Cenveo Closing Graphic Arts Center in Portland, Oregon; 91 Workers to Be Layed Off

The Oregonian is reporting that Cenveo has informed Oregon labor officials, as part of the WARN act, that it intends to close its commercial printing facility located on NW Wilson Street in Portland, Ore., by March 31. The closure will result in the layoffs of 91 people who currently work there, according to the newspaper.

During its heyday, The Graphic Arts Center was the largest commercial printing company in the state of Oregon, and one of the most prominent printers along the entire West Coast. The Graphic Arts Center also had a reputation as a high-quality printer of “high-impact” documents, such as high-end car brochures and annual reports.

According to Encyclopedia.com, it was acquired by Mail-Well (the forerunner of Cenveo) — which was led at that time by Mail-Well Chairman and CEO Gerald Mahoney — in August 1995 for $82.6 million. The deal helped to catapult the then-primarily envelope manufacturer into the commercial printing field. In September 1995, Mail-Well subsequently filed an IPO and went public on the NASDAQ largely to reduce its debt load and to help fund several other acquisitions that followed.

Cenveo's existing envelope manufacturing facility in Clackamas, Ore., is not affected and remains open. A call to Cenveo's Stamford, Conn.-based corporate offices for comment on the closure was not returned as of the time this post was published.