It all started when…

A very superstitious John R. Shearer opened Shearer Printing Service by hanging a horseshoe above the door at 101 E Broadway St. in Kokomo Indiana on 07/07/1937. John’s horseshoe still hangs today at the current location at 107 W. Markland Ave. in Kokomo.

The company began as a “job shop” printing mainly letterhead, envelopes, certificates, business cards and forms. All of these items were printed by using individual pieces of type on hand fed letter-presses. This process was slow and tedious and most jobs would take several weeks to complete. The company continued to grow and thrive.

Eighteen years later in 1955, John’s oldest son James Shearer joined his father in the business learning the printing trade. Jim also brought a business background to the company with his college degree in business administration. The technology and the way of printing had not changed much however, there was change on the horizon.

In 1965, John’s youngest son David Shearer also joined the family business. Dave brought 10 years of sales experience to the company.

The 1960’s also ushered in a change in the printing industry. The printing process began rapidly changing to what’s known in the industry as the “offset era”. Instead of hand setting type, now images were photographed and imaged onto metal and paper printing plates. This process allowed for faster turn times on jobs and reduced cost on the projects. 

The company quickly outgrew the original facility, and in 1967 moved to the current location on West Markland Avenue.

John Shearer retired from the business in 1968 leaving his sons Jim and Dave to run the business.

The late 60’s and early 70’s brought additional changes, as well. The brothers decided that they needed to diversify the company and began selling and servicing office equipment. It was also during this time that Vice-President, Stephen Shupperd (retired), and current President, Brian Shearer, joined the company.

Shearer continued to grow and diversify by adding its first multi-color press and offering office furniture.

James Shearer retired in 1991 and David Shearer retired in 1998. Since then, the company has continued to grow by doubling the size of our facility, adding a direct mailing department, installing a six-color offset press, digital presses, and in 2019 added a digital media marketing department in order to offer our clients diverse marketing solutions.

Today, a 4th Generation of the Shearer family, Michael Shearer, along with Clayton Nix and Brian Shearer (president), are at the helm of the Corporation. They each have many years of experience with the company and continue to carry on our long tradition of “Service, Quality, and Value.”