West Coast Wonders

"The state Department of Transportation, for example, just didn't have the scale to drive the economies the way we can," he notes.

Offset has largely given way to digital printing in Oregon, which focuses its effort on what Freese calls "print-to-post applications," integrating all the functions for high-speed digital printing, variable data printing and other material that ends up being mailed. The digital work is buoyed by CD services and Web design. The agency also partners with Corrections Enterprises for a lion's share of its fulfillment work.