The Sant Bani Press, Inc. : Company Information : Company Culture

Guiding Principles

The Sant Bani Press of Tilton, NH, was founded in 1969 by two partners, Russell Perkins and Jim Cluett. Perkins had been working in the printing field as a linotype operator for a weekly newspaper and Cluett had taken a printing program at a local tech school. From the outset, and continuing to this day, an important relationship has been the company’s association with the Sant Bani Ashram of Sanbornton, NH, which is dedicated to the missions and teachings of two great spiritual teachers, Kirpal Singh and Ajaib Singh.

With Russell Perkins’ experience in typesetting and his leadership position at the Sant Bani Ashram, came the first “house” account and the production of many books over the years and a monthly magazine which has been continuously printed since January, 1970.

The company originally had one linotype machine (later a second one was added), two Miehle verticals, a Chandler & Price handfed press, a proof press and a Multilith. A Heidelberg KORD was soon added to enable the growing company to start doing some serious sheet-fed printing.

In the early days the process was tedious – type was set on the linotype as “slugs”. These lead slugs were “locked up” in a chase to make pages. The chase was “inked up” and a proof copy of the page was made. That proof copy was then “shot” in the darkroom and hand-developed in a trays. After the fixing and rinsing trays the film was hung up on clothespins to dry – while today, of course, film comes out dry and ready to use from the company’s imagesetter.

In its first year the Sant Bani Press moved into a 4-story mill building that has been home ever since – the old Burleigh Optical factory that was built in 1877. Through expansions and renovations inside the building, the company has added square footage as needed over the years to accommodate each new piece of equipment, and each growth spurt.

Joe Gelbard, former president, started with the company in 1973, and Dick Shannon, former vice-president and estimator joined in 1974. There is a rich history and continuity of leadership at the Sant Bani Press. The focus has always been on saying “yes” to the customer, on growing in skills, experience, technology – whatever it takes to provide the products and services required by the print buyer.

In the 1970s that meant changing technologies from “hot metal” to phototypesetting through various generations of computer typesetting to the current Mac based prepress platform. In the 1980s and 1990s it meant expanding the press & bindery equipment to the current configuration of a 4-color Komori Sprint, a 2-color Komori Sprint perfector, both 20”x26” sheet size, as well as a 2-color Hamada duplicator.

Even in the early years with just a one color Heidelberg, Sant Bani Press branched out into 4-color process printing. First, it was just for the covers of the books and magazines it was printing. But more and more work was going 4-color and it just made good business sense to have the equipment to do it in one pass. The company grew from that to the current company strength and specialty – reliable, consistent, high quality 4-color printing. Indeed, over the years many museum quality pieces have been produced.

While the company is small, its reach is wide. The majority of its work comes from the New England states. Many of the books it has printed travel around the country and around the world. Some of the other titles it has produced are: the hiking series of Great Walks books for author Robert Gillmore, as well as Gillmore’s “Beauty All Around You.” For author Frank Hutchins and Amarta Press, “Tribes and the American Constitution” and “The History of the Mashpee Indians”; a recent title for Ray Gamache, is the history of Notre Dame College, titled “The Water is Wide”; for poet Julia Older, “Hermaphroditus in America”; and for bush pilot Richard LaPorte, “Adventures of a Bush Pilot” volumes I & II.

People who visited the Sant Bani Press for the first time were always struck by the beautiful riverside location. Many mill buildings were built directly at water’s edge in the 1800s and this mill building was no exception. Indeed, an add-on structure built later than the main building sits on posts in the water, so the river literally runs underneath it. Most of the time the river added beauty and tranquility to this location. But in the mid 1980s the Winnipesaukee River overflowed its banks and flooded buildings up and down the river. Ten inches of water flowed through the ground level floor where all the presses and machinery were located. Gelbard remembers the strange sensation of the river running through the building. Fortunately, the river rose slowly and there was time to move all the equipment up and out of reach of the flood waters.

In February of 2004, the Sant Bani Press was acquired by Morgan Press, Inc. of Manchester, NH. Thus, the company has been relocated.

