Ripon Printers: A Midwestern Delight

Good luck trying to find Andy Lyke's ego. He probably keeps it at home, in a file cabinet, along with those other documents most people hang on to but know they will never need.

Perhaps it is a Midwestern phenomenon, that work ethic of German immigrant descendants. Lyke serves as president and CEO of Ripon Printers, headquartered in the Wisconsin city that bears its name. The family-owned firm, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, was spun off from its roots as a newspaper. That weekly paper, Ripon Commonwealth Press, has been in business since 1854 and has been named the top weekly paper in the state three of the past 10 years by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.