HOOKSETT – Family-owned publication printer Cummings Printing celebrated its 110th anniversary last year, but it has no plans to rest on its laurels. Now led by its fourth generation, Hooksett’s Cummings Printing is a company that honors its past while moving confidently into the future.
Cummings prints magazines, catalogs and specialty publications with runs of 1,000 to 150,000.
Its roster of clients includes all four of New England’s professional sports teams and more than 30 schools and universities around the country. Locally, they print New Hampshire Magazine, Business NH Magazine, and Pinkerton Alumnus, the alumni magazine of Pinkerton Academy.
The company has 98 employees, many of whom are family – literally. Wander the halls and factory floor, and you are bound to encounter a father and son, a couple of brothers, a husband and wife, and even a cousin or two.
The loyalty and longevity of its workforce is one of the hallmarks of Cummings Printing. Between January and April of this year, six employees retired; they had a total of 180 years of experience between them.
Honoring the past
The company traces its legacy back to George W. Cummings, a Union Cavalry officer during the Civil War, and the first Cummings to enter the printing industry in New Hampshire. After the war, he and his brother opened a printing and stationery shop in Nashua, which they operated from 1866 to 1873.
It was George’s youngest son, Lew A. Cummings, who established the company known today as Cummings Printing. The Lew A. Cummings Co. opened in 1914 in Concord, but a fire forced its relocation to West Central Street in Manchester in the 1930s.
In 1954, the company moved to a bigger facility on Canal Street, and Lew’s son, John W. Cummings, became the owner. In the late 1980s, John’s son, Jack L. Cummings, took the reins and decided to expand the company once again.
“In 1993, my dad took a leap of faith and moved the company to Hooksett to this facility,” said current co-CEO Chris Cummings.
Over the years, the Hooksett facility has grown from its original 65,000 square feet to its current 100,000 square feet. Jack stepped down in 2022, and his sons, Chris and Sam, now run the company.
They have taken over during a challenging but promising period in the printing industry. Post-COVID, there has been a lot of consolidation, and several of Cummings’ competitors have gone out of business, including Trumbull Printing in Connecticut.
Sam Cummings noted that these closures provide new opportunities for companies like Cummings, but only if they continue to invest in new technology and machinery.
Looking to the future
Several years ago, Cummings installed a $9 million Komori 38D 32-page web press, which has become the workhorse of the Hooksett facility. In 2023, they purchased a new perfect binder as well as a new poly bagger. The new poly bagger can package magazines and promotional items in a standard plastic polybag or a more environmentally friendly paper-based bag.
According to Chris Cummings, many of the company’s customers want to move away from the single-use plastic of a polybag, and the new machine helps with that effort.
In fact, Cummings Printing has taken multiple steps to become more environmentally friendly, from using all soy-based inks to purchasing sustainably-sourced paper. The paper they use has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a nonprofit organization created to protect the world’s forests.
The company also recycles all of its consumable products, and the Hooksett facility is equipped with a regenerative thermal oxidizer, which prevents harmful pollutants from entering the atmosphere.
On the business side, the company continues to grow its client base as well, and both brothers insist that print is still a viable and vibrant market. As the world grows increasingly more digital, people need a digital detox, they said, and many are turning to books and magazines as a way to decompress.
“Print is a premium way to break through the noise,” said Sam Cummings. He explained that many of Cummings’ customers have found success with a combined print and digital strategy.
When you read something in print, you are more likely to remember it, he noted. And printed materials are often deemed more trustworthy.
For their part, the Cummings brothers remain optimistic about the future of both the industry and their company.
“We aren’t going away,” asserted Chris Cummings. “There is always going to be a market for print, we have a good niche of clients, and we plan to continue to invest.”
Eventually, the family hopes a fifth generation will steer the company even further into the future.
