Georgia Printing - located on Oak Street in Gainesville - is the older of the two; Premier Printing is located on Old Flowery Branch Road in Oakwood.
Premier's Donna Free says her interest in printing is older than the company which she and her husband, Steve, have built from the ground up... having started it in the garage of their home. Free says she was introduced to the trade while a student at Johnson High School.
She says the two of them have been keeping a close eye on the economy for about five years and decided that now would be the right time to approach Georgia Printing about joining forces.
"We just said 'you know, Georgia Printing would be a great mix for us. Let's just get together and see if we can make this happen.'"
Georgia Printing was started in 1949 by James Waldrip and W.O. Sexton. Joe Biddy has been the owner the better part of the past 30 years.
Biddy says there's no question that the current state of the economy played a part in the merger because the customer pool is shrinking "and when you have companies that are competing for that reduced volume of work, it just makes good sense to do some consolidation."
Donna Free says the new company plans to move all operations under one roof to a site on Chestnut Street in Gainesville.
The new company will be known as Premier Georgia Printing and Labels.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/2/218076