Bringing Order to the Chaos of Creative Production and Distribution
About Us
Premier Press is a team of creators and makers. We collaborate, take chances, and go beyond the possibilities.
We were founded with one guiding principle: to support our customers’ needs quickly and efficiently. We dig you out when you’re buried in deadlines and chaos. We push and prod until a project is completed. We find solutions you didn’t even know existed. We simplify and streamline.
We take pride in our award-winning work. While our projects have grown in complexity over the past 47 years, we continue to thrive on the can-do attitude on which we were founded.
Our facility is located in beautiful Portland, Oregon, but geography presents no barrier to our ability to provide a wide array of the highest-quality design and printing results to organizations across the country. We’re ready 24/7 to supply you with creative design, project management, and custom packaging solutions as well as a variety of wide format, offset and digital printing services and logistics. We help you embrace change and make bold moves. We help you shine.
191
Team Members
170,000
Square Foot Facility
49
Years Solving Customer Problems
100%
Wind Powered
Where You Need Support, We Offer Solutions
We are serious about protecting the environment. Premier Press is a carbon neutral, wind powered, and SGP certified company.
Closely held since 1974, Premier Press is a women owned business that provides a vast array of creative and production design services, project management, logistics, mailing services, and a variety of print technologies. All under one roof.
We help customers with retail environment and POP display national rollouts, take-downs, and lead generation, nurturing and customer engagement direct mail campaigns that get results. Our in-house development team produces fully customized online ordering for standard marketing materials and customized print-on-demand services for remote sales forces, channel partners and franchises.
SOC 2 Certification ensures your confidential personal information is handled securely when sending direct mail in industries including insurance and financial services. Combined with HIPAA compliant processes, we provide a complete direct mail solution for healthcare companies.
Our logistics expertise is backed by our on-site 70,000 square foot warehouse, kitting, packing, shipping and mailing services, accompanied by an intensive data management team that can handle anything from small to national rollouts and direct mail list services.
State-of-the-Art Equipment
We have always had a philosophy of continually researching and investing in the best equipment available in the industry. Whether it’s for process improvement, the highest quality, greater efficiencies or more sustainable processes we are always on the lookout to get the equipment that can best serve you.
Our Story
Premier’s story begins with the dream of Arnold (nicknamed Pep) Wheeler. Arnold had worked in the print industry for years, and he could see that something was lacking: service. Back in Arnold’s time, printing was a cut and dry industry with little care for customer satisfaction. This is what Arnold set out to change. It takes a certain courage to try and revolutionize an industry, but that’s just what he set out to do.
In 1974, Pep Printing opened its doors based on a single principle: to provide world-class customer service. Arnold had quit his job, hired co-worker Pete Lokteff as pressman, and borrowed space in the back of a friend’s stationary store to work out of. The company consisted of one camera, a borrowed printing press, and a few reams of paper. When Pete first walked in and saw the set-up, he asked Arnold, “What kind of a Mickey Mouse outfit is this?” Despite this initial reaction, the company soon had its first big break when JK Gill Stores sought them out, followed by several more clients. Soon, space was running out and they needed to move their operation to a new location.
In 1983, Pep Printing became Premier Press, embodying a new direction and vision for the company. By that time, Arnold’s eldest daughter Jodi had joined the company. She started the campaign to transform Premier from a quick print shop into the high-end, full service printer that it is today.
By 1985, the growth of Premier Press meant that another move was required. It was an exciting time, and with the help of Arnold’s friend, Dale Bradley, the entire operation moved to its new NW 15th and Glisan location in just one day. They stayed there for 30 years, growing into one of the top printers on the West Coast. Finally, the expanding demands on the business led the company to move once more to a state-of-the-art 170,000 sq. ft. facility on Swan Island. What began as a dream cobbled together with the help of friends and determination, has evolved into a full-service production company.
With all the changes Premier has felt with its growth, one factor has always remained the same: Arnold’s guiding principle of providing the best customer service. Premier Press started out as a family affair and that personal connectivity has continued throughout the company’s growth. Premier is still owned and operated by Arnold’s daughters, Juli and Joni, joined by Joni’s husband and the company president, Chris Feryn. The family links within Premier help to foster that personal connection that Premier values so highly with its clients. It’s by having this human element that Premier Press can bring order to the chaos of the printing industry and assist clients in the best way possible. Whether it’s with new technologies, customer satisfaction, or innovation, Premier will always strive to go beyond.