A small publishing center does not necessarily require a dedicated building. For example, the print center of Desert Tree Ministry in Chad began in a bedroom of the house. Space was definitely limited, but it was a place to start, and God blessed our efforts as we used what we had available to us. From the small bedroom, we moved the equipment into a larger 20-foot container, where we operated for about four years before finally building a much larger dedicated structure.

When choosing where to set up your publishing center, consider the ideas below.

God has given us specific counsel to establish publishing houses outside of the cities.

Repeatedly the Lord has instructed us that we are to work the cities from outpost centers. In these cities we are to have houses of worship, as memorials for God; but institutions for the publication of our literature, for the healing of the sick, and for the training of workers, are to be established outside the cities. Especially is it important that our youth be shielded from the temptations of city life. Publising Ministry 184.2

As we read on, we discover one reason why we should not establish publishing houses in the cities.

God has sent warning after warning that our schools and publishing houses and sanitariums are to be established out of the city, in places where the youth may be taught most effectively what is truth…. Men will arise speaking perverse things, to counterwork the very movements that the Lord is leading His servants to make. But it is time that men and women reasoned from cause to effect. It is too late, too late, to establish large business firms in the cities—too late to call young men and women from the country to the city. Conditions are arising in the cities that will make it very hard for those of our faith to remain in them. It would therefore be a great mistake to invest money in the establishment of business interests in the cities. Publishing Ministry 185.2

As the world experienced the effects of various political decisions regarding COVID-19, we got some insights into the wisdom of this counsel. Many businesses were either crippled, shut down temporarily, or forced to close permanently. In many of the big cities, lock-downs forced people to stay at home. Many people who lived in the countryside were comparatively free to continue with their lives and work as normal. COVID-19 was a small foretaste of terrible conditions that will soon be in the cities.

We read some other fascinating counsel in relation to establishing the Review and Herald Publishing House in America. In choosing a location, it should not only be away from the city, but a sufficiently sized plot of land to accommodate complementary projects:

We should not establish this institution in a city, nor in the suburbs of a city. It should be established in a rural district, where it can be surrounded by land. In the arrangements made for its establishment, the climate must be considered. The institution should be placed where the atmosphere is most conducive to health. This point should be given an important place in our considerations, for wherever the office of publication is established, preparation must also be made to fit up a small sanitarium and to establish a small agricultural school. We must, therefore, find a place that has sufficient land for these purposes. We must not settle in a congested center. Publishing Ministry 186.5

Living conditions and cost of living should also be analyzed before establishing a publishing house in any location.

Instruction has also been given that the Pacific Press should be moved from Oakland. [The move to Mountain View, California, thirty-eight miles south of San Francisco, was made in 1904 (see SDAEn 1059.)] As the years have passed by, the city has grown and it is now necessary to establish the printing plant in some more rural place, where land can be secured for the homes of the employees. Those who are connected with our offices of publication should not be obliged to live in the crowded cities. They should have opportunity to obtain homes where they will be able to live without requiring high wages. Publishing Ministry 187.4

Study where the need is, and don't overlap too much with another ministry. Make it a priority to establish the work where there is none yet.

It is not the Lord's plan to centralize largely in any one place. The time has passed when there should be any binding about of the work and confining it to a few places. There are small printing plants to be established and recognized in the South and in other places not yet designated. Publishing Ministry 190.4

The building should be practical with enough space for future growth, but not showy or excessively large. We would not want to waste resources in one place, when with a little forethought, the budget could be split and still be sufficient to start two projects.

When plans are laid to erect a building in one place, give careful consideration to other places that are in just as great need of money for the erection of needful buildings. Time is short, and while buildings must be erected, let this be done with due consideration for all parts of the Lord's vineyard. Let the one who has charge of the building be a man of sound, sanctified mind, not one who, in his anxiety to erect a fine piece of architecture, will bring perplexity upon the work by expensive investment. Publishing Ministry 189.1

Far better to have a humble, yet functional building and please God by investing in furthering His work than to lock resources wastefully in an unnecessarily huge or fancy building.

