Mature Matters Publishing Inc., of Spokane, which produces directories of services for seniors and provides seminars on aging and elder care, has separated from Lawton Printing Inc., also of Spokane, following a four-year joint publishing endeavor, says Gail Goeller, Mature Matters co-founder.


Separately, William R. Bloom, son-in-law of Gail and John Goeller, has joined the family operation, and Gail Goeller says he now is managing and ultimately will take over the business. Bloom is a former vice president of a California-based printing company called Linotext.


Our plan is to help midwife this (management-transition) project into the arms of our children, Goeller says.


Mature Matters said in a news release that it will be expanding into new markets in the Pacific Northwest. As part of the split from Lawton Printing, Goeller says, the two companies have divided territories they developed mutually. Mature Matters will retain publishing rights for the directory in the Spokane, North Idaho, and Yakima markets, and Lawton will own the rights for the Tri-Cities, Walla Walla, Olympia, and Vancouver, Wash., markets, she says.


The Goellers founded the directory, called The Directory for Seniors and Their Families, in 1994. It provides guidance and lists resources for a host of issues that confront seniors, including health care, financial and legal affairs, safety and security, and final planning, and is distributed widely through hospitals, agencies, churches, support groups, and other service providers.


Lawton, one of Spokanes largest commercial printers, acquired the rights to the directory in 1999 for an undisclosed sum, and said it planned to publish versions of the guide in markets throughout the U.S.


Under the original agreement with Lawton, Mature Matters Inc., a separate company, remained under the Goellers ownership, but its publishing business became a division of Lawton Printing called Mature Matters Publishing. With the breakup, the Goellers have changed the corporate name of their overall operation to Mature Matters Publishing Inc., Gail Goeller says.


Of the reason for the breakup, she says, All players were aware there were risks involved in merging our businesses since there was no definitive model. By dividing territories, both businesses project we can do a better job of developing and maintaining both previous and prospective markets alike.


In the news release, Bloom said, Throughout this process, Lawton and MMPI (Mature Matters) have worked well together and look forward to doing business with each other in the future.


Laura Lawton, president of Lawton Printing, says Lawton still wants to expand its senior directories nationally, but the growth of that segment of its business has been slower than expected. She says, though, that the company through its publications division is expanding (the directory) into Arizona and Texas markets.