Founded in 1978 by James and Lorraine Zerrusen, Three Z Printing has always been a family-driven company. Named after their three sons—Dan, Bill, and Kurt—the company was built on small-town Illinois values of hard work, integrity, and faith.
“My brothers and I grew up in a small town and were raised in a family that prioritized work ethic and faith,” recalled Bill Zerrusen. “It’s these core values that we took forward into the second generation of Three Z leadership, and that propelled Three Z Printing to its position as one of the leading printers in the United States.”
When Bill’s brothers retired in 2015, he became sole owner and ushered in the third generation of leadership—his sons Matt, Neil, and Chad, and sons-in-law Derek Meinhart and Sam Niebrugge. Together, they are carrying the family’s legacy forward while embracing a rapidly changing printing landscape.
“I’m very excited about the future of Three Z—the transition to the next generation and the vision we have for our people, our community, and our customers,” said Bill. “My vision has always been to build a great company with great people producing great results. My family and I are as committed to that as ever.”
A Leap into Digital Inkjet
The next chapter in Three Z’s evolution began in early 2024 with the addition of two Canon ProStream inkjet web presses, expanding the company’s already impressive fleet of 15 offset web presses.
“Before we added digital printing and finishing capability, we were all static print,” explained Sam Niebrugge, Manager of the Digital Department. “The key driver for adding digital was growing customer demand for variable data printing and shorter runs.”
To support this new direction, Three Z also set out to modernize its bindery operation. Chief Operating Officer Neil Zerrusen noted that their partners at Standard Finishing played a pivotal role in that transformation.
“We were really digital novices,” Neil said. “Standard Finishing shared valuable advice on how to approach our digital operation and the steps we needed to take. Our offset operation will still be our bread and butter, but we knew we needed to get into the digital space.”
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