First NPES Industry Summit Explores Optimistic View of Print’s Prospects

Davis said PIA/GATF forecasts increases of about 1.5 percent in 2007 and 2.5 percent in 2008. Significant growth is coming from new digital and “ancillary” services printers are adding to their portfolios, Davis said, adding, “This is still an opportunity industry.”

Keynote speaker Dr. Joseph Webb noted that “all media are experimental today because the relationships between them have changed so dramatically.” He said the challenge for printers was not only to be “modern” today but to “figure out how to be modern 18 months from now. It’s not your competitors you have to worry about, it’s your clients. You have to find a way to stay ahead of them.” Providing an overall context for the industry presentations, NPES Consulting Economist Michael Evans predicted there will be a significant slowdown in the national economy in 2007, but no recession. He said the media coverage of the recent reverses in mortgage lending was over-stated and these developments did not represent a major threat to the total economy.