Nationwide Graphics

(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2003. Therefore, companies that revised their 2002 revenues may have changed their 2002 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.) 1 ('02: 1) Quebecor World, Montréal, Canada Total Sales (Millions): $6,242.00 Previous Year's Sales (Millions): $6,300.00 Change (%): -1 Principal Officer: Jean Neveu Employees: 38,000 Primary Specialties: PUB 26%; ADV 23%; CAT 16%; BKS 12% Web Offset Press Units: 3,156 Sheetfed Press Units: 985 Other Press

By Erik Cagle Say what you want about 2002, but very shortly you'll be able to say these two magic words: it's over. By nature, printers are optimists. So are trade magazine journalists. Thus, coming off a dreadful 2001, horribly punctuated by a reeling economy and the September 11 attacks, most industry people were forecasting a much-improved 2002. No one was ready to pop the champagne cork, but a marked improvement was in the offering, with a strong economic rebound catapulting revenues heading into 2003. Better days, like Godot, never arrived. To say 2003 cannot be any worse than 2002 is tantamount to whistling

(Editor's Note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2002. Therefore, companies that revised their 2001 revenues may have changed their 2001 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.) 1 ('01: 1) Quebecor World, Montréal, Canada Total Sales (millions): $6,300.00 Previous Year's (millions): $6,500.00 Change (%): -3 Principal Officer: Charles G. Cavell Employees: 40,000 Primary Specialties: PUB 26%; ADV 21%; CAT 17%; DM 13% Web Offset Units: 3,156 Sheetfed Offset Units: 985 Other: 808 Ownership: Public

DARIEN, CT—The Printing Arts America (PAA) rollup of commercial printers, collected during the heyday of industry consolidation in the late 1990s, has been divested. Nationwide Graphics announced it has acquired Classic Printing of Nashville, TN; AIM Riverside Press of Pompano Beach, FL; and Printing Arts Houston from PAA, which had filed for Chapter 11 reorganizational protection last November. Nationwide is also now part owner of Miami-based Original Impressions, with Roland Garcia—founder of the company—as majority owner. Recently, Houston-based Consolidated Graphics acquired Baltimore-based S&S Graphics, while Printing Arts Chicago was reacquired by William J. Chmura—its previous owner—and John Ropski. The other PAA companies—Bay State Press, Framingham, MA; George

MIAMI—Jorge and Manny Hernandez are big fans of the United States, having come to this country as children when their parents evacuated them from Cuba. The Hernandez brothers availed themselves of the American dream, attending Miami's public school system before majoring in business administration while in college. In 1985, after having worked in several print shops, Jorge and Manny decided to go solo, literally, when they cut the ribbon on Solo Printing. Early last September, the brothers studied the slumping U.S. economy and developed an eight-stage growth plan to boost its current sales level from $10 million annually to about $30 million within a

CHARLOTTE, NC—The former Master Graphics has new leadership, and now Premier Print Holdings is under the direction of two men who have become known in the consolidation game. Carl Norton has taken the helm as CEO at Premier Print Holdings as Calvin W. Aurand Jr. has left the company to pursue other interests. Jerry Hyde has been named president of the company. Norton and Hyde are the braintrust behind Nationwide Graphics which, like Premier Print Holdings, grew through acquisitions. Norton, Nationwide's chairman and CEO, and Hyde, vice chairman and senior vice president, have been contracted to pump new life into a company that emerged

Editor's note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2001. Therefore, companies that revised their 2000 revenues may have changed their '00 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 400. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided. 2001 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants: 5159J.J. Keller & Assoc., Neenah, WI$159.76$139.99+14Robert L. Keller830PUB 50%; BKS 30%; DM 10%; BF 10%2087Private1  2001 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants: 5251Serigraph Inc.,

BY HARRIS DEWESE Have you been thinking now is the time to sell your printing company, buy a 60-foot Hatteras yacht and retire to Boca Raton? Forget it! Merger and acquisition activity in the printing industry is at a standstill. But, you say, "DeWese, you are crazy! My company is much better than my competitor, Smart Al's Lithographing. Al sold his print shop to a consolidator less than two years ago and he is living in Key Largo where he fishes on his 42-foot Chris Craft. He told me that he was paid more than six times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and

BY CHRIS BAUER There was a time, not too long ago, that you could not pick up a graphic arts publication without going blind by the number of news items focused on Company A acquiring Company B, or Company C buying up the assets of Company D. Then along came the current state of the economy. Wall Street's time of living high on the hog appears to be over—at least for now. Today, you can hardly open a newspaper or watch the evening news without seeing Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, ready to drop interest rates yet again to try to put a

If you know the name of a printing company that you think appears on the Printing Impressions 400 list, but you're not sure of its ranking, here's an easy way to locate that firm. Simply find the company in the alphabetical listings on this page. In addition to each company's name and headquarters location, a corresponding number appears indicating that firm's ranking on the Printing Impressions 400. ABS Graphics (Addison, IL) 400 Action Printing (Fond du Lac, WI) 353 Adams Business Forms (Topeka, KS) 96 AdPlex Inc. (Houston, TX) 102 Advance Business Graphics (Mira Loma, CA) 153 AFL Web Printing (Voorhees, NJ)