'Good, Basic Printing'

Despite the difficulties of keeping pace, however, Morin stresses that his operation is not totally in the dark.

"We have a Macintosh computer system and a Riso, but everything else is offset," he notes. "If someone has a job that needs digital work, we send it out. We don't have any demand for it."

Morin's shop, which has a million-dollar annual operating budget, handles a variety of printing jobs in addition to the St. John Valley Times, a 6,500-circulation weekly community newspaper. Among the 1,500 outside jobs it completes each year are small-run magazines for local historical societies, annual reports, brochures, business cards, posters, calendars, and newsletters, all with an average run of 1,000 pieces. Nearly all of its printing is done in black and white or multi-color; just two percent of the jobs are produced in four-color process. All told, the shop brings in between $15,000 and $20,000 worth of business per month.