Charlie

Dear Friends,

A chapter in our history has passed. Sadly, my father, Charlie Igram passed away on Tuesday, June 26th after a prolonged illness. Charlie had a long history in the printing industry. In 1955, he and Bill Hutchings started a printing company in the back of my grandfather’s grocery store while my grandfather, H. K. Igram traveled overseas. Charlie funded what was FHC Printing Company which was formed by Bill Hutchings, Tony Fontana and Fred Clarkson. Upon his return, H. K. hit the roof when he saw the printing operation in the back storeroom. So, Charlie and Bill started looking frantically for a new home for the print shop. They found some space near downtown Cedar Rapids on the corner of 1st Street and 1st Avenue SW and proceeded to move to the new location. The company was renamed Igram Press.

Charlie was the sales person bringing in the work, and Bill ran the operation. They all operated whatever equipment was necessary to get jobs out on time for their growing customer base. As the business grew, they hired skilled craftsmen and gained a reputation for quality and fast service. Apparently there had been a void in the area for a quality printer, and Igram Press was filling the void nicely.

In 1963, Charlie was approached by Carl Wagner, CEO of Wagners Printers, who wanted a sales and manufacturing presence in Cedar Rapids. Charlie, who saw this as good timing to get out when the getting was good, sold out to Wagner. Bill Hutchings stayed on and was Wagners Printers’ top salesperson for many years to come.

Circa 1979: After stints in the feed business, insurance business, and owning several restaurants, Charlie again had an opportunity to get back into printing. This time it would be with an old friend, H. Pierce Alexander, who would head up sales as a print broker. They named the business Allied Business Forms, and began to service the real estate industry providing continuous forms, letterheads, envelopes and business cards. As that business grew, an opportunity to purchase a printing company surfaced. ABC was doing business with The Laurance Press and owner Mr. Bernard J. Taymons buying printed products for resale. Mr. Taymons was originally from Maryland (an old Navy man) and wanted desperately to get out of printing and move back east.
So for a mere $100, Taymons transferred the business to Charlie, stayed around a few weeks for the transition, and headed back to Maryland. Of course there was more to the transaction than just a small transfer of cash. There were issues to work out in order to keep the business viable. The Laurance Press had been losing money year after year. To compound things, the company was housed in a 3-story building with a basement. Actually there were three companies purchased: Laurance, The Rall Company, and Athens Press. Work and raw materials were transported via freight elevator, only one, and department foremen and supervisors did not get along. The company had way too many employees for the amount of sales dollars generated and had raw and archived materials everywhere and several pieces of equipment that were underutilized. These were the days of Linotype, Ludlow, wood and metal type, proof presses, and all kinds of manually operated equipment.

Of course, being the shrewd entrepreneur that he was, Charlie saw a gold mine. Like a cash register, his mind rang up the raw materials: lead, scrap film, and aluminum plates, which he converted to cash to use as operating capital and to pay off debt. He brought in an old friend, Art Gray, to run the operation. He then negotiated with the landlord to settle unpaid back rent and made a deal with the City of Cedar Rapids to pay for moving the business to another location, so they could tear down the building in order to construct a new ground transportation center. At some point during this transition, I put off my college education to join the company and get a feel of the potential of this business.
Shortly after the move, Charlie had an inkling to sell off the business, but since joining him in the spring of 1980, I would not allow it, and thankfully Art backed me up on this. Having a fine arts background, I like printing, which is a combination of art, science, manufacturing, and service: an industry which I could someday see my children being involved in as they got older. In fact, it was much more than that. There is a little chemistry, creative use of raw materials, precise engineering and job planning, vivid color reproduction, the challenge of making the sale, and the joy of a customer’s satisfaction. So, I put off my college education to give it a try. There were plenty of challenges along the way and of course, there will continue to be. So, what we now know as Cedar Graphics, Inc. is a culmination of the days of The Laurance Press and a progression of Charlie’s vision.
After purchasing the company from my father in 1983, I took on a couple of partners and bought them out in 1989. Charlie stayed involved with the business until around 2001 when he was no longer healthy enough to work. Still, printing occupied his mind often, and he stayed in touch with Cedar employees to keep abreast of day-to-day happenings. Charlie was well respected by all of those who knew him and was a great resource of support and knowledge for me. He left behind my mother Yusra, wife of 56 years, 6 children, 25 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

We will all miss him greatly.

Hassan