Our Story – Third Generation Printer

1954

Walter Wilkinson, President and Chairman, and Dale McCollough opened their doors as Delta Lithograph Company in North Hollywood, offering their printing services to rocket research pioneers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In three short years, Delta had printing contracts with every major regional firm involved in the space effort, including Lockheed Aircraft Company, Rocketdyne, TRW Systems, Hughes Aircraft Company, Aerojet, Butler Publishing, McDonnell-Douglas Co., as well as the Los Angeles Board of Education.

1960

The firm outgrew its original quarters and relocated to a larger facility located in Van Nuys. The concrete building was windowless for security measures because the government cleared Delta to print classified materials.

Thanks to its employees’ ingenuity and enthusiasm, Delta perfected its printing systems and made it possible to print and bind books in only two to three days. It ran three eight-hour shifts and turned out a staggering number of titles each week.

1969

By 1969, Delta had cultivated two specialties: technical publications and book manufacturing (in quantities of 5,000 to 50,000). The company decided to focus its attention on producing books, catalogues, and directories for the general publishing market using state-of-the-art, web-fed and sheet-fed perfecting presses and automated bindery equipment.

1972

Seeing a growing need for book publishers in Northern California, Delta expanded its operations by opening a new office in the Bay Area. Walt’s son, Neil Wilkinson, headed this new office and brought on big companies such as McGraw-Hill, Creative Publications, and Nolo Press.

1981

Neil’s son, Kory Wilkinson, founded Bookprep in 1981. Bookprep acted as an interface company, offering design services to prepare books and serving as another leg to Delta’s publishing process. New accounts included Star Publishing, Bull Publishing, Sierra Club Books, Wadsworth Publishing, and Foghorn Press.

1984

In 1984, Walt Wilkinson retired and sold the company to Bertelsmann AG. At this time, Delta was the largest book manufacturer on the West Coast. Neil and Kory continued their family’s legacy in the industry.

1995

Kory Wilkinson founded Media Resource Advertising (MRA) in 1995 as a service to Silicon Valley’s growing needs in the high tech industry. In addition to publication printing, MRA’s services included sheet-fed and digital printing, marketing consulting, graphic design, advertising, and promotional products.
MRA was one of the first companies in the industry to introduce online ordering for its customers, which permitted online proofing and variable imaging. Large firms such as National Semiconductor, IBM, TiVo, Fairchild, Siemens Rolm, and Guidant Corporation signed contracts with MRA.

1999

In 1999, The San Jose Business Journal recognized MRA as one of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies. That same year, MRA expanded to Sacramento, winning contracts with BlueShield, HealthNet, and the Government Printing Office.

2003

MRA continued its growth with the acquisition of CPress in 2003, a strategic move for the company’s publication printing services.

2005

MRA purchased WV Graphics, a 25-year old company specializing in sheet-fed, digital, and web printing.

2006

2006 marked a year of change and growth for MRA. Its diverse array of services had outgrown the company’s business model. MRA restructured and incorporated as Think, Inc. to better serve the printing and related needs of its customers. Each service became a subsidiary of the parent company in order to provide customers with specialized, one-on-one support from team members in each division.

Think, Inc. currently has the following divisions: Publications, Design, Print, Mail, Promotional Products, Yearbooks, Tradeshows & Events, Packaging Solutions, plus Clothing and Apparel.

2010

Think, Inc. acquired Sierra Fine Living Magazine.

2011

In 2011, Think expanded their El Dorado Hills offices and launches a new website focused on customer needs.