History

Progressive Information Technologies was founded in 1950 in York, PA, as a hot metal typesetting shop, known then as Progressive Typographers. Today, the company leads the way in developing technologies and providing services for publishing content to multiple media channels such as print, CD, wireless, Web, Braille and accessible products.

Follow our progression in the timeline below.

1950

Richard (Dick) S. Schiding started the typesetting and composition services business in his backyard garage and named the company Progressive Typographers. Dick led the company through the days of hot metal typesetting and advanced into the new technology of photocomposition in the 1960s.

1968

Dick Schiding's eldest son, Richard B. Schiding, assumed control of the company. Richard continues in his role as CEO today. Under his leadership, the company has advanced technologically and financially to maintain its reputation for high quality and high-tech services.

1969

Progressive Typographers purchased its first computer in 1969, long before many companies even considered using computers. The computer had 4K of "core", considered state-of-the-art at that time. This purchase was the beginning of the company's transition to the computer age.

1970s-1980s

The company transitioned through three eras of the typesetting and composition business, from hot metal to photocomposition to the digital age. In addition, services in prepress, art creation and scanning, and SGML workflow were added through the 1970s and 1980s to complement the business.

1989

Progressive expanded its publishing services by adding a new division, named Progressive Publishing Alternatives (PPA), to handle project management, editorial, and design services. This division is a complement to the traditional composition services as it helps publishers by handling their overflow of work. PPA also provides expertise to manage projects of any complexity level through the production cycle.

1992

Progressive began to develop a content management system for WB Saunders' flagship product, the Dorland's Medical Dictionary. This software enabled WB Saunders to better manage, organize, and repurpose the content of the dictionary to multiple spin-offs and to publish them in print, CD, and Web formats.

1994

Progressive Typographers changed its name to Progressive Information Technologies to better reflect its new core business of organizing, managing, and structuring information for publishing to multiple media such as CD, wireless, Web, Braille, and print products. A new tagline was also incorporated: Information Architects for Publishing.

Enhancements were made to the content management system developed for the Dorland's Medical Dictionary. The system could now accommodate a project for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) to manage the content of its electrical engineering standards.

1997

Realizing that its content management system created for the WB Saunders and IEEE projects had developed into a product that could manage and repurpose any type of content, Progressive launched its TARGET 2000 Content Management System at the Seybold Seminars in San Francisco, where it was selected as one of the show's "Hot Picks." Data analysis and modeling, DTD writing, consulting, and training services were added to support the software clients.

The New Media and Electronic Products Division was added to Progressive's publishing services. The division offers an array of CD, wireless, and Web products to provide an alternative to print publishing for its clients.

2000

The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in the information management and publishing services industry with an open house for employees and their families, clients and business associates.

2001

Progressive was selected as one of the "100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania."

2002

Progressive launched the seventh version of its TARGET 2000 Content Management System and changed its name to the Vasont Content Management System to better reflect the continuing enhancements and significant new features to the software.

Advent Publishing Systems became Progressive's first international client and partner when Advent chose Vasont to manage its documentation for its ACS publishing system.

Progressive was named to ContentWorld's content500® Plus list of top Internet content technology leaders.

2003

E-Learning products became a part of the New Media division's product offerings. Through this initiative, Progressive donated their services and developed a Volunteer Tutor Workshop E-Learning CD for the York County Literacy Council, a non-profit organization.

2004

Progressive Information Technologies announced that its Vasont content management software applications and service offerings would now operate under the name “Vasont Systems,” a sister division of Progressive Information Technologies. The new name better reflected Vasont’s range of applications and services and was a result of the product’s exceptional growth and increased brand recognition in the content management software market. Read more about Vasont Systems.

2010

Progressive Information Technologies celebrated their 60th anniversary. The organization's composition business saw many changes in the technologies used since 1950, from hot metal typesetting to photocomposition to the digital age. Deliverables expanded from print products only to all types of electronic media channels for the Web, mobile devices, and CDs/DVDs.