Business
News
His
business is bulletins
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
TRENTON, N.J. — “The weekly bulletin is one of the most important
communication tools a parish has to reach the parishioners.”
That’s the assessment of Patrick A. McGinley Sr., president of the
John Patrick Publishing Co., which produces church bulletins for about
400 parishes throughout the Eastern seaboard — including 175 parishes
in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.
“My business allows me to keep in close contact with the parishes
and assist in promoting our Catholic faith for the Church in Philadelphia,”
said McGinley, who started his company in his basement in Newtown, in
November 1992.
Its first publication — the church bulletin for McGinley’s
own parish, St. Andrew in Newtown — rolled off the press in January
1993. At that time, the actual publishing was done by John W. Hartmann
of Burbank Graphics in Ewing Township, N.J.
In 1995, John Patrick Publishing acquired Burbank Graphics, and the two
companies merged operations and relocated to the company’s current
address, 1707 Fourth St. in Trenton.
As president, McGinley oversees the marketing and sales aspects of the
company.
“The advertisers on the back of the bulletin make it possible for
the parish to have this publication without financial burden and in most
cases enjoy a substantial share of the advertising revenues,” he
said.
The company’s name comes from McGinley’s first name and that
of a close friend, John Connor, who provided the financial backing to
launch the company, he said.
McGinley said his wife, Regina, named the company, which now also represents
the name of his current business partner, John Hartmann, the chief executive
officer who handles the production aspects.
McGinley, 57, graduated from St. Martin of Tours School in 1964 and from
La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor in 1968.
After high school, he went to work as a controller for Gould Inc., in
the lead smelting and refining business, while pursuing a bachelor’s
degree in accounting from the evening division of La Salle College in
Philadelphia. He obtained his degree in 1975.
When Gould was relocating the business, McGinley was asked to transfer
to its division headquarters in St. Paul, Minn., and subsequently to corporate
headquarters in Chicago. He declined, he said, because he and Regina,
who married in 1971, were newlyweds at the time.
Meanwhile, McGinley’s father, Raymond, was working at Jefferies
and Manz in Philadelphia, printing and mailing church envelopes for many
parishes of the Philadelphia Archdiocese. “Unknown to me at the
time, this was the beginning of my connection with the churches, which
became the springboard for the start of John Patrick Publishing,”
Patrick McGinley said. He also credits his pastor, Father Michael Picard,
for his support.
The McGinleys are the parents of four grown children and await their seventh
and eighth grandchildren this year. Their oldest son, Patrick, heads the
company’s parish giving division, which provides electronic fund
transfers.
McGinley belongs to the Stewards of St. John Neumann of the Philadelphia
Archdiocese, and at St. Andrew Parish he has served as chairman of the
Catholic Charities Appeal and the building fund for the education center
as well as president of the Catholic Youth Organization. He is currently
a member of the parish finance council.
For more information, contact John Patrick Publishing at (800) 333-3166
or visit the Web site: www. jppc.net.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine may be reached at (215)
587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.