Foresight Group History

While Foresight Group is known as a modern, technology-driven company, our historical roots run so deep that we’re actually the oldest printing company in Lansing and one of the oldest in Ann Arbor! But that long history wouldn’t make us what we are today without a handshake deal for a start-up loan back in 1990 …

Bill Christofferson formed Colonial Press and Copy shop in 1982. He partnered with Jeff Donahue in 1996 and purchased Lansing Printing Company, which had been printing in Lansing since the early 1900’s. This purchase really became the moment that Foresight Group was born.

Lansing Printing Company grew over that first year, when leadership decided that the mail services that their customers needed could best be provided in-house. So Mailsource was created, a full-service mail services division. The addition of Mailsource taught the leadership team a valuable lesson — customers could teach us a great deal about what they wanted and needed, so we became open to starting new divisions, acquiring other companies that provided similar services, and finding ways to grow the company beyond just increasing sales.

In 1999, the Foresight Group name was officially adopted as a more unified, forward-thinking company that provided commercial printing, mail, and even creative services.

In 2010 we ventured into the large format and display graphics business. The purchase of a large format, roll-fed plotter, further diversified our services. This balance had us positioned for growth the moment the economy returned.

By 2011, we had purchased, renovated, and moved into our current headquarters on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Lansing. Foresight Group also acquired Huron Valley Printing and Imaging in Ann Arbor. This acquisition was a turning point for Foresight Group, as the process of merging an existing print operation — including their staff — became an area of expertise for our leadership. And starting in 2014, we would acquire and integrate at least one company per year through 2018!

Over the next few years, White Pine Printers, Logan Brothers Printing Company, Goetzcraft Printers, and Aldinger Inc. were all acquired and integrated into our Lansing and Ann Arbor locations. These acquisitions grew us into the largest printer in Mid-Michigan but more importantly they added incredible, thoughtful staff members to the Foresight Group team. These new team members became part of the fabric that makes Foresight Group what it is today, and we couldn’t be prouder of the team they have become.

Our sign and display graphics services that we had started in 2010 nearly doubled in size when we purchased Discount One Hour Signs in 2015. This commitment to sign-making and display graphics also positioned us to purchase Stamprite in 2017, and in 2019, both Stamprite and Discount One Hour Signs were fully integrated into Foresight SuperSign. The new SuperSign headquarters on Marquette Street, across from the Foresight Group headquarters (the Print & Mail building), became our single location for all sign and display graphics sales and production.

In 2021, the assets of Foresight Group were purchased by Reseda Group, a wholly-owned CUSO of Michigan State University Federal Credit Union.  We continued to add to our SuperSign division by adding Higgins Electric Sign in April of 2022.  This allows us to do large sign installations and adds a second State of Michigan licensed sign technician. In our history of adding skilled and reputable companies to our family, Engineering Graphics, Inc joined us in December of 2022. 

So as Foresight Group continues to grow and evolve, we would like to take a moment to reflect on all of the great companies that led to what we are today. The following is a list of companies that are now part of Foresight Group.