During a flight to a Denver book show in 1971, Harry asked Ned if he'd thought of owning a business. On May 15 a year later, Thomson-Shore opened its doors with an empty building, one printing press and three people, all of whom are still here today.
Both Ned and Harry performed the day-to-day operations in those early days. As time passed, Ned's primary role became communication with customers, with Harry directing manufacturing. Neither of the principals sees himself as a "typical" company officer, and they still get involved in "nuts and bolts" things.
Thomson-Shore was one of the first book printers in southeast Michigan to add a perfecting press. This enabled them to print one color on two sides or two colors on one side of the paper at the same time.
Its original one color printing press was capable of printing eight to ten thousand one-sided sheets per hour. Today's press prints twelve thousand two-sided sheets per hour, about a 300% increase in production.
Thomson-Shore has grown at a steady rate, averaging 9% per year, consistently adding one new customer a day.
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