PRINTER news

PITTSBURGH—In celebration of the final stage of the consolidation of Printing Industries of America and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation into one organization, a dedication of the newly renovated world headquarters was held recently. Chairman of the Board James Mayes Jr. and Michael Makin, president and CEO, cut the ribbon marking the entrance to the newly refurbished building. Another highlight of the event was the naming of the Ray Roper boardroom, in honor of the late PIA president.

CHICAGO—Jesse Williamson has been named the 2005 Sheetfed Executive of the Year by NAPL and PIA/GATF. Williamson, president of Williamson Printing in Dallas, received the award during the annual NAPL and PIA/GATF Sheetfed Pressroom Conference.

Wilcox Press of Ithaca, NY, announced the hiring of Dieter Urbanski as its CEO. Urbanski has nearly 25 years of experience in the printing and publishing industry having held vice president of operations positions for Craftsman Printing in Alabama, Ringier America in Illinois and for Meredith/Burda in Iowa.

Gary Fisher has joined the Hi-Liter Graphics finishing team as a finishing manager, working out of the company's Burlington, WI, facility. Fisher most recently worked for Perry Judd's.

Jack Campbell is the new division president for Classic Graphics in Morrisville, NC. Also, Mark Davis has joined the company as an account manager.

Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation announced the appointment of Mark Bohan, PhD, to director of research and integrated technology. Dr. Bohan, previously the director of integrated technology, will now assume responsibility for the research department in addition to his current duties.

The Printing Industry Center at Rochester Institute of Technology announced the addition of Vertis as an industry partner. Vertis joins 14 other companies and associations pledging support to the center's operation. Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Printing Industry Center at RIT is dedicated to the growth and profitability of the printing field.

Banta Corp. of Menasha, WI, has promoted Padraic Allen to president of the Banta Supply-Chain Management Group. Allen has been with Banta for two years, first as a consultant and most recently as director, strategic planning, for Banta supply-chain management, based in Cork, Ireland.

Valparaiso, IN-based Home Mountain Printing has been named best of the best by readers of Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. The company is on the cusp of celebrating 100 years in business.

Robert Reynolds recently celebrated 50 years of service with Philadelphia-based Pomco Graphic Arts. He started out as a messenger in 1955, trained to be a paper cutter operator and later became head of the department.

Visual Systems Inc. (VSI) of Milwaukee has hired Tiffany Hetzel as its newest customer service representative. Hetzel formerly worked for Quad/Graphics.

Outlook Group, Neenah, WI, announced that company president Joseph Baksha has been elected CEO. Baksha succeeds Richard Fischer, who will continue as chairman of the company.

The Web Offset Association (WOA), a special interest group of PIA/GATF, announced the winners of the WOA Annual Print Awards competition. The first place winning companies were: Action Printing; AFL Web Printing; Alcom Printing Group; Alliance Press; Butler Color Press; Castle-Printech; Color Graphics; Democrat and Chronicle; P&P Press; St Ives Inc.; Trend Offset Printing; Tribune Publishing; Webcom Ltd.; and Wright Graphics. For the first time since the award's inception 20 years ago, the judges awarded a Best-in-Show to St Ives Inc. for its piece titled "Somerset 2004 Magazine."

Randy Mitzelfelt has joined Victor Graphics in Baltimore as customer service and planning manager. He began his 20-year printing industry career with RR Donnelley and had previously held management positions with Maple-Vail and Von Hoffmann. Victor Graphics has also hired veteran bindery managers Bob Goad (day shift) and Jerry Singuefield (night shift).

Kenneth Downs and Ray Hairfield, lead pressmen at Worth Higgins & Associates in Richmond, VA, have achieved National Council Expert Level Sheetfed Offset Press Operator certification from the National Council for Skills Standards in Graphic Communications. Eleven press operators at Worth Higgins have attained this skill level.

William Sherman has joined Wilcox Press in Ithaca, NY, as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Sherman has more than 30 years of sales experience in the printing industry and was most recently vice president, sales, at Quebecor World Commercial Direct for New England.

Sentinel Printing, a book manufacturing and commercial printing operation in St. Cloud, MN, has added Barry Richards as a sales representative.

Boston-based Arthur Blank & Co. and Infineon Technologies North America announced a cooperation to provide radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled card services for the retail, transportation and security industries. Infineon will provide packaged RFID chips that will integrate with Arthur Blank's card production process.

Bramkamp Printing, Cincinnati, has announced that Betsy Casada has joined the company as manager of digital print and design services. Most recently, Casada was one of the founders of Precision Digital Images.

Monroe Litho in Rochester, NY, has added Roxanne Stevens to its marketing and sales organization in the position of account executive.

Transcontinental Printing-Marketing Products reports it now offers MetalFX (MFX) technology at its O'Keefe plant in Toronto. MFX allows the reproduction of millions of metallic colors utilizing a special set of CMYK and silver inks.

Robert Yaquinto Printing, Dallas, announced the addition of a new salesperson, Steve Shoquist.

Cary, NC-based Cary Printing has hired Carol Dawson to fill the new position of customer service manager. Dawson formerly worked for Litho Industries.

InnerWorkings, a print management and outsourcing firm in Chicago, announced that Eric Belcher has joined the company's management team as executive vice president of operations. Previously, Belcher was COO for MAN Roland.

Doug Mann, president of Gannett Offset/Minneapolis, has been promoted to Gannett Offset Group vice president, sales and marketing. He will be responsible for increasing overall sales and improving group-wide marketing efforts.

PIA San Diego presented its Ben Franklin Award to Bill Anderson of L&L Printers/Digital Litho. Prior to the awards presentation, Anderson was re-elected chairman for a third term.

Allegra Network, one of the largest print and graphic communications franchises, has become the newest member of The Print Council, a business development initiative dedicated to promoting the greater use of printing and print media.

Visuals Systems has announced the hiring of Laura Falch as marketing coordinator. The Milwaukee-based company is a manufacturer of overhead transparencies and ancillary products for educational and supplemental textbook publishers.