Agfa Graphics

At Presstek Inc., John Dreyer has been appointed lead director of the company's board of directors. Dreyer has been a member of Presstek's board of directors since 1996. He retired as chairman and CEO of the Pitman Co. in December 2000. Mohawk Paper Mills has named Thomas O'Connor Jr. chairman and CEO. Prior to this appointment, O'Connor was president and CEO. He represents a third generation of the O'Connor family closely identified with the family owned business. Michael Swack is the new public relations/analyst relations manager for the graphics market at Hewlett-Packard. He is now responsible for HP Indigo, HP Designjets, as well as MFP and

Jim Meissner, founder and CEO of Color Ink in Sussex, WI, has reduced his duties to pursue his passion for fine art/oil painting. An exhibit of his work begins this month at Landmarks Gallery, located here. His work includes dramatic views of vistas in the Southwest, landscapes of Wisconsin, and paintings of places he has visited in Italy and Hawaii. Lisa Arsenault has been appointed president of The McArdle Printing Co., Upper Marlboro, MD, a subsidiary company of BNA Inc. Arsenault steps into the job from her previous role as vice president of sales. Under her leadership, McArdle's sales grew more than 25 percent in

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor In terms of the production process, proofing often is the last remaining physical tie between the print buyer and printer—except for the finished product, of course. Both parties have resisted changes to the status quo. Soft, or monitor-based, proofing is a logical step toward a truly all-digital workflow. The notion of evaluating and approving work on-screen probably was suggested the first time work was produced digitally. Yet, the various solutions that have been introduced are still working to gain acceptance, especially for approval of color. Issues related to monitor technology can still be sticking points, but the biggest

PINEVILLE, NC—Belk Printing Technologies has installed its third Mitsubishi press. The Diamond 3000S began production at Belk in mid-February. This is the company's second six-color press. Nies/Artcraft Cos., St. Louis, announced that Keith Marcks has been named president of Lion Promotional Solutions, a subsidiary of Nies/Artcraft specializing in promotional coupons, games and sweepstakes, and point-of-purchase displays. In other news, Tom Miller has been promoted to the position of vice president, marketing/account services. He has held the position of director of marketing at Nies/Artcraft for the past four years. Randy Monroe of LX Printing in Colorado Springs, CO, received the Eagle Award from Certified Printers International (CPrint)

Banta to Sell Healthcare Group MENASHA, WI—Banta Corp. has reached an agreement to sell the assets of single-use healthcare products subsidiary Banta Healthcare Group to an affiliate of Fidelity Capital Investors for $67 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter. Fidelity is a private equity investment division of Boston-based Fidelity Strategic Investments. In a separate deal related to the divestiture, Banta sold its warehouse in Rialto, CA, to a California real estate investment company for $7 million. Phoenix Color Closes Division CHICAGO—Phoenix Color has authorized the closure of its Book Technology Park division and the sale of its

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Few things are as fundamental to the color offset printing process as screening. Add to that the experience built up with conventional screening, general resistance to change and some technical issues, and it's easy to understand the industry's caution when it comes to alternative screening solutions. The category of enhanced screening technologies now has been expanded to include what are referred to as "hybrid" systems, along with true stochastic or frequency modulated (FM) screening. Hybrid technology claims to combine the benefits of conventional, or AM (amplitude modulated), and FM screening. One group of specialty screening solutions that won't

American Loose Leaf has appointed Cindy Stevenson as the new production manager for its St. Louis facility. Stevenson has more than 30 years of experience in the ring binder industry and has been with American Loose Leaf for 20 years. John MacKay has acquired all outstanding shares of Feuiltault Machinery from its founder, Martin Feuiltault. Mr. Feuiltault will remain with the company as a member of the company's technological orientation committee. MacKay will assume the position of president. International Paper's 2005 Best on Press Awards will feature $14,000 in prizes to 21 winners. Work printed on IP brands during the 2004 calendar year is eligible for

by Kristen E. Monte Associate Editor The adage, "The customer is always right," may seem a bit outdated, but the core of this mantra is still relevant. At BFC Printing, the philosophy of a customer-driven company proves that this business tactic can still be successful. Joe Novak Sr. founded BFC Printing in 1974. Novak and his partners began as print brokers, concentrating mainly on financial institutions as their key business. As the banking industry began to feel a squeeze, which coincided with the promotion of Novak Sr.'s sons, BFC Printing began to re-evaluate the focus of its business in the late 1980s.

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor There were no mysterious bulges, but maybe the occasional exacerbated expression and a testy moment or two during "The Great Debate: JDF—Reality or Hype?" session at Executive Outlook 2004 in Chicago. This "debate" between Frank Romano, industry consultant and Professor Emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and James Harvey, executive director of CIP4, actually started with an exchange of opinion pieces published by OnDemandJournal.com. As entertaining as these exchanges have been, Harvey says he's not interested in repeating the debate since the questions have been asked and answered. He sees more value in the industry moving on to discussing

MORTSEL, BELGIUM—Agfa-Gevaert has signed an agreement to sell Agfa Monotype, of Wilmington, MA, to Boston-based private equity investor TA Associates for $169 million. Agfa Monotype will change its name to Monotype Imaging. Monotype Imaging is a leading provider of fonts and font-related software technology for the display and imaging of text. In other company news, Agfa is consolidating its Lastra/Western Litho plate manufacturing activities, with production to be done at its Branchburg, NJ, plant. The Lastra America plant in Jacksonville, TX, will be closed by the end of the second quarter of 2005. The move is part of the continuing integration of the two companies' North American