It was 1942, when the newly introduced mercury vapor lamp was revolutionizing the blueprinting industry by enabling consistent exposures and speeds, that Jacob B. Marshall founded Tri-State Blueprinting, now know as Tri-State Reprographics. 805 Liberty Avenue was the first location of Tri-State and Jacob's first printing job was a WWII airstrip being designed by the newly formed Michael Baker Engineers.

Robert Marshall, Jacob's son, joined his father in the business in 1949. By 1956 Robert had moved to a leadership role in the company and moved the company to a new larger location at 237 Fifth Avenue. It was there, through his dedication and knowledge, that Tri-State Blueprinting increased its capabilities and services.

By the time the 1970's rolled around, Tri-State was well prepared to participate in the growth that took place during Pittsburgh's Renaissance, and the company grew. Construction projects including the Medical Center of Beaver County, Sewickley Valley Hospital, Allegheny General Hospital, Magee Women's Hospital, USX Tower, One Oxford Center, PPG Place and One Mellon Bank Center all contributed to Tri-State Blueprinting's prosperity.

Tri-State Reprographics' current president, George Marshall, joined the business in the late 1970's. Picking up the reins like his father and grandfather before him, George led Tri-State into new growth during the 1980's. In 1982, Tri-State Reprographics moved to 911 Penn Avenue and continued to participate in the growth of Pittsburgh through such projects as the Vista Hotel and Federated Towers of Liberty Center, CNG Tower and Fifth Avenue Place.

Tri-State Blueprinting continued to establish itself as an industry leader by providing the reprographics needs of Allegheny County's largest ever construction project, the Midfield Terminal for the new Pittsburgh International Airport. George Marshall met the challenge of outputting enormous volumes of printing in a timely manner, by introducing an on-site printing facility. In concert with the other contractors working on the job, Tri-State was able to serve the project's reprographics requirements by implementing this on-site facility management program.

At the same time, Tri-State continued to seek leading edge technology and partnered with C4 to provide a national digital network serving the needs of the industry as it moved to computer aided drafting and design. Tri-State Blueprinting was the first in the area to offer large format digital color output and top quality color plotting and graphics for the AEC and advertising industries.

At Tri-State Reprographics, we never rest in our commitment to remain on the leading edge as we continue to reach out, diversify and grow. Our primary purpose is to build upon our existing foundation. Quality, service and competitiveness are what we offer. We hope to be considered the best — we want to be a true value to our customers.