Hanson Directories sold to Chicago firm
Bill Hanson retires after 40 years
Bill Hanson, the owner and CEO of Hanson Directories and son of Lloyd Hanson, the company’s founder, has sold the telephone directory publisher to a Chicago investment firm named DirecTech, LLC.
Bill Hanson has been with the company his father started since 1979, taking over in the late 1980s before his father passed away in 1993.
The successful completion of the sale of its assets to DirecTech took place Nov. 1.
“We feel the sale to DirecTech is a good fit for our telephone industry affiliates, our advertisers and our employees,” Hanson said. “My father started the business in January 1973. Proudly, my family has had a long, enjoyable and successful history of service to the rural telephone industry.”
All 61 Hanson Directories staff members — including about 10 who travel and are not regularly in the Newton office — will remain in their respective positions with DirecTech. The new owners plan to continue publishing each directory under their existing schedules using its same facility in northeast Newton.
“It was really important to me to find a buyer that wanted to keep the company here,” Hanson said.