot of hard work involved in this so-called recreational diversion.

"It's the ultimate challenge in hunting—climbing high altitudes, backpacking and camping," Carlson explains. "It requires you to be in extremely good shape. It helps you to get away from the business, clears your head. It has taken me to the most beautiful parts of the world. It gives me incredible views from the tops of these mountains and an appreciation of nature very few people ever experience."

Be it work or play, it seems Carlson has had more than a few views from the mountaintop.