Moore Langen Printing Co: the oldest printing company this side of the Adirondacks.

• Author: Porter, Kelly S.

The oldest printing company this side of the Adirondacks?

Moore Langen Printing Co.

The philosophy is simple. Terre Haute-based Moore Langen Printing Co. tries to separate itself from the rest of the printing industry.

President James J. Whalen likes to call it "partnershipping" with clients. He cites a strong customer base of nearly 280 accounts nationwide, many of which have been working with Moore Langen for several years.

Under Whalen's direction, Moore Langen has more than doubled its gross sales over the past decade, from between $3 million and $4 million in the early 1980s to a projected $10 million in 1991. The company has grown at a rate of about 20 percent a year, and Whalen expects 15 percent growth this year over last--even though the printing industry has been hit by the current nationwide economic downturn.

Whalen joined the company at the tender age of 14. He grew with the company as he learned more about it and took over the reins about nine years ago from his father, the late Edward Whalen.

The company, which has been in the Whalen family since 1948, is rich in history. Many national trends and historical events are traceable through old company records and photographs, Whalen notes. Moore Langen was founded in 1874, when Thadeous Moore (a wagon body maker) and Robert Langen (a wagon wheelwright) joined forces to serve the schedule-printing needs of the then-thriving railroad industry. As that market niche deteriorated, Moore and Langen found other orders to fill to continue building what Whalen claims is the oldest printing company this side of the Adirondacks.

"The old Moore Langen was well ahead of its time," Whalen says. "They treated their employees well and involved them much like we do today. It was a nice way to start, and we are very proud to be able to pass that legacy on to our employees today." The new Moore Langen, as a result, enjoys a less than 1 percent employee turnover rate, and it boasts about its 30- and 35-year employees who have worked for the company all their adult lives.

Employee dedication, Whalen says, is a big reason why the company has been successful. Another part is Moore Langen's ongoing commitment to improving technology. The company has a full range of state-of-the-art equipment from its prepress area to its bindery--all of which is less than six years old. Its 30,000-square-foot facility is equipped with four sheet-fed presses that range in printing capability from two- to six-color.

The...