Transcontinental Inc.
OUR BELOVED printing industry is forever wrestling with economic uncertainty, while simultaneously marching in the vanguard of one technological revolution after another. Small wonder, then, that users of so-called “conventional” offset technologies have grown particularly adept at the kind of strategic logrolling that is an essential survival skill in this “pushmi-pullyu” business environment. In 2008, negative economic variables like the housing glut, the mortgage credit crisis, rising oil prices and a looming recession, along with print-positive developments like election-year spending, will have their respective down and up pressures on the offset sector. With the 2008 edition of the annual Offset and Beyond conference slated
Print UV Conference Deemed a Success LAS VEGAS—Nearly 100 printers and suppliers attended the inaugural Print UV 2008 Conference, held here at the Wynn Resort in early March. Produced and sponsored by Air Motion Systems, the event also served as the launching pad for the Print UV Association and a platform for the expanding Print UV online community (www.printuv.com). Discussion topics included how to market and sell UV; innovative UV printing and coating techniques; and the benefits of going 100 percent VOC-free in the UV pressroom. A panel of experts from major press OEMs, as well as UV equipment, ink, coating and
Open House Offers Cash Grab CHATSWORTH, CA—Impress Communications recently hosted an open house at its new facility here, which included a drawing to participate in a $50K Cash Grab Money Booth. Winners of the drawing had a chance to “test their skills” and grab as many airborne bills as they could in 15 seconds. Snatching cash was the perfect way to cap off the open house, which featured a variety of presentations, including: Web 2.0—The Current Era of the Web, Lighting for Digital Photography, Going Green/FSC Certification and Beyond, Single Message Marketing Strategies, and Specialty Printing Techniques. The staff at Impress offered Komori
HP Makes Deal for NUR PALO ALTO, CA—Hewlett-Packard Co. has agreed to buy Israel-based NUR Macroprinters, which produces wide-format digital ink-jet printers, for $117.5 million. The deal, pending regulatory approval, will expand HP’s graphic arts portfolio of digital presses and wide-format printers. HP also acquired MacDermid ColorSpan last year. Domtar Reduces Capacity MONTREAL—Domtar will close its Port Edwards, WI, mill and reorganize production at its Dryden, Ontario, facility. The Port Edwards move, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of this year, will cost 500 employees their jobs. At Dryden, one paper machine and two sheeters will be closed, impacting
The 2012 Printing Impressions 400 list of the largest printing companies in the United States and Canada as ranked by annual sales.
INDUSTRY NEWS ‘The Green Media Show’ BOSTON—A “green” conference and expo called “SustainCommWorld—The Green Media Show,” which focuses on all aspects of media and to how to convert production into sustainable workflows, will debut October 1-2, 2008, at the Marriott Copley Square Hotel here. SustainCommWorld LLC, headquartered in Mercer Island, WA, was launched by veteran graphic arts and trade show professionals to provide a forum for companies that design, print and distribute digital and printed information to find solutions to sustainability issues. The conference and expo will focus on topics including increased brand equity, business risk reduction, supply chain activity, carbon footprinting and sustainability reporting. It will
WIDENING OF the wage disparity between the ranks of top executives and workers has been getting some play in this presidential election season. So how does the take-home pay of the top printers stack up? Printing Impressions’ 18th annual executive compensation report highlights the earnings of principal officers at the largest publicly held printing companies. There was a significant shake-up of the list this year. Several top executives—and companies—dropped from the ranks as a result of the major merger/acquisition activity in 2007. Other companies had personnel changes at the top, and a few repeat executives saw their compensation totals dramatically impacted by the lack
VDP ‘Masters’ Mentor on Tricks Of Printing Trade PHILADELPHIA—To help educate its clients (and prospective customers) with the latest trends in printing and variable data printing (VDP), Innovation Printing & Communications hosted a full day of seminars—billed as “The Masters of Printing and Variable Data”—in its new 67,000-square-foot facility on September 27. Innovation also invited representatives from Heidelberg, Adobe, Xerox, RIS Paper (Domtar Distribution Group), Clemson University and 23K Studios Inc. to participate in the event. Innovation’s energetic staff gave tours of the new facility during the course of the day, while several leading experts discussed various topics, including: the benefits of VDP and
Cunningham, CGI Reunited JERSEY CITY, NJ—Michael Cunningham has returned to the organization he helped start. Cunningham was named CEO of The CGI Group, the successor to Cunningham Graphics International, which he founded in 1989. He will report directly to CGI Chairman Peter Furlonge. Cunningham has served as a professor at San Diego State and is a research professor at Cal Poly, as well as an adjunct professor at New York University. American Banknote Buys Firm FORT LEE, NJ—American Banknote, parent company of ABnote Group, finished a deal to obtain Arthur Blank & Co., of Boston, for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock. Arthur Blank & Co.
PITTSBURGH—May 10, 2007—The Offset and Beyond 2007 Management and Technical Conference for the Web and Sheetfed Offset Communities was very excited to have the Right Honorable Brian Mulroney open the conference on Monday, April 30, 2007 in Toronto, Canada. Inlaid with humor, Mulroney spoke on a wide range of topics including free trade, health care, the role of government, leadership, the current global political condition, and his time as the prime minister of Canada. The 675 attendees also saluted Remi Marcoux, executive chairman of the board with Transcontinental Inc. as the recipient of the Harry V. Quadracci VISION Award. The founder of Transcontinental, Mr. Marcoux