Cooley Group acquires printing, promotional products company Proforma I.F. Print Services in Rochester, New York

Kendall Sinclair

ROCHESTER, New York , October 22, 2013 (press release) – Company is Cooley's Biggest Competitor in Rochester

Cooley (www.cooleybrand.com), headquartered in Rochester, NY and the nation's 25th largest printing, promotional products, branded apparel and specialty printing company, announced today that it is acquiring Proforma I.F. Print Services, its largest competitor in Rochester.

Proforma I.F. is part of the national company Proforma, based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owner David Kolko, who has been with the company that his father founded for 21 years, and all of the company's three other employees, will become brand consultants for Cooley effective immediately. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

With this acquisition, Cooley, which has been employee owned since the 1950s, now has a staff of 32. In addition to its headquarters in Rochester, Cooley maintains offices in Albany, Hudson Valley, Syracuse, and Utica.

Stuart Boyar

"This is a perfect fit for both companies," said Stuart Boyar, Cooley's Chairman and CEO. "We've been friendly competitors for 35 years and I've always had the utmost respect for David. Proforma I.F. does a significant amount of business in Buffalo so this acquisition will complete Cooley's geographic footprint in New York State. Our companies also offer almost identical services and products, with the exception that Cooley also sells office furniture, but we have very little customer overlap. And with the addition of Proforma I.F.'s four employees we will now have the largest sales and support force in the region for a company in our industry."

"My entire organization is thrilled to be joining the Cooley Group and creating a formidable presence in the Rochester market," said David Kolko. "We have always respected Cooley as a competitor and look forward to combining resources and offering our customers the finest services and products in the area."

Clarence "Scoop" Cooley founded Cooley in 1945. Scoop began his career (and earned his nickname) working for George Eastman's Kodak Newspaper as a young reporter in the early '20s. A pioneer firm in the independent business forms distribution industry, the company has since grown to become the 25th largest in the US according to the Print Services & Distribution Association (PSDA), an international trade association for the print distribution industry.

Proforma IF Print Services traces its beginning to 1975, when Wilfred Kolko started I.F. Business Forms, Inc. As President, Wilfred's son, David Kolko, led I.F.'s transition from a forms-distribution business to a multi-platform print and promotional products company that later became a Proforma franchise, consistently ranking in the top 10 of Proforma's franchises. Its offices were located on Buffalo Road in Rochester. The building has been sold and all employees have relocated to Cooley's Rochester office at 806 Linden Avenue.

Together Cooley and Proforma I.F.'s customers include Wegmans, Xerox, RIT, Time Warner, Sutherland Group, Harris, Unity Health System, Rochester General Heath System, Golisano Children's Hospital, Cooper Vision, and many others.

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