Michigan's largest book manufacturer is based in Ann Arbor, and its president told Ann Arbor Business Review in mid-2009 that it expected its first revenue drop in a long time that year.

The culprit: Shrinking text book sales during the recession as K-12 schools place fewer orders, said John Edwards, president of Edwards Brothers Inc.

"School systems aren't spending, so my customers aren't getting orders for their product," Edwards said during the summer. "The publishers are not (ordering) inventories because they don't think they can sell them."

That continued through the end of 2009, according to an article published this week in Crain's Detroit Business.

It reported Edwards Brothers' annual revenue for 2009 at $75 million, down from $80 million, and the number employees at 650, down from about 700 midyear.

But Edwards also continues to strategize to keep the business stable and stay ahead of industry trends.

One area detailed in the Crain's report: recycling waste paper generated in the manufacturing process.

“I always say it's a game of pennies and nickels,” Edwards told Crain's reporter Bill Shea, noting that 1 percent paper waste equals a quarter-million dollars. “We've taken a lot of costs out of here to be competitive.”

It also signed a deal this fall with NA Publishing Inc. to produce coursepacks.

For more on how Edwards Brothers is approaching 2010, read the Crain's article here.