Quad/Graphics

Commercial printing industry news briefs, including items on Edwards Brothers, Vertis, Quad/Graphics, EarthDigital, Ken Rizzo, Indoff and Geographics.

Udi Arieli, a director with EFI, was bursting with pride at the news that his daughter, Karni, and her husband, Saul, were nominated for an Oscar in the Short Film category. Karni and Saul directed and wrote "Turning." The short was produced as part of BBC Film Network's BBC Drama Shorts 2009 commission.

SUSSEX, WI—Under a newly signed agreement, Quad/Graphics will print the majority of L.L.Bean’s catalogs through 2014. The agreement, which continues the partnership launched in 2008, takes effect in January 2012 and covers all of L.L.Bean’s men’s, women’s, kids’, Signature, direct to business and core prospecting catalogs.

The agreement covers all of L.L.Bean’s Men’s, Women’s, Kids’, Signature, Direct to Business and core prospecting catalogs. Under separate agreements, Quad/Graphics continues to provide 100 percent of the legendary Maine marketer’s prepress work as well as 100 percent of its studio photography for all product lines in print and Web/e-commerce.

The most viewed stories from Printing Impressions’ daily e-newsletter—Today on PIworld—for the past month.

The nearly 1,300 workers at Quad/Graphics in Lomira (WI) are feeling a little more proud of their work these days. They’re in charge of publishing the official Super Bowl program for the sixth consecutive year. There is a downside to the story. Because of the quick turnaround to get the programs out, many workers had to miss Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

Bruce Stroik, the Lomira plant director says, “The privilege of being able to do it just adds excitement to the fact that Green Bay is on the cover. Their story is in the book.”

Many older workers who get laid off face additional obstacles, and Ron McFadden, 60, is sensing that this may now be true of him. McFadden was ultimately a casualty of the Quad/Graphics printing plant collapse. While he worked there, it was called Quebecor, then World Color. Exactly one year ago, the company was restructuring to become leaner for an anticipated buyout by Quad/Graphics and McFadden was laid off.

It’s been a year since the layoff, and McFadden is still having a tough time finding a job—any job...“I attribute a lot of that to my age.”

Quad plans to cease production at its direct mail division facility in Fredericksburg, VA, and is shedding 400 of the 500 jobs at its Mt. Morris, IL, facility. The Fredericksburg, VA, plant is part of Quad/Graphics' direct mail division called QuadDirect.

Employees at a Depew printing facility were informed of layoffs Thursday, just nine days before Christmas. A spokesperson for Quad/Graphics, based in Wisconsin, confirms the company plans to reduce the size of its local workforce by nearly 20 percent after the first of the year.

Claire Ho, Quad/Graphics Director of Corporate Communications, told 2 On Your Side approximately 95 positions are being eliminated at the plant which currently employs about 500 workers. Ho says work that had been conducted at the plant on George Urban Boulevard utilizing gravure presses is being moved to plants in other parts of

SUSSEX, WI—Quad/Graphics Inc. announced that it has created a new Commercial and Specialty print division that combines recently acquired HGI Co. operations in Burlington and Menomonee Falls, WI, with the commercial and book operations in Enfield, CT, and Leominster, MA. Quad/Graphics purchased the Enfield and Leominster plants earlier this year as part of its acquisition of Worldcolor.