Greenville’s first newspaper hit the press in
1854, ten years after John Green settled next
to the Flat River. The single-sheet Montcalm
Reflector was printed whenever an event
occurred. Two years later, it was sold and
became The Greenville Independent.

Fred H. Goodrich bought the paper, turning
it into a daily and changing its name to the
Independent Daily News. Later that year,
it merged with the Daily Call and became
known as the Greenville Daily News.

Dale Stafford, Managing Editor of the
Detroit Free Press, began looking for a small
town where he could move his family and buy
a newspaper. He found both of these ideals in
Greenville and the Greenville Daily News. Under
Stafford, the Daily News became the nation’s
third daily paper—and the first in the Midwest—
to convert to the offset and cold type printing
processes, ahead of the Detroit News and the
Chicago Tribune. The progressive-thinking paper
was also the first east of the Mississippi to use
computerized typesetting equipment.

Four offset printing units were on the floor and
the Daily News had become the pioneer of offset
newspaper printing. At one time, more than 40
regular publications were produced on Daily News
presses. When colorful newspaper advertising
supplements gained popularity, Dale and his son,
John, who came into the business in the mid-60s,
formed a separate printing company called Printco.
After Dale’s death and with the commercial print
industry growing, John moved Printco to a new
site in Greenville.

Eventually, John sold Printco, which is
now called Quad Graphics, and focused his
efforts on turning the Daily News into an
award-winning newspaper. With one press
remaining at the Daily News, John began
pursuing small commercial jobs to help pay
its way. Business once again began to boom
and News Web was born. Like his father,
John was a smart businessman who was great
at reading people and had impeccable timing
with business decisions. In 1990, he was
joined by his son Rob, who also has a business
background. Because News Web needed
more elbow room, the daily newspaper
production and presses once again split
and all printing moved to a bigger location
in Greenville.

After his father passed, Rob took over as
president and publisher of what is now Stafford.
In 2012, he was joined by his sister, Julie Stafford,
who has a journalism background and runs the
publishing business. Today, we still publish the
Daily News six days a week, as well as the Carson
City Gazette and the Daily News Extra once a week.
We offer e-edition apps, a free website, and an
active social media presence. The printing side of
Stafford serves companies all over the Midwest,
including the Grand Rapids Business Journal and
CM Life. We’ve been sought out for unique inserts,
local projects for Greenville schools, and the 2012
Art Prize program. Overall, we have more than
100 titles—weekly, monthly, and quarterly. And in
spite of what you hear about the newspaper
business, we’re going strong.