Quad Announces Closure of Waukee, Iowa, Printing Plant 

Printed directories are one of the product segments hardest hit by electronic displacement. So, it comes as no major surprise that Quad has decided to close its Waukee, Iowa-based directory printing operation — displacing 88 workers — by January 10, 2025. 

Quad pointed out in a prepared statement,

“Demand for printed directories has been under pressure for many years fueled by shifts in how information is retrieved and consumed online or through mobile devices. These factors have led to ongoing reductions in directory volumes, including smaller page counts and print run sizes. The decision to close the plant reflects these pressures and is part of the company’s ongoing strategy to optimize its platform by consolidating print work into plants that offer the greatest manufacturing and distribution efficiencies, and overall value to clients.” 

Work currently performed at the 120,000-sq.-ft. Waukee facility will be consolidated into Quad’s Sussex, Wisconsin, plant, which also produces directories in addition to catalogs, magazines, and retail inserts.  

Quad owns and plans to sell the building in Waukee, a suburb located in the greater Des Moines metropolitan area. With a population of more than 24,000 residents, Waukee is reportedly one of the fastest growing larger towns in the Hawkeye State. 

Benefits Packages for Displaced Workers 

Quad also indicated that a collective bargaining agreement will provide severance pay for the full-time employees in Waukee who are represented by PPPWU (the Printing Packaging & Production Workers Union of North America). The company said it plans to meet with union representatives soon to discuss how the plant closure decision will impact them. 

Full-time Waukee employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement have been offered a separation package that includes separation pay, continuation of healthcare benefits, and career transition assistance through a career counseling company, according to Quad officials. 

Waukee Was a Former Worldcolor Plant 

The Waukee operation was originally part of Quad’s July 2010 acquisition of Worldcolor. Quad acquired Montreal-based Worldcolor — which had filed for bankruptcy protection as Quebecor World in January 2008 and then rejected an unsolicited takeover attempt by R.R. Donnelley in May 2009 — in a deal valued at approximately $1.4 billion.  

The Worldcolor acquisition catapulted Quad to become the second largest ranked commercial printing company on the 2010 Printing Impressions 400 (now 300) list. As part of the transaction, the combined entity went public and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as QUAD in July 2010. 

As of December 31, 2023, Quad reported operating approximately 40 global manufacturing and distribution facilities and employing approximately 13,000 employees. The majority of its operations are in the U.S. where it operates approximately 30 printing plants (including the Waukee plant) and about 70+ client-dedicated teams. 

Quad also recently announced the sale of its former one million-sq.-ft. Saratoga Springs, New York, newsweekly and catalog printing plant, which was shuttered earlier this year, for $41 million. In addition, Quad has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the majority of its European operations for an enterprise value of approximately $45 million to Munich, Germany-based private equity firm Capmont GmbH. That transaction is expected to close by year-end 2024 pending customary regulatory clearances and other closing conditions.