Learning By LetterPress
Creativity, energy and optimism are three words Mark Lacy uses to describe his business partners Leston Drake and Mike Petersen. In 1997, the three founded LetterPress Software Inc. an instructional design company that creates technology based training and educational software.
Housed at Utah State University’s Innovation Campus, LetterPress has received numerous awards and accolades for its products, all of which are developed to connect teachers, students and technology in the classroom. The partners decided there was a need for this software after realizing their children weren’t remembering what they learned after spending time with what was supposed to be an educational computer program.
Drake and Lacy are graduates of USU’s instructional technology program, and Petersen is working on his doctorate in the program. Their experience and education in this area make their products successful because all are based on the science of instruction, but the helpful component of art makes the product more visually appealing.
“A lot of our clients don’t know what they want from a product, except they want the user to learn,” said Lacy, LetterPress senior vice president. “We try to make our products fun for the learner, but our ultimate goal is to teach them. When a user walks away from our product having learned something, then we have succeeded.”
Drake, Lacy and Petersen said USU was definitely a springboard for their success. As research and graduate assistants, all three were able to work closely with professors who gave them confidence and who let them believe they could do anything they wanted.
“A large part of our business philosophy comes from school because our professors treated us like colleagues,” said Lacy.
Drake said his time at USU was a great opportunity for him because it allowed him to collaborate with professors and also with corporations on a professional level, giving him the experience to draw upon once he started a business.
“I made some valuable professional connections and realized that what we were doing at USU was cutting-edge in our field,” said Drake, president of LetterPress.
The link with Utah State continues to this day. The company employs nine people, all of whom are USU graduates or USU students.
“We draw on the talent from the university,” said Petersen, senior vice president of LetterPress. “Over the years we have had students from instructional design, art, English, history and computer programming work for us. We also collaborate with professors on many projects and have worked with the departments of business information systems, nutrition and food science and history.”
The award-winning “Growing a Nation: The Story of American Agriculture” is an interactive multimedia program that tells the story of American agriculture and its influence on important events and issues in American history. Funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, LetterPress teamed with USU Extension associate professor and director of Agriculture in the Classroom Debra Spielmaker, who served as the content director for the project.
LetterPress worked with USU clinical dietetics professor Janet Anderson on another award-winning program called “Children FightBac!,” an animated educational software program that teaches children to handle food safely.
The company generates business by teaming up with universities and school districts around the country that apply for educational grants, which often include money for instructional technology. The three said their background as research assistants at USU helped lay the foundation for many partnerships because of their knowledge of how research is conducted and how proposals are funded.
“There is a lot of collaboration, not only with our client, but with our work team as well,” said Petersen.
The three said they all bring unique strengths to the business, but they rely on their employees’ expertise to make the products what they are.
“The graphic designers, writers and topic experts enhance our products for the better,” said Drake. “Our student employees give us a fresh and young perspective, and we value their input.”
As LetterPress enjoys its ninth year in business, they look forward to the future and to the creation of some new partnerships and collaborations. In the meantime, the business partners will keep testing their educational products on their own children, who, they said, are their toughest critics.
For more information on LetterPress Software, visit the firm’s Web site. For more information on USU’s Instructional Technology Department, visit the department’s Web site. For more information on USU’s Innovation Campus, visit its Web site.
Contact: Mark Lacy, 435-755-5996, mlacy@lpsoftware.com; Mike Petersen, 435-755-5996, mikep@lpsoftware.com; Leston Drake, 435-755-5996, lestond@lpsoftware.com
Writer: Maren Cartwright, 435-797-1355, maren.cartwright@usu.edu
LetterPress Software Inc. has produced award-winning educational software.
LetterPress founders (left to right) Mike Petersen, Mark Lacy and Leston Drake.
The LetterPress crew gathered for a group photograph outside the office at Innovation Campus.
Children FightBac! is an animated adventure that helps kids develop good habits that prevent food bourne illnesses. Perfect for use at home, after school programs, and in classroom health and safety programs.
Comments and questions regarding this article may be directed to the contact person listed on this page.
