Powis Parker

Kevin Parker, the founder, has a passionate interest in handcrafted bookbinding. Back in 1980, Kevin was charged with producing the yearbooks for his graduating class. He was offended by the aesthetics of punch-and-bind and his class couldn't afford a professional hardcover binding service, so he stayed up all night hand-sewing each book. The spark was lit and he began experimenting with new binding techniques. Multiple prototypes later, the Fastback® binding machine was born—a revolutionary system that brings professional bindery capabilities to the office environment. Today, it is used by every branch of the US Federal Government, many Fortune 500 companies, and the White House copy room. Powis (located in Berkeley, CA) is privately owned and employs about 100 people. The company continues to innovate in bind-on-demand technology, bringing new products and ideas to the marketplace year-round.