Finney Company, best known as a publisher and distributor of educational materials, has been quietly building up its presence in the trade area through a series of small acquisitions over the past several years. Its most recent purchase, late last month, was of Ecopress, a publisher of 13 outdoor titles. Ecopress joins Anacus Press and Windward Publishing in the Finney trade stable.

Al Krysan, president of Finney, told PW he is expanding the trade line as a way to offset the seasonality of the educational publishing business. The Ecopress purchase brings Finney's trade backlist up to about 55 titles, mostly in the outdoor and guidebook areas. Krysan said he will continue to make niche acquisitions until the Finney trade lists reach 100 to 150 titles.