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Sun Journal
Saturday, March 8, 2003
eiger G celebrates 125 years of community
Manufacturing
By Donna Keene Rousseau • Freelance Writer
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his summer, Geiger, an internationally recognized, leading manufacturer and distributor of calendars, diaries, advertising and promotional specialties, will pitch a large tent on their property located on Mount Hope Avenue in Lewiston, prepare a family-style B-B-Q and say a little prayer for “just enough” sun to celebrate their 125th anniversary. Together with employees, a sales force from across the country, vendors, family members and dignitaries, it will be a celebration the Geiger family shares not only with its employees, but with the Lewiston-Auburn community and, indeed, the State of Maine. From the day Andrew and Jacob Geiger hung their first “Geiger Bros.” sign above the door of their print shop in Newark, New Jersey in 1878, commitment and family, immediate and extended, have served as the cornerstones of Geiger’s success. Four Geiger generations have guided the company from its earliest days, through 1955 when home base became Lewiston, Maine, to the present, when company sales for 2002 were calculated around $125 million. “Through it all,” says Gene Geiger, company president, “the loyalty and commitment of our 500-plus associates and 400-plus sales partners have enabled us to handle the changes and get better in the process. There is no more important business process than the growth and development of each person – and the collective commitment to the company and its goals.” In the company’s document entitled, “The Geiger Way”, Geiger’s commitThis is an undated photo of Governer Edmund S. Muskie at a ribbon cutting ceremony, with Ray Geiger on the left. ment to community is clear. “We give back to our community. Our strengths are tors. Geiger’s own Adopt-A-School partnership with ty’s future as well as that of the nation and the world. drawn from the place where Montello School, bolstered by the hundreds of volunWhat little good we do today can have a far-reaching, we live and work. As a company, and as individuals, teer hours provided by Geiger employees, continues positive impact long after we are gone.” we seek to be leaders in education, charity, and civic to thrive after more than fifteen years. He has served The success of 125 years in the promotional and affairs.” The evidence of their commitment lines the as the chair of the Maine State Board of Education and advertising specialties industry illustrates his point hallways and graces cabinets throughout the Lewisis the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award beautifully. On the occasion of Geiger’s 125th anniverton facility, volunteer and fundraising awards and Winner form both the Maine School Superintendent’s sary, past president, Raymond Geiger’s message at the plaques all attesting to the fact that Geiger. is a proacAssociation and the Main School Board Association. company’s 100th year anniversary is remembered: tive leader in building a strong State of Maine. “Geiger has enjoyed continual growth, success, and “This important milestone in the history of a comFor Geiger, building a stronger community involves prosperity over the last 125 years due in great part to pany is a jewel that reflects the hopes and dreams, the development of individuals beyond the workplace our employees and the strong, healthy relationships heartaches and sufferings, joys and satisfactions of and in the classroom. Executive Vice President, Peter that have been built as a result of community involveall the people who made it possible. It recalls for us inGeiger, is the founder of Maine’s “Adopt-A-School” ment. Maine’s people are its greatest resource. By sights into those who guided our destiny through the Partnerships, a program designed to mentor children working with our youth, we invest in our communigenerations - …” and support the classroom efforts of Maine’s educa-