"Tall oaks from little acorns grow."

Acorn Press is a good example of a family business that has prospered in Lancaster County's favorable economic environment. In 1956, Don Roseman, Sr. and Don Roseman, Jr. installed a small cylinder letterpress in the garage of their home on Pleasure Road. The first promotional piece printed by Acorn Press was for Don, Jr.'s snow shoveling and lawn mowing "business" during his elementary and junior high school days. Next came stationery for friends. Eventually, the Roseman's moved into printing commercial jobs. The first commercial jobs were for Armstrong World Industries, Foltz-Wessinger, and Daffin, Inc. The printing business grew and when the family moved to Valley Road two years later, the press and ancillary equipment went with them.

During the fall of 1958, Acorn Press made the transition from letterpress to offset printing with the purchase of an AB Dick 350 press and soon after a Kenro Vertical Camera was installed. As business increased, the Rosemans' expanded the operation to other buildings on their property and incorporated in 1964. A Gerson Step and Repeat machine was purchased in 1965 for both step and repeat plate making and page imposition. As a result of the machine being too tall for the Prep area, it had to be installed in the Bindery area. By 1966 the company put an addition on the "back building" to hold the machine, expanded the darkroom and added an employee kitchen and restrooms. The first color separation we printed was a borrowed "test" negative from SD Warren Company. The first commercial color job was a series of 4-color reprints from furnished film done for Quaker State Metal Company, now known as Alumax Building Products. The first 4-color job where film was bought was a New Holland Ford poster which was also the first job a densitometer was used to try and match the run against the press proof. Ralph Lindsay created our first color separation for our 1967 Acorn Press Christmas card. The original art for that piece can be found hanging in our office. By 1972, the company had 18 full-time employees.

A major turning point in the company's history came in 1974 when Acorn Press secured a loan to construct a 13,000 square foot printing plant at the present location of 500 East Oregon Road. During the mid 1970's, major expansions in both personnel and equipment were made. Several major accounts were opened including E. I. Dupont and Smith Kline/Beecham. Acorn Press made the successful transition from a small job shop to one of the top commercial printing companies in the area.

Staying competitive in the commercial printing industry means keeping up with the latest technology. In the late 1970's, Acorn Press added computer systems to automate their accounting and estimating functions. The early 1980's brought Acorn Press its first four and five color presses. In 1985, the first scanner was purchased which paved the way for the addition of the Scitex electronic prepress image assembly and color correction system. It was one of the first systems installed in the area. In the late 1980's, Acorn Press also purchased its first six color press, the Akiyama. Acorn Press made the jump into the desktop publishing arena in 1989 and was offering complete desktop services by 1991. The first desktop publishing job was for the 1990 Lancaster Rotary Club Directory using DBase software to create a PageMaker document. Output was to a laser printer as line copy. Acorn Press prides itself on keeping up with the latest technology in desktop publishing and computerized laser scanning systems. Although Acorn Press always offered bindery services including cutting, folding, and collating, it wasn't until 1991, when the Mueller-Martini Saddle Binder was purchased, that Acorn Press began to offer "complete bindery services" for the majority of the jobs printed.

In 1992, Acorn purchased two 40" Heidelberg presses, a two color and a six color with aqueous coating. In 1994, Acorn purchased an Iris Digital Proofer to create color proofs without using film. A Scitex Prismax assembly system was also purchased in 1994 that enabled color corrections and image manipulation to be done more efficiently and accurately. 1994 also saw investments in a new shrink wrapping machine and a Vijuk folder. In 1995, Acorn moved into the realm of digital printing through its purchase of an Indigo E Print 1000. 1995 was also the year we acquired die cutting capabilities through the purchase of a Heidelberg Die Cutter and added a six color 28" Heidelberg Press with aqueous coating. The investments in technology have paid off, and to accommodate the increased business that keeps its two, four, and six color presses busy, Acorn Press has had to expand its facilities five times to reach the present 63,000 square feet.

Throughout the organization, Acorn Press is well represented in various areas of community service. We encourage many of our employees to serve in leadership positions on boards of numerous human service, public service and civic organizations. Don, Jr. was named "Man of the Year of Susquehanna Litho Club" in 1979. He and Sheila were named "Man and Woman of the Year" by the YWCA in 1992. We also actively support local charities and nonprofit organizations through corporate donations and gift-in-kind contributions. We have received the Gold Award from the United Way for our employees' contributions. Acorn Press prides itself on being able to give time and resources back to the local community.

In addition to over 100 regular employees, Acorn Press supports one of Goodwill Industries' job site training programs. Goodwill Industries is an organization devoted to vocational training and rehabilitation of individuals with physical or mental handicaps. From 5 to 20 Goodwill workers are employed at Acorn Press to perform packaging and assembly operations. This joint venture with Goodwill Industries is the first known partnership in the printing industry with an ongoing work site established.

Hard work, a commitment to safety and uncompromising quality are the principal goals of Acorn Press and its accomplishments have received numerous awards over the years, including Gold and Silver Medal awards for commercial printing from Neographic, the Pre-Miere Award for Desktop Design Excellence from Pre Magazine, and PIA Excellence in Safety Award, among others.