Never are we to rely upon worldly recognition and rank. Never are we, in the establishment of institutions, to try to compete with worldly institutions in size or splendor. We shall gain the victory, not by erecting massive buildings, in rivalry with our enemies, but by cherishing a Christlike spirit—a spirit of meekness and lowliness. Better far the cross and disappointed hopes, with eternal life at last, than to live with princes and forfeit heaven. Publishing Ministry 189.3

The building needs to be able to be reasonably secured. It is better to invest some more money into a strong physical structure than to fall prey to theft later on. Compare the price of a good, sturdy door and anti-robber bars over the windows to the salary of a guard. It makes good financial sense to build a secure structure.

In Chad, the main structure is built over a 40-foot shipping container. Even if thieves break through a door or window and gain entrance to the main part of the building, they still have to break into the container if they want to access the machines. This design has the added bonus of greatly reducing the amount of dust that contaminates the machines.

In a hot climate, consider the path of the sun and try to design your building to minimize sun exposure. Assuming a building is rectangular, it is usually best to orient the building so that the length is East–West. Put your offices on the north and east sides of the building, where it is coolest. The West end will typically be the hottest end, where the afternoon and evening sun heats up the walls during the hotter part of the day.

Our overhangs are wide enough to keep sun off the north and south walls most of the time during most of the year. Where overhangs are not practical, consider planting shade trees close enough where the shade will help cool the building, but not so close that the roots will disrupt the foundation.

Hot air must have a way to escape, or it will build up and turn your building into a virtual oven. Consider an effective ridge cap design, or at least have large vents (with fans if possible) on either end of the building at the peak of the roof. Remember, if air has a place to escape, it must also have a place to enter. In our building in Chad, we left about 25cm of space between the outside walls and the tin of the roof. This space is screened to keep critters out, but allows air to flow in. As the hot air rises up and out the vents, it pulls cooler air in from all along the north and south sides of the building.

Consider the workflow of a print shop when choosing or constructing a building. Think through it simply and logically. You will have a storage area for paper. From there the paper will move to either a cutting machine or the printer. From the printer it goes to the folding machine or the paper cutter. Then it may go to either the glue binder or be stapled. Then it may go back to the paper cutter for trimming and then to the storage area for finished products.

• Paper delivery. When you buy paper, how will it be delivered? You will need a dry and secure place to store your paper.
• Electric outlets. Place the various machines in an efficient manner to minimize unnecessary walking or handling of materials. Do you have electricity in the appropriate areas where the machines need to be?
• A paper vibrator should be near to the paper cutter or paper folder, but should not share a table with another machine.

Avoid debt!

God designs that we shall learn lessons from the failures of the past. It is not pleasing to Him to have debts rest upon His institutions. We have reached the time when we must give character to the work by refusing to erect large and costly buildings. We are not to copy the mistakes of the past and become more and more involved in debt. We are rather to endeavor to clear off the indebtedness that still remains on our institutions. Publishing Ministry 331.1

Take a look at this counsel for the work in Nashville:

When the publishing work at Nashville was started, it was the avowed purpose of the workers to keep out of debt; but in their desperate effort to make brick without straw, our brethren were led to depart from this purpose, and, as the result, the work has become involved in difficulty. But God's workmen at Nashville are not, because of this, to become discouraged. The work must not cease. Let all now seek most earnestly to avoid the mistakes of the past. Let them guard themselves as with a fence of barbed wire against the inclination to go into debt. Let them say firmly: “Henceforth we will advance no faster than the Lord shall indicate and the means in hand shall allow, even though the good work has to wait for a while. In beginning in new places, we will labor in narrow quarters, rather than involve the Lord's cause in debt.” Publishing Ministry 194.3