Consolidated Graphics

Prism Award Event Promotes NYU Program NEW YORK CITY—More than 400 people turned out recently for the 21st annual Prism Award luncheon, held to raise money and awareness for New York University’s graphic communications program. This year’s Prism honor went to Richard Smith, editor-in-chief and CEO of Newsweek. The Distinguished Service Award was given to Manny de Torres, chairman and CEO of Metro Packaging and Imaging. Bramkamp Printing Holds ‘Wild’ Open House Event CINCINNATI—To help celebrate its 85th anniversary and the addition of a six-color Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74 press, Bramkamp Printing put on a “Wild” open house. Held in conjunction with The Cincinnati Zoo and

HOUSTON—Consolidated Graphics has signed a letter of intent to acquire Global Group in Fort Worth, TX. Global is a printing and technology company offering high quality sheetfed, web and digital printing, as well as direct mail, creative design, desktop publishing, media asset management, technical writing, finishing and fulfillment services. Its current management team, including Jim Wolf, president, CEO and founder, is expected to stay on following the acquisition. “Consolidated Graphics’ considerable strategic and economic advantages and their keen focus on incorporating technology into the realm of printing services makes them the ideal company to help Global Group continue our growth, provide new services to our

HOUSTON—For the time being, the potential sale of the commercial printing industry’s leading consolidator will have to wait for another day. Consolidated Graphics (CGX) is not going to be sold. After kicking around options to enhance shareholder value during a strategic review, the CGX board concluded that the best current choice is to stay the course with its current plan, as well as embark on a share repurchase program. The repurchase program calls for an investment of up to $68.3 million in issued and outstanding common shares. According to company management, the current strategic plan is focused on achieving sales and profit growth through ongoing investment

HOUSTON—For now, it looks like the anticipated sale of Consolidated Graphics (CGX) will have to wait for another strategic review.After kicking around options to enhance shareholder value, the CGX board concluded that the best current option is to stay the course with its current plan, as well as embark on a share repurchase program. The…

BITS AND PIECES This isn’t your father’s Division of Motor Vehicles anymore. Sure, the process is still unorganized, in-efficient and clunky. And yes, the people who wait on you are still bitchy, impatient and indifferent. But while the service component is still severely lacking, our DMV amigos have certainly honed their products, at least in New Jersey. The NJ Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) has unveiled a new generation of licenses and identification cards that trumpet 22 advanced security features. For one, the photos are now digital; instead of the pictures looking like your high school picture from freshman year, the DMV folks (sorry, it’s

ROBERT BURTON, chairman and CEO of Cenveo Inc., is very decisive in his quest to uncover $100 million in cost savings at the publicly held printing conglomerate (ranked #5 on the 2005 Printing Impressions 400 listing of largest U.S. and Canadian printers) he took over last fall in a forceful, and sometimes contentious, takeover. Citing the need for a major overhaul, he immediately fired the existing board and senior managers, and brought in his own team from his former World Color and Moore Corp. days. Numerous plant closures, cutbacks and rounds of staff reductions have since followed company-wide. Appeasing analysts and stakeholders, Cenveo’s once-floundering

Flag Contest Waves In 50th Anniversary BERRYVILLE, VA—Berryville Graphics, a book products manufacturer that’s part of arvato Print, a Bertelsmann company, has begun a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary. As part of the celebration, a Berryville 50th anniversary flag design contest was created for the plant’s workers. Four Colour Imports, a Louisville, KY-based book manufacturing representative for Friesens Printing in Canada and Everbest Printing in China, has hired Ronald Hicks as the company’s Northeast sales representative covering New York City and New England. Also, Kara Mills transitions into sales from production manager, handling 10 states. Bob Hanon, former owner of Hanon Printing, has joined

HOUSTON—The printing industry’s leader in M&A activity, long known for its strong balance sheet, could soon be on the block. In an effort to bolster shareholder value, Consolidated Graphics (CGX) has retained UBS Investment Bank in an advisory capacity as it explores strategic alternatives, including a sale of the company. According to Chris Colville, executive vice president and CFO, CGX’s board of directors has decided, based on advice of investment banks, that the best interest of the shareholders would most likely be achieved in a transaction. “We are a very large printing company, but only a small-cap public company,” Colville told Printing Impressions. “With the increasing

THE ABILITY to order print-based communications via a Web browser has garnered steam in recent years, but it is hardly a snap-together concept. With the intent of making the procurement process quicker and easier, Web-to-print solutions can be tailored to meet customers’ varied needs. But the capability doesn’t come cheap. The implementation process can be tedious and long for printers without a Web-to-print footprint. IT-savvy individuals, and possibly even programmers, must be hired; labor and software figure prominently into the equation. Throw in the time required to get an estimating system up to speed, and the investment, from a printer’s standpoint, is hardly inconsequential.

Maryland Printer Gets High Honor BALTIMORE—Peake DeLancey Printers, of Cheverly, MD, received the “Grand Q” Best in Show award from the Printing & Graphics Association MidAtlantic (PGAMA) Print Quality Awards competition. Lallie Inc., of Millersville, MD, won the “Little q” award. Pictured, the Peake DeLancey Printers team poses here after receiving the “Grand Q” award. As part of a nationwide program with its parent company, Consolidated Graphics (CGX), AGS Custom Graphics of Macedonia, OH, has welcomed two new employees into its Management Associate Program—Desirae McBride and Maureen Rourke. McBride was recruited from the University of Akron while Rourke hails from Hope College in Michigan. Quad/Graphics announced that