EBSCO Industries Incorporated, founded in 1943 as Elton B. Stephens Company (EBSCO), provides content to 50,000 libraries worldwide. The company operates as a subscription provider for over 250,000 journals, and it publishes journal article databases. Content, offered through the EBSCO Information Services group, is targeted to academic, medical, government, public, and school libraries. The firm works with over 60,000 publishers. EBSCO Industries also manufactures fishing lures, steel joists, and metal roof decks. The company launched display stand manufacturing unit Metal Fabricators and Finishers, now Vulcan Industries, in 1946. EBSCO Media, formerly Hartsfield Printing Company, was acquired in 1948. The company acquired Hanson-Bennett Magazine Agency, based in Chicago, in 1960 and binder manufacturer Burkhardt Company 1967. EBSCO Industries also purchased National Publications Company in 1967. The next year, the firm's EBSCO Subscription Services (ESS) established 10 regional offices. The company opened European offices in 1975. EBSCO Industries then acquired H. Wilson Company in 1977. Since the late 1970's, the company has established the EBSCO Reception Room Subscription Services, EBSCO Telephone Sales, EBSCO Publishing, and EBSCO Electronic Information units. The firm also has acquired the Moore- Cottrell subscription agency, NSC International, Popular Magazine Review, Bomber Bait Company, Luxor, and Magazine Express. The privately held corporation had annual sales of over $1 billion in 1997. EBSCO Industries employs 4,500 people, 2,000 of them in manufacturing units.