Every so often, someone tells your story back to you and gets it right—not just the facts, but the heart of it. That happened recently when Three Z Printing was featured by the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC).
IMEC is a statewide organization that helps Illinois manufacturers grow stronger and compete nationally. Each year, their Made in My Hometown series spotlights the manufacturers who help keep their communities thriving—and this year, they featured us.
We were honored to be included. But what struck us most wasn’t the spotlight. It was how clearly the piece captured who we actually are: a family business, rooted in faith, grateful for the small Illinois town that has been our home since day one.
We wanted to share some of that story with you.
A family business from the very start
Three Z Printing was founded in 1978 by James and Lorraine Zerrusen and named in honor of their three sons—Dan, Bill, and Kurt—the three Z’s behind our name. Growing up in a small Illinois town, the family put work ethic and faith at the center of everything—the belief that if you worked hard and trusted God, He would provide. He has. Today, Three Z is one of the largest family-owned printers in the United States.
Dan, Bill, and Kurt carried those values into the second generation of Three Z leadership. In 2015, Dan and Kurt retired and Bill became sole owner—and rather than slow down, he brought the next generation into the business. Bill’s three sons, Matt, Neil, and Chad, now help lead Three Z into its next chapter, holding tightly to the same principles the company was founded on.
The matriarch behind it all
You can’t tell the Three Z story without telling Lorraine Zerrusen’s. A co-founder of the company alongside her husband James and the family’s matriarch, Lorraine graduated as valedictorian from Teutopolis High School in 1951. She helped build Three Z from the very beginning and remained its moral compass for decades.
Lorraine passed away in 2022, but her influence is still everywhere you look. In our front foyer, a Bible rests open to one of her favorite verses—a quiet, intentional reminder that for our family, faith and work have always been connected. Throughout the plant, you’ll find passages displayed that reflect the principles she lived by: stewardship, the dignity of work, and care for others. Those aren’t decorations. They’re the operating system of the company.
Growing without losing who we are
We’ve come a long way since 1978. Three Z now runs a 500,000-square-foot operation with 15 web presses and 4 digital presses, serving national customers across financial services, retail, and consumer goods, around the clock.
But growth has never been the point. Staying true to who we are has been. The hard truth about running a manufacturing business for nearly five decades is that everything around you keeps changing—technology, the workforce, supply chains. The challenge isn’t just keeping up. It’s keeping up while staying exactly who you are. That’s the line we walk every day, and it’s the thing we’re most determined to get right.
What a 350-person company means to a town of 1,600
Here’s the part of the story we’re proudest of. Teutopolis is a town of about 1,600 people, and Three Z employs roughly 350 of them. Nearly a third of our team has been with us for 25 years or more. Many of us grew up here, or in the towns just down the road.
That kind of presence ripples outward in ways that go well beyond a paycheck. A local business owner put it best in the profile: he actually sets his store’s hours around our shifts—opening early and adding staff before and after the night crew clocks out—because our employees are such a steady part of his week. Manufacturers like Three Z, he said, are a lifeline for the town and a big part of its success.
We feel exactly the same way about Teutopolis. As he also noted, the Three Z family has been in town forever, with deep roots here. We work hard every day to be worthy of that.
Faith, stewardship, and giving back
Teutopolis is anchored by St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, which sits right at the center of town—and at the center of community life. The values that shape this place—trust, accountability, responsibility—are the same ones we try to bring to work every day.
That sense of responsibility is also why our family established the James & Lorraine Zerrusen Family Foundation. Named in honor of Lorraine and her husband James, and governed entirely by family members serving as volunteers, the foundation supports faith-based, educational, and community-focused work across Illinois and beyond. It’s not flashy, and it’s not meant to be. It simply reflects something we still believe today: that success carries a responsibility to the people, the community, and the generations that come next.
More than a printer
The profile described Three Z as a neighbor, a parishioner, and a stabilizing force for our community—a model for what hometown manufacturing can be. We’re grateful for that recognition, but the truth is simpler. We’re a family business that’s proud of where it comes from and committed to the values that built it.
That’s the heart of Three Z Printing. It always has been. And whether you’re a longtime customer, a neighbor, or someone just getting to know us, we’re glad you’re part of the story.
Read the full IMEC feature on Three Z Printing here.
