A Shooting Star Fades Away

Sparta, IL and my hometown, Effingham, have both been way stations for a corporate star that faded way too quickly. I reminisced with several people when I was in Sparta last Thursday giving my Boomtown talk. While it was a great run while it lasted and left many long term benefits for both communities, it was a painful loss for both towns.

World Color Press (WCP) printed comic books for decades in Sparta. When the company expanded into magazine printing in the 1960s they built their second plant in Effingham in 1969. At the time it was the largest printing room in the world. Magazine printing became their main focus and they moved their corporate headquarters here, but continued to print comic books in Sparta.

During the 70s and 80s they grew into other southern Illinois towns like Salem, Mt. Vernon, Flora and Altamont. They also added plants in TN, CA & OK. Times were good! Perhaps too good. Rather than risk a strike WCP generously acquiesced to union demands.

Times change but change is often difficult for many. Magazine printing got more competitive, companies consolidated, and suddenly WCP was a small part of a larger company. And the new company demanded efficiency and an adequate return on investment, something that huge, highly structured plants often have difficulty adapting to. In the end the new company closed all of the plants in IL, while the more flexible plants in the other states have remained operational.

Yes, several offshoots of WCP are still around and operating (that cluster thing again!). And, Sparta, Effingham and the other towns will pick up the pieces. It was great while it lasted, but painful when the company left town.

The moral: Ever town must be prepared for change. It will happen, you just don’t know when. You’ve got to continually be innovating as a community and constantly looking to how you can improve and innovate.