A Face of Printing
What makes our community special? It’s the people. People whose passion for their roles at work, in their volunteer lives, and in their homes stands out. They make up the unique color and character of life in Morgantown. Here we share a few stories behind the faces of people who make our community a better place.
Back in the 1970s, Andy Walls learned how to run the presses working after school at his dad’s Grafics Printing in Westover. He was just 20 when his dad sold the business in 1980, not quite ready to have his own shop yet, so he went to work at Fairmont Printing in Fairmont and learned the sales side of the business.
Then he was ready.
He bought Bud Everly’s downtown Morgantown Printing and Binding in 1995. Opened in 1896 to do book and ledger binding, MPB would be 100 years old the following year, and Walls was only its fifth owner.
In the nearly three decades since, he has worked to expand. He moved the company to a big new building on Green Bag Road in 1999—then built another beside it in 2005. He grew the company’s footprint, buying up smaller print shops in Charleston, West Virginia; Washington, Pennsylvania; Steubenville, Ohio; and other places regionally, 11 in all. And he has kept up with the latest technologies in a fast-changing industry while adding services like design and fulfillment and the ability to print signs, vehicle wraps, and promotional items.
In 2018, Walls rebranded as MPB Print & Sign Superstore. About 65 employees work on Green Bag Road, plus one at a satellite office in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
Walls appreciates advancements that have made the printing industry cleaner and faster. The internet has been both a challenge and a boost—he’s had to compete with big online services, but he’s also been able to operate a regional printing operation from one central location. And although a significant part of his business is online, he still argues for the value of a local print shop. MPB still maintains a positive presence in all of the communities where he’s bought print shops, engaging with the United Way, he says, and printing signs for local groups. Plus, “you can walk in my door and get a consultation, and we may suggest a better way to do your job or ways to save money,” he says. “With an online service, you may not get that.”
One more charm of a local print shop: MPB has five drivers and delivers in person regionally.
READ ABOUT OTHER FACES OF MORGANTOWN
READ MORE STORIES FROM THE MORGANTOWN FALL 2024 ISSUE
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