Freeport Press

What Freeport Press does

Freeport Press is a family-owned, full-service commercial printing company founded in 1880 and headquartered in New Philadelphia, Ohio, with a secondary location in Freeport. The company operates as a sole proprietorship under David G. Pilcher Sr., who acquired it in 2005 and refocused the business on heat-set web offset printing. It produces high-end magazines, retail and product catalogs, sports collectible publications (including MLB, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, and collegiate gameday and yearbook work), university and educational publications, and direct mail pieces. With 200+ employees and post-COVID sales approaching $70 million, Freeport Press positions itself as the leading heat-set web printer in the United States per the 2025 APA designation.

The company's core technology stack centers on Komori and Manroland heat-set web and sheet-fed HUV presses, paired with proprietary and third-party precision systems including System Brunner Enhanced QuadTech with Instrument Flight scanning-spectrometer color control (managing three-color overprints and tonal-value deviations of +/- 1%), Kodak Prinergy digital prepress workflow, Kodak INSITE customer portal, ePRO 2.0 HTML5 digital editions, and an EFI management information system for estimating, scheduling, shop floor data collection, and billing. Supporting services encompass 12- and 18-pocket high-speed stitching, perfect binding with EVA and PUR gluing, polybagging, drilling, and integrated distribution including co-mailing, co-palletization, drop shipping, and local entry mailing. The company holds G7 Master Printer Colorspace qualification (IDEAlliance, highest level, maintained over a decade) and FSC Chain of Custody certification (FSC-C006293 since 2009).

Freeport Press generates revenue on a project-based, quote-driven model — pricing is customized per print run based on volume, page count, and finishing requirements with no publicly disclosed tiers. The go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales targeting publishers of magazines, catalogs, sports publications, universities, and direct mail advertisers nationwide, supported by content marketing (extensive blog), the Weeklylinks newsletter, social media presence on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and X, and publicizing of industry awards. Customer-facing add-on modules (SendMyAd ad portal, MediaRadar ad sales intelligence, MediaWire native apps, Analyze consumer data analytics) layer additional services onto the core print relationship. Repeated facility expansions — most recently a 50,000 sq ft addition with six new receiving docks in 2022 — and a sustained industry awards track record indicate ongoing capital investment and competitive positioning in a mature print market.

Name

Freeport Press

Legal name

Freeport Press Inc.

Website

https://freeportpress.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1880

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Freeport Press is a family-owned commercial printer specializing in heat-set web offset production of magazines, catalogs, sports collectibles, university publications, and direct mail. The New Philadelphia, Ohio–based company serves enterprise publishers nationwide with integrated print, digital, and distribution services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Direct Mail Advertising (54186)

SIC

Commercial Printing (2750), Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331), Wholesale-Paper & Paper Products (5110)

akta.pro primary industry

Short-Run & Micro-Run Digital Printing Services (POD-adjacent) (MPAJANAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

POD Fulfillment, Warehousing & Drop-Shipping Services (MPAJANAJ), POD Distribution & Retail Integration (Marketplace/Bookstore Feeds) (MPAJANAK)

Keywords

• Commercial printing services
• Heat-set web printing
• Catalog printing
• Magazine production
• Direct mail printing

Headquarters

HQ city

New Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Commercial Printing Services: Full-service print production including heat-set web printing, sheet-fed printing, finishing, binding, and mailing services for magazines, catalogs, and commercial print products. Revenue generated through per-project pricing based on print volume, page count, and finishing requirements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Freeport Press is a full-service commercial print production company that manufactures magazines, catalogs, sports publications, university publications, and direct mail products using heat-set web offset printing and sheet-fed HUV printing. The company delivers integrated services from prepress through finishing, binding, and distribution, complemented by the ePRO digital magazine platform and add-on solutions for ad intake, ad sales intelligence, native apps, and data analytics.

Product overview

Freeport Press is a full-service heat-set web and sheet-fed commercial printer offering integrated print production, digital magazine solutions, finishing/binding, and distribution services. The core offering centers on heat-set web printing (single web and wide web options) and sheet-fed HUV printing, complemented by the ePRO digital magazine platform for creating HTML5 interactive editions. Supporting modules include SendMyAd (ad portal), MediaRadar (ad sales intelligence), MediaWire (native app solutions), and Analyze (data analytics). The company also provides comprehensive finishing/binding, distribution, and paper management services for magazine, catalog, and direct mail production.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Heat-Set Web Printing Single web and wide web heat-set offset printing for high-volume magazine, catalog, and commercial print production using Komori and Manroland presses with fully automated machine change-overs.
• Sheet-Fed HUV Printing Hybrid UV sheet-fed cover printing on the Komori HUV-LSX 29 press for premium stock covers with HUV inks and coatings across magazine, catalog, and specialty print runs.
• ePRO Digital Magazine Platform ePRO 2.0 software platform that converts uploaded PDFs into flippable HTML5 digital editions with responsive design, custom toolbars, hyperlinks, enhanced catalog features with product links, and social sharing for desktops and mobile devices.
• Catalog Printing Heat-set web and sheet-fed printing of branded product catalogs for Appliances, Automotive, Dental, Educational, Electronics, Fashion, Healthcare, Lighting, Retail, Supply, and Tool industries with unique cover treatments and efficient large-run production.
• Magazine Printing Heat-set web printing of niche, design-oriented magazines in formats from 10,000-1,000,000 copies and 32-192 pages, covering Architecture, Associations, City/Regional, Design, Entertainment, Hobby/Enthusiast, and Religious segments.
• Sports Publication Printing Gameday programs, yearbooks, and collectible specialty magazines printed for MLB, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, and college sports organizations with on-time delivery aligned to game dates and versioned job support.
• Direct Mail Services Print production of digest, magazine, slim jim, and tabloid format direct mail with list management, co-mailing, drop-shipping, and local entry mailing for new customer acquisition and retention campaigns.
• Finishing and Binding Services High-speed stitching with 12 and 18 pocket systems, perfect binding with EVA and PUR gluing, offline tipping, polybagging, drilling, and inline cross strapping with palletizing capabilities.
• Distribution Services Comprehensive distribution including co-mailing, co-palletization, drop shipping, and local entry mailing options with cost optimization and delivery efficiency across the Midwest, Eastern Seaboard, and broader U.S.
• Paper and Inventory Management Paper purchasing access to the largest merchants and mills in North America across multiple grades and sizes, with inventory management to ensure page count changes do not impact paper availability for client runs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15% less ink consumption on every job through Gray Component Replacement (GCR)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FreeportPress
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/freeport1880
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freeport-press
• Instagraminstagram.com/freeportpress

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Freeport Press