Quad Gets State Aid, HGI, New Gear

SUSSEX, WI—Acquiring Worldcolor and becoming a publicly-traded company should have been enough to fill its 2010 scrapbook, but it appears Quad/Graphics is not quite done grabbing headlines. In the last month alone, North America's second biggest printer has made a trio of splashes aimed at growing its platform.

Quad/Graphics took its minority interest in HGI Co. a step further by acquiring the Burlington, WI-based company less than a year after the two firms had established a partnership. HGI is a full-service commercial and specialty products printer. The acquisition is said to bring together HGI's expertise in the commercial and specialty products segments with Quad/Graphics' technology and innovation to provide quick turn, customized and value-added solutions on a global scale.

HGI registered $44 million in sales this year and will operate as a division of Quad/Graphics. Quad had purchased a minority stake in HGI last February, with majority ownership retained by Craig Faust. Faust will serve as the division's president, guiding the company's production of commercial products and services, including short-run books, catalogs and directories; marketing collateral; print-on-demand custom publications; and specialty binding. He will also oversee the advancement of the company's specialty products offering such as retail point-of-purchase (POP) displays and materials through its Tempt brand.

Additionally, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle announced that Quad will receive $46 million in assistance to consolidate and expand its operations, create up to 1,300 new jobs and retain 5,500 existing jobs in Wisconsin. As a result, the company was looking to fill 420 full-time and part-time jobs immediately. The governor made the announcement with Quad/Graphics Chairman, President and CEO Joel Quadracci at the company's headquarters here.

Since learning of the state's offer, Quad/Graphics has created more than 250 new jobs in Wisconsin in a few months. In addition, the company was looking to immediately fill 260 full-time and 160 part-time positions throughout its network of Wisconsin facilities. The jobs include a wide range of production, administration and managerial positions, all of which are posted on the company's Website. In all, Quad/Graphics employs more than 6,700 people statewide in full- and part-time positions.

Lastly, Quad/Graphics is investing $20 million to expand its insert printing capabilities. The investment includes adding four retail web offset presses to its Lomira, WI, facility, which will provide clients additional quick-turn production and rapid delivery of highly versioned, smaller page count advertising formats inserted into newspapers. The equipment will start up in mid-2011. PI