Flottman Company, the Crestview Hills commercial printer that has operated under three generations of the same family since 1921, picked up fresh recognition when the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce named it Member of the Day on Aug. 6.
The spotlight, presented by Republic Bank, highlighted what locals along the Thomas More Parkway corridor already know: the woman-owned firm has outlasted most of its competitors by pivoting from a small print shop into a specialized operation serving pharmaceutical companies, schools and nonprofits nationwide.
From stove company to print pioneer
F.E. Flottman founded the company in 1921 after spinning it out of the Molitor Stove Company as an independent print services provider. His son, R.F. Flottman, took over in 1969 and moved the operation from Cincinnati across the river to Crescent Springs in 1973, expanding into a 10,000-square-foot facility.
That same year, the company found its niche. When the FDA began requiring informative leaflets inside pharmaceutical packaging, Flottman became one of the first printers producing miniature folded physician and patient inserts.
R.F. Flottman retired in 1992. Three of his six children stepped in, and in 1998 the company purchased and built its current 20,000-square-foot facility in Crestview Hills.
Who runs it now
President and co-owner Sue Flottman Steller and vice president and co-owner Peter Flottman lead the business today. A fourth generation is already in the building: Mark Steller now works at the company, which has stated a goal of another 100 years of service, according to its website.
The firm is certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and operates under FDA Standard Operating Procedures and current Good Manufacturing Practices, a distinction that separates it from most commercial printers.
Its services now span commercial printing, pharmaceutical miniature folding and packaging, and digital marketing through an in-house agency called FusionWrx.
Recent recognition
Flottman Company won seven Print Excellence Awards in 2026 from the Graphic Media Alliance for work produced for St. Xavier High School and St. Vincent de Paul. In 2022, the company took home two Best of Category awards and six individual honors from the same organization, making it one of the most decorated facilities among the alliance's roughly 250 member printers across Ohio, Michigan and Northern Kentucky.
"It is an honor to lead the Flottman Company during this historic time and to carry our torch into another 100 years," Steller said in June 2021, when the company celebrated its centennial.
The University of Cincinnati's Goering Center named Flottman Company its Family Business of the Year in 2008 and Family Business of the Decade in 2010. Staff tenure averages 12 years, according to the company's centennial announcement.
With Mark Steller representing the fourth generation already working inside the Crestview Hills facility, the family says it is aiming for a second century of printing.
