ABOUT PRINTING BY JOHNSON
We’re Building A Reputation, Not Resting On One!
At the age of 14, during the summer of 1983, Jim Johnson was offered a cleaning job by his neighbor, Arnie Harms who worked for Lee Printing Company. Jim eagerly accepted the offer. On his first day, Jim was introduced to Bill Lesperance, the owner of the company. Bill voiced his concern to Arnie about Jim’s age, as cleaning was an evening job and would require Jim to work into the night and lock the shop up on his own. Arnie reassured Bill of Jim, stating that he trusted Jim as much as he trusted his oldest brother. Bill thought about this and decided to hire Jim.
Over the years, Jim moved through the shop departments, from cleaning to bindery, deliveries to a pressman. Jim had found his niche…It was PRINTING! Fifteen years later, after being married for 7 years to his wife Jill, Jim and Jill decided to open Printing By Johnson in 1999.​
PHASE ONE
​The 1st location was at 1404 South Gratiot Ave. in Mount Clemens. They purchased a 1500 Square foot commercial building that was a duplex, luckily it had a tenant that occupied 600 of the 1500 sq. ft. They quickly outgrew the front 900 sq. ft. and took over the back which gave PBJ the entire building. Once again, PBJ had growing pains and started looking for a bigger location. Their goal was to stay within one mile of the current shop.
So, forty-two years later, Jim ended up right where he began. With the help of his wife, Jill, and their son, John, they created “The American Dream”.
A special thanks to Arnie Harms for introducing me to printing at the age of 14 and to Beverly and Bill Lesperance for giving a “kid” a chance to prove himself and for instilling a strong work ethic. Bill would always say, “Remember you’re only as good as your LAST print job."
Thank you to our dedicated staff for their contribution of teamwork, skills, and perfection.
Most of all, the gratitude we have for our customers runs deep. Without you, Jim, Jill, and their Team wouldn’t be celebrating twenty-six years together.
THE STORY BEHIND THE CARICATURE OF MYSELF AND BILL LESPERANCE
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Bill bought Lee Printing Company in 1964. He commissioned Karl Schoen to draw a caricature of himself. That caricature became the “face” of Lee Printing Company for 58 years. When Printing By Johnson decided to purchase LPC, I shared the history of Lee Printing Company and how it had been in Macomb County since 1889. I went on to explain the caricature of Bill running with paper flying off the top. “Wouldn’t it be neat if I could get someone to do a caricature of myself running behind Bill and picking up the paper?”, I asked. My designer said she could do that … and so we are “continuing traditions”.