For more information on Morgan Press, please visit www.morganpress.com.




				Guiding Principles The Sant Bani Press of Tilton, NH, was founded in 1969 by two partners, Russell Perkins and Jim Cluett. Perkins had been working in the printing field as a linotype operator for a weekly newspaper and Cluett had taken a printing program at a local tech school. From the outset, and continuing to this day, an important relationship has been the company’s association with the Sant Bani Ashram of Sanbornton, NH, which is dedicated to the missions and teachings of two great spiritual teachers, Kirpal Singh and Ajaib Singh. With Russell Perkins’ experience in typesetting and his leadership position at the Sant Bani Ashram, came the first “house” account and the production of many books over the years and a monthly magazine which has been continuously printed since January, 1970. The company originally had one linotype machine (later a second one was added), two Miehle verticals, a Chandler & Price handfed press, a proof press and a Multilith. A Heidelberg KORD was soon added to enable the growing company to start doing some serious sheet-fed printing. In the early days the process was tedious – type was set on the linotype as “slugs”. These lead slugs were “locked up” in a chase to make pages. The chase was “inked up” and a proof copy of the page was made. That proof copy was then “shot” in the darkroom and hand-developed in a trays. After the fixing and rinsing trays the film was hung up on clothespins to dry – while today, of course, film comes out dry and ready to use from the company’s imagesetter. In its first year the Sant Bani Press moved into a 4-story mill building that has been home ever since – the old Burleigh Optical factory that was built in 1877. Through expansions and renovations inside the building, the company has added square footage as needed over the years to accommodate each new piece of equipment, and each growth spurt. Joe Gelbard, former president, started with the company in 1973, and Dick Shannon, former vice-president and estimator joined in 1974. There is a rich history and continuity of leadership at the Sant Bani Press. The focus has always been on saying “yes” to the customer, on growing in skills, experience, technology – whatever it takes to provide the products and services required by the print buyer. In the 1970s that meant changing technologies from “hot metal” to phototypesetting through various generations of computer typesetting to the current Mac based prepress platform. In the 1980s and 1990s it meant expanding the press & bindery equipment to the current configuration of a 4-color Komori Sprint, a 2-color Komori Sprint perfector, both 20”x26” sheet size, as well as a 2-color Hamada duplicator. Even in the early years with just a one color Heidelberg, Sant Bani Press branched out into 4-color process printing. First, it was just for the covers of the books and magazines it was printing. But more and more work was going 4-color and it just made good business sense to have the equipment to do it in one pass. The company grew from that to the current company strength and specialty – reliable, consistent, high quality 4-color printing. Indeed, over the years many museum quality pieces have been produced. While the company is small, its reach is wide. The majority of its work comes from the New England states. Many of the books it has printed travel around the country and around the world. Some of the other titles it has produced are: the hiking series of Great Walks books for author Robert Gillmore, as well as Gillmore’s “Beauty All Around You.” For author Frank Hutchins and Amarta Press, “Tribes and the American Constitution” and “The History of the Mashpee Indians”; a recent title for Ray Gamache, is the history of Notre Dame College, titled “The Water is Wide”; for poet Julia Older, “Hermaphroditus in America”; and for bush pilot Richard LaPorte, “Adventures of a Bush Pilot” volumes I & II. People who visited the Sant Bani Press for the first time were always struck by the beautiful riverside location. Many mill buildings were built directly at water’s edge in the 1800s and this mill building was no exception. Indeed, an add-on structure built later than the main building sits on posts in the water, so the river literally runs underneath it. Most of the time the river added beauty and tranquility to this location. But in the mid 1980s the Winnipesaukee River overflowed its banks and flooded buildings up and down the river. Ten inches of water flowed through the ground level floor where all the presses and machinery were located. Gelbard remembers the strange sensation of the river running through the building. Fortunately, the river rose slowly and there was time to move all the equipment up and out of reach of the flood waters. In February of 2004, the Sant Bani Press was acquired by Morgan Press, Inc. of Manchester, NH. Thus, the company has been relocated. For more information on Morgan Press, please visit www.morganpress.com.