Leader Printing was founded as the Express Printing company in 1880 by German immigrant Freidrich Kochendorfer. The Express produced job printing as well as published the Newark Express, a newspaper for the large German speaking population of Newark, Ohio. In 1895 Julius Juch joined Kochendorfer at the Express and would take over sole ownership of the company in 1913.  When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Juch converted the Express' language to English and  also changed the name to the Newark Leader.

In 1957, Ernest W. Ryan (then of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS in Denver, Colorado) purchased the company from Julius’s son, Oscar.  Leader Printing continued to grow and in the early to mid 1960’s, Ernie’s sons, Bruce and Gary joined their father in the company.

Christmas morning in 1968 a disastrous fire completely destroyed the downtown Newark location, with only three pieces of equipment salvaged.  The company remained open for business at a temporary site until moving in July, 1969 to a new, modern facility at our current location.

In the late 1980s, after their college days, Bruce’s son Scott and Gary’s son Andy entered the family business. Continued growth and modernization would see the company on thru its 140 year milestone.

Today, Andy serves as President/CEO while Gary continues to remain active in the company.

We are quite proud of our history at Leader Printing and are sincerely grateful for our skilled, dedicated employees both past and present, who are such an integral part of the Leader family.