We started out in the Advertising and Publishing business in January 1978. Michael obtained a BS degree in Advertising & Public Relations in 1972 from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He started his career in retail management for the third largest (at the time) retail chain in the country, moving from Provo to Phoenix, Arizona. After three years he moved back to Utah and settled in Salt Lake City. He worked for Big Sky Advertising which sold advertising in travel publications, maps, and campground directories.
After traveling around the western and mid-western states for three years, he decided to set up shop in downtown Salt Lake and set up a company called Mountain West Advertising and Publishing, Inc. The first project was to sell advertising in Stake Directories for the LDS Church. It started out with six stake directories and grew from there. A new project was started called the Local Traveler's Guide which was a tourist publication that was distributed free of charge through Salt Lake hotels, visitor's centers and the advertisers. For the next ten years many other publications were produced and supported by a crew of advertising sales people.
In about 1982, a typesetter was purchased and we began to do our own typesetting and layout. In 1984 the first printing press and equipment was purchased and we became a full commercial printing operation, supporting our own publications and those of other clients. Michael learned every aspect of the printing business.