Book Manufacturer Thomson-Shore Is Adapting and Rebounding

Kevin Spall, the president and CEO of Thomson-Shore, says the recession prodded his company ahead a few chapters in the book-manufacturing business. Revenues dropped more than 20 percent in 2008, prompting the first layoff notices in the employee-owned firm’s 40-year history—from 260 workers to a low of 179.

As Spall and his management team saw it, the firm could adapt to the changing marketplace or face decline. They opted to introduce new digital services while enhancing offerings in their traditional niche of short- and medium-size print runs, typically 1,000 to 1,500 books.

The company…undertook $14 million in capital investments