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Genoa Business Forms Celebrates 50th Anniversary
Without warning, Edward Paulson was out of a job. The company he worked for had burned to the ground, so he and a partner started Genoa Business Forms. This year, the manufacturer celebrates 50 years in business.
The family-owned firm began as Genoa Offset. “Throughout the 60s, they did job shop and letterpress printing,” says son David Paulson. “In the 70s, we bought our first web press, entered the business forms market and changed the name of the company.”
Genoa Business Forms is truly a family affair. Alice Paulson joined her husband’s business as secretary and treasurer. Edward still serves as CEO. David currently serves as president, and his brother, sister and sister-in-law also work for the company. “We really hold to the importance of treating each other well and working together as a family,” says David.
In terms of its capabilities, the company has come full circle. “The majority of our business is unit set and continuous business form printing. In the last couple years we’ve added envelope printing and returned to our roots. We do business cards, flat sheets and flyers. Small shops don’t have the purchasing power they need to do those jobs economically.”
David is optimistic about the future. “The next 50 years is going to see us branch out into ad specialties. We want to keep to custom short run and selling through distributors, but we want to expand our product line into embroidery, calendars and things we can do with fast turnaround.”
—Andy Brown