American Technical Publishers

The company was founded in 1898 by Mr. R. T. Miller, Jr., as the American Technical Society (ATS) to publish instructional materials to be used by the American School of Correspondence, which was founded by Mr. Miller in 1897. Mr. Miller founded these companies based on the belief that all Americans should have the opportunity to receive a high school diploma and learn the job skills required to prepare them for the working world. With the advent of World War II, the primary publishing efforts of ATS changed from providing material for trade bookstores and home study to providing vocational training material for the preparation of industrial workers in support of the war effort. Much of the material made by technical book publishers that were used in the war effort were later revised to meet the need for vocational training materials for public schools. In 1980, the assets of the Society were purchased by its employees under a newly formed corporation: American Technical Publishers, Inc. (ATP) and its Profit Sharing Retirement Plan and Trust. ATP was organized under an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), is 100% employee-owned, and is one of the oldest ESOP corporations in North America. In the mid-1980s, ATP expanded its efforts to include publication of textbooks and related material for apprenticeship and industrial training markets. As technical book publishers, this continues to be an emphasis of its development efforts to this day, working in partnership with many skilled craft apprenticeship programs to serve the needs of industry. In 2014, the company was reorganized as The ATP Group, Inc., and includes two divisions: American Technical Publishers (technical book publishers) and ATP Learning Solutions. American Technical Publishers continues to serve customers with a comprehensive line of proven products, and ATP Learning Solutions now serves the growing number of customers desiring custom products and services. In 2020, the ATP Group, Inc. added a Canadian division to serve the training needs of the skilled trades in Canada. The tradition of helping people learn has continued since 1898, and the ATP mission remains the same—to be the best technical publisher and produce the finest learning material available for career and technical education and training.