JILL CARLSON | For the State Journal | jillcarlson1957@gmail.com madison.com | | Posted: Monday, March 19, 2012 5:15 pm

Little did Will Wells know when he started his printing business in 1922 that, 90 years later, the business would still be going strong and digital technology would speed up the print jobs.

Now owned by brothers Tom and Tim Schorr, Wells Print and Digital Services achieved $2.5 million in annual sales in 2011. The company has a staff of 16 and serves unions, associations, nonprofit groups and businesses throughout southern Wisconsin.

"We are a small, commercial, sheet-fed printer doing one- to four-color jobs," said Tom, 55. "Most of the jobs come in through electronic file transfer." In addition to printing and bindery work such as folding, perforating and binding, Wells offers mailing services.

Originally known as Quality Printer, the company was started by Will Wells and Hugo Schumacher and was located on South Fairchild Street. Printing was done on a single hand-fed press that printed 2,000 pieces per hour. Five years later when Schumacher left the company, Wells renamed the business Wells Printing Co.

A move to West Main Street in 1936 brought new equipment including a Linotype typesetter and Madison's first Heidelberg press, which increased the speed of printing. Wells retired in 1942 and turned the business over to his son, Rufus Wells. When Rufus retired in 1966, he sold the business to one of his longtime employees, Carl Schorr, and his business partner Dick Massey.

In 1969, an investment of over $1 million moved the company from letterpress printing technology to faster offset printing. In 1979, the business went through another ownership change when Carl's wife Janet and their son Tom bought out Massey.

Tom serves as president of the company and is in charge of the prepress department. A move to Watford Way in 1985 provided a 10,500-square-foot space, which increased to 17,500 square feet in 2000.

In 1992, Tim Schorr bought out his parents' remaining shares, and the company has been owned by Tom and Tim since then. Tim, 44, is responsible for maintenance of the equipment and implementation of digital management.

Tom's son Nate is in charge of websites and social media while he is going to college.

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Longevity in Business: Printing firm still going strong 90 years later