Greater Georgia Printers, Inc. was formed in 1969 when five newspaper publishers joined forces in an effort to pool resources. The papers were converting from hot-type letterpress printing to cold-type offset printing technology and were having problems finding a suitable vendor to perform this service. With an initial investment of $25,000, and upon securing bank financing, the owners purchased an old 4200 square foot grocery building in downtown Crawford, Georgia and ordered printing equipment. The largest investment was a four-unit Goss Community press, with a purchase price of $63,000. After major renovation to the building and installation of all the equipment, the first papers rolled off the press in November of 1969. Until 1975, GGP had one full time employee and printed weekly newspapers one or two days a week. In 1977, GGP purchased additional equipment, hired more employees and began printing other types of newsprint related products. It soon become apparent that the small facility was no longer adequate to effectively serve our customers needs. In 1985, GGP purchased 14 acres of land on Highway 78, east of Crawford, built an 8,400 square foot building, and bought all new equipment at a cost of approximately $1,000,000. Since 1985, GGP has purchased 17 additional acres adjoining the property and has made four building additions, resulting in our present 20,000 square foot facility on 31 acres. In 1987, GGP purchased a 17" x 22" single color sheetfed press and began printing basic commercial items such as flyers, newsletters, and football programs. In November of 1992, GGP purchased the equipment and customer files of an established printing company in Athens, Georgia and formed Piedmont Impressions as the sheetfed division of Greater Georgia Printers, Inc.
Our practice for nearly 40 years has been to establish a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with our customers resulting in more than just quality printing. In order to provide the highest level of service, we rely on our qualified and dedicated employees, as well as our state-of-the-art equipment. Our skilled and well-trained staff have many decades of experience in the printing industry and pride themselves in producing the very finest printed product. Our most recent equipment acquisitions include a Shinohara four-color press, and a Creo TS News Platesetter for computer to plate imaging. These new additions, combined with our other presses, our design, typesetting, pre-press, bindery and mailing services, make it possible for us to meet all of our customers' printing needs at a competitive price.
Corporate officers and co-owners of GGP are Ralph B. Maxwell, Jr., President, and Carey Williams, Jr., Vice President. General Manager and co-owner, Bobby G. Miller, Jr., has been with the company for more than 30 years. Plant manager and co-owner, Kevin Miller, has been with the company for more than 25 years.