The telephone company was able to pay the printing costs, pay Loren Berry, and make a small profit.
Loren Berry and his wife, Lucille, moved to Dayton. He rented office space in the U.B. Building downtown and began The Ohio Guide Company printing timetables. He continued pursuing advertising sales on the side, and soon began selling full time.
Loren Berry secured his first directory contract with the Dayton Home Telephone Company.
When he first contacted them, he learned advertising had already been solicited in Dayton, but Loren Berry was convinced he could sell even more. He raised the amount sold for the directory within six months from $500 to $1,200.
Six months later, he secured a contract with United States Independent Telephone Company in Columbus, which owned 15 independent telephone companies including the Dayton Home Telephone Company. His next contract covered Fostoria, Youngstown, Findlay, Canton, Washington CH, Steubenville, and Alliance. A third contract covered the Springfield directory, with Xenia.
Loren Berry formed the Craven and Berry partnership with George Craven to expand sales.
Loren Berry secured contracts with the three largest independent telephone companies in the Middle West: St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Louisville.
Contracts were signed with the United States Independent Telephone Company for its largest cities: Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo.
Loren Berry relocated its headquarters in the newly constructed Keith Building in Dayton. By 1931, the seven rooms were crowded, so they leased larger quarters in the Ohio Bell Telephone Building.
The Craven and Berry partnership was dissolved due to Craven’s health, and it became The L.M. Berry and Company.
The four large companies Craven and Berry were handling sold out to Bell companies. Loren Berry made a deal with Ed Carter, the Commercial Manager for the Bell Company, to sell their directory advertising for two years. Later, Loren Berry talked with him and secured his first Bell contract, covering Dayton and the exchanges in the Dayton district.
Loren Berry relocated its headquarters in the newly constructed Keith Building in Dayton. By 1931, the seven rooms were crowded, so they leased larger quarters in the Ohio Bell Telephone Building.
The Craven and Berry partnership was dissolved due to Craven’s health, and it became The L.M. Berry and Company.
It was also during this time frame that Loren Berry realized the communication industry, Telephony, was going to be a driving economic force for years to come. He made the decision to invest capital in many telephone companies.
The end result was a large financial footprint in the industry. He was on multiple boards and was a leader in the development of United Utilities as a force within the Telephone Industry. As consolidation took place, his financial interest grew.
During the depression, Loren Berry secured a contract for Dayton and Middletown and achieved a great increase in advertising in the Dayton directory.
Loren Berry secured the first international contract with the Manitoba Telephone System, owned by the province of Manitoba, Canada.
Loren Berry secured the first Southern Bell contract in Louisville. On the first issue, the Berry salesman was able to increase the advertising by 39.8%, from $59,243 to $82,805.
Loren Berry's son, John, joined the company as a salesman during his college summers.
Loren Berry secured Southern Bell contracts in Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, Tennessee and in Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery, Alabama.
John Berry joined the company in a management role.
Loren Berry secured a contract from Tidewater Telephone Company in Virginia. A contract was signed to handle all contracts for Wisconsin Bell Telephone Company.
Contracts were awarded to The L.M. Berry and Company for handling all directory work in Mississippi and Louisiana.
By this point, The L.M. Berry and Company continued to handle all of the directory advertising sales work for Southern Bell in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. This also included all Bell cities in Wisconsin, 12 bell directories in Ohio, and 14 bell directories in New York.
The company expanded their art section from 39 artists and seven supervisors in 1953 to 110 artists and 17 supervisors in 1959.
The company transitioned from a sole proprietorship to a corporation. The L.M. Berry Foundation was founded.
John Berry became the company’s President, adding new telephone customers and achieving record-breaking revenue growth.
John Berry saw opportunities internationally and approached ITT Corporation, a major international conglomerate with the idea to create, capitalize, and organize an international directory company. With that, World Directories was born and would become the largest directory publisher outside of the United States. Over the next decade, World Directories would publish directories in multiple countries from England, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, South Africa, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, etc.
John Berry became Chairman of the company.
After a four-year reorganization within the telephone industry, The Berry Company was sold to Bell South. This provided greater opportunities for growth, but the ownership would no longer be controlled by the Berry family.
John Berry Sr. passed away and The Berry Family Foundation was passed on to the next generation to carry on its mission and vision for the future.
The company has always recognized the fact that its operation affects people… and people make up a community, a state, and a nation.
