Modern Litho

What Modern Litho does

Modern Litho is a privately held commercial printing company headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri, operating four production facilities across the state (Jefferson City, St. Louis, North Kansas City, and Columbia). Founded in 1937 and active for more than 80 years, the company provides end-to-end print production services spanning offset, digital, and inkjet printing; wide format signage and display graphics; magazine, catalog, and publication production; direct mail (including its DIRECTMAIL PRO data-driven marketing service); custom packaging; creative and prepress services; and integrated mailing, commingling, fulfillment, and logistics. It holds FSC and SFI sustainability certifications and uses 71% bio-renewable ink and wind-power commitments as environmental differentiators.

The company serves a broad mix of enterprise and mid-market customers across roughly 15 industry verticals — including publishing, marketing and advertising, banking/insurance/finance, agriculture, healthcare, government, elections, associations/nonprofits, hospitality, education, automotive, and religion — and reports serving clients in all 50 U.S. states despite a Midwest regional production footprint. Go-to-market is sales-led, with dedicated sales representatives at each of its four plants managing enterprise relationships, supplemented by a web-to-print portal for SMB self-service quoting and ordering. Pricing is project-based and quote-driven, varying by paper stock, ink, coating, bindery, and finishing specifications.

Modern Litho has pursued an acquisition-led regional consolidation strategy, beginning with its 2013 expansion into St. Louis and continuing with the acquisition of Watkins Lithographic's commercial printing division in North Kansas City in 2021, and the back-to-back acquisitions of Mpress of Kansas City and James Printing of North Kansas City in November 2025. The company is led by President Jeff Davidson and COO Jim Tomblinson, with a reported revenue of approximately $67 million in 2025 (per third-party industry data).

Name

Modern Litho

Legal name

Modern Litho

Website

https://modernlitho.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Modern Litho is a privately held, Jefferson City-based commercial printing company operating four Missouri facilities, offering offset, digital, wide format, direct mail, packaging, and fulfillment services to enterprise and mid-market customers across roughly 15 industry verticals nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Commercial Printing (except Screen and Books) (323111), Printing and Related Support Activities (3231)

SIC

Commercial Printing (2750), Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331)

akta.pro primary industry

Finishing & Post-Press Services (Cutting, Folding, Collating, Laminating, Foil, Emboss) (MPAJALAF)

Keywords

• Commercial printing services
• Direct mail printing
• Magazine publication printing
• Wide format signage
• Print fulfillment logistics

Headquarters

HQ city

Jefferson City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commercial Printing Services: Full-service printing including magazines, publications, direct mail, catalogs, wide format, signage, banners, packaging, and custom printing solutions
2. Mailing and Fulfillment Services: Mailing, commingling, fulfillment, and logistics services bundled with print products
3. Creative Services: Creative ideation and design services offered alongside print production
4. Election Specialty Products: Specialized printing services for election materials including ballots and political marketing

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Modern Litho is a full-service commercial printing company that produces magazines, publications, catalogs, direct mail, wide format signage, banners, custom packaging, and election specialty materials. It also offers integrated mailing, commingling, fulfillment, logistics, creative design, and bindery/specialty finishing services across four Missouri production facilities.

Product overview

Modern Litho is a full-service commercial printing company offering a comprehensive portfolio of print and marketing services. The company operates as a unified service provider rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Its core product categories include magazine and publication production, general commercial printing, digital and inkjet printing, wide format and display graphics, direct mail solutions (including the DIRECTMAIL PRO service), election specialty products, custom packaging, creative services, and mailing/fulfillment/logistics. The company also offers web-to-print solutions and bindery/specialty finishing services. All products are delivered through the company's production facilities located in Jefferson City (headquarters), St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia, Missouri. Recent acquisitions of Watkins Lithographic (2021), James Printing (2025), and Mpress of Kansas City (2025) have expanded its production capacity and service offerings in the Midwest region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Magazine and Publication Production

Quantifiable outcome

• 71% bio-renewable ink usage across operations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered acquisition.

• James Printing of North Kansas CityacquisitionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 November 2025Acquired James Printing of North Kansas City as part of expansion strategy into the Midwest market. The deal enhances the company's print services and supports growth since 2013 expansion into St. Louis.
• Mpress of Kansas CityacquisitionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025Acquired Mpress of Kansas City on November 1, 2025, expanding regional presence and service offerings in large format printing, finishing, fulfillment, and creative solutions. Strengthens Modern Litho's position in Kansas City market and enhances service lineup for Midwest customers.
• Watkins Lithographic (Commercial Printing Division)acquisitionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2021Acquired the commercial printing division of Watkins Lithographic in North Kansas City, Missouri, effective August 1, 2021. The acquisition expanded Modern Litho's production capacity and service offerings in the Kansas City region, with a move to a new facility in North Kansas City.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Walsworth Publishing: Missouri-headquartered printing and publishing company with commercial print, magazine, and direct mail capabilities. Geographic and product overlap with Modern Litho makes it one of the most comparable regional peers.
• The Vomela Companies: Multi-site commercial printer specializing in print, signage, graphics, and fulfillment for retail and brand clients. Comparable service breadth and acquisition-driven growth model.
• Drummond Printing: Midwest-based commercial printer named as a direct revenue comparison for Modern Litho in third-party industry reports. Operates overlapping commercial print, direct mail, and fulfillment services targeting similar enterprise and mid-market customers.

Broad incumbents

• Cenveo: Large-scale commercial printer offering direct mail, packaging, labels, and commercial print. Operates as a broad incumbent whose direct mail and commercial printing capabilities compete with Modern Litho for enterprise customers.
• AlphaGraphics: National printing and marketing services franchise network providing commercial print, direct mail, and signage. Broad incumbent with national footprint competing for SMB and mid-market customers in Modern Litho's geographies.
• Taylor Corporation: Diversified printing and personalization company with commercial print, direct mail, signage, and digital services. A broad incumbent competing with Modern Litho across multiple product lines including fulfillment and personalization.
• LSC Communications: Major U.S. printer focused on magazines, catalogs, books, and direct mail. A broad incumbent competing with Modern Litho for publishing and direct mail clients across all 50 states.
• Quad/Graphics: One of the largest commercial printers in North America, offering magazines, catalogs, direct mail, packaging, and marketing services. Broad incumbent whose retail, publishing, and direct mail offerings overlap Modern Litho's portfolio at much larger scale.

Emerging players

• 4over: Web-to-print platform offering commercial printing, large format, and finishing through online ordering. Represents the digital-first model Modern Litho's web-to-print portal competes against, particularly for SMB and self-serve buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/modernlitho
• Facebookfacebook.com/modernlitho
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/modern-litho

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A3 records

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Modern Litho