Company History

It was a fair evening in the summer of 1969 when a 13-year-old Jim Daggs walked past the print shop in his hometown, and through the screen door got his first “whiff” of printers ink.

Not only did that pungent aroma of ink get his attention, but the steady clanking of the old handfed printing press became music to his ears.

That first print shop was Service Printing Company in Eldora, Iowa, and the printer producing the aroma and rhythmic sound was a master printer, the late John E. Tomb. Young Jim ventured in and soon John became the patient teacher who would teach his young apprentice the basic principles of the printing craft.

Printing became an instant desire of apprentice Daggs, and he began reading and studying all he could on the subject, along with all of the hands-on learning he could get. Within a year Jim had acquired a small press of his own for $25, and a selection of hand-set type and other odds and ends of the trade, and had taken over a corner of the basement in his father’s sporting goods store in Eldora

The printing orders at that time consisted mostly of items for family, friends and the store upstairs. Mom and dad didn’t need to wonder where he was outside of school, and dad even began taking orders for the basement print shop.

Another year passed and the young printer made his way to the newspaper office in Eldora, and found other printers who were willing to teach him more about the trade, and a publisher who was willing to let him work and learn, despite child labor laws and insurance restrictions.

Al Schafter, publisher of the Eldora newspapers, soon had a full-fledged printer, and agreed to put him on the payroll. Between the after-school and weekend job at the newspaper office and the little print shop in the basement, Jim had a pretty steady income and was able to buy a new car in 1973 (of course, that’s when you could buy a new car for $2,600)! 

That summer Jim took a job at Spokesman Press in Grundy Center as a printer and Linotype operator and was paid an hourly wage of $1.75 – quite a raise from the $1.25 he was earning in Eldora – plus the experience of working in a much larger printing plant.

By now everyone knew that the young printer would probably become an old printer, since he seemed to spend every free moment around printing machinery and type.

After graduation from high school in 1974, Jim worked full time at the Eldora newspapers and in 1975 was offered the chance to manage the newspaper  and printing department in Ackley. His long time printer friend Chuck Dunham had purchased the Ackley business and was entrusting it to this 18 year old printer.

In 1977, feeling a desire to learn more about the trade, Jim took a job with the Woolverton Printing Company in Cedar Falls, and it was during that year that he learned about the “offset”, or lithography process of printing from some of the best printers in the area.

With more experience under his belt, and an offer to become a part-owner in the business, Jim returned to Ackley in 1978 and purchased shares in the Ackley Publishing Company and put his efforts into expanding the printing and newspaper operation.

The Ackley Publishing Company had its beginnings as the local weekly newspaper in Ackley, Iowa in 1895. The newspaper office also included a very active commercial printing department that continued to grow. In 1955 the business was moved into its present plant and the printing department was enlarged.

In 1983 Jim was able to purchase the rest of the company from the Dunhams. The volume of business and physical plant continued to grow, and in October of  1992 he purchased the Anderson Printing Company in nearby Iowa Falls – renaming it Iowa Falls Printing Company.  The growing printing businesses and Jim’s desire to concentrate solely on printing, led him to sell the newspaper portion of the business in 1993.

In 1997 an adjoining 7,200 square foot warehouse and production facility was purchased in Ackley, and it was immediately remodeled and equipped to produce a wide variety of specialty printed items. This expansion resulted in over 15,000 square feet of  printing plant in operation.

In 2002 a major equipment upgrade took place, bringing in new computer/digital technology and higher speed multi-color presses. Combined with dedicated employees, Ackley Publishing Company is equipped to handle a very wide range of printing projects and special items.

“It’s hard to believe that almost four decades have gone by since I started in this business,” Jim commented. “Looking back on all of  the changes that have taken place in this industry makes me wonder what it will be like in the next ten to twenty years.”

“As customer needs change we have changed to handle them, and our employees have grown with the changes as well. Here in the heart of the Midwest we are fortunate to have great employees who also share the same great attention to our customers and their needs, and producing quality products.”

“Looks like I’ll always be a printer,” Jim concludes. “After all this time I wouldn’t know what else to do . . . it’s an interesting and enjoyable job every day.”

Oh, and that little old press he started out with in 1970? “I still have it and it works . . . . I gotta keep it for sentimental reasons, you know!”