The following news was furnished by Printing Industries Alliance—Ed.
Printing Industries Alliance (PIA) announces the retirement of Vice President Vicki Keenan, effective October 1, 2014.
Vicki joined the organization as Vice President in 2006 as part of its expansion into the New York metro region. She made an immediate and positive contribution by assisting the organization in understanding the various elements and concerns of the metro New York graphic communications industry.
From 1993 to 2006, Vicki served as Vice President, Executive Vice President, and President of the Association of Graphic Communications (AGC), a former regional affiliate of Printing Industries of America. A consummate professional, Vicki has devoted much of her career to representing the industry’s interests with regard to federal, state, and local governmental affairs. In this capacity, she has been involved in a variety of critical issues including sales tax on postage and direct mail, clean air regulations, and creation of an $8 million Printers Relocation Fund, to name just a few.
Vicki started her career in Washington, D.C., with successful positions as a senior government and public affairs representative for the National Newspaper Association, Bechtel Corporation, and the American Consulting Engineers Council.
She has served for many years on the New York City Department of Education’s Graphic Arts Industry Advisory Commission. She was a founding board officer of the Graphic Communications Scholarship Foundation and a member of the East Orange (NJ) High School Printing and Graphic Communications Center Advisory Committee. She represented the industry on two New York City Mayoral Advisory Committees, Small Business and Graphic Arts. In 2012, she was honored with the Gold Key Award and inducted as an honorary member of Gamma Chapter, Gamma Epsilon Tau, an international Graphic Arts Honor Society at New York City College of Technology.
Vicki also has been instrumental in developing the annual Franklin Event (now the Franklin Luminaire Awards) into the premier networking event in the graphic communications industry.
In making the announcement, PIA Chairman Patrick R. Ryan commented, “PIA and our industry owe Vicki Keenan a debt of gratitude for her dedicated years of service and work on behalf of us all. Best wishes for a happy and healthy retirement!”
PIA President Tim Freeman remarked, “I have been pleased to call Vicki a friend since the day she started at AGC. We have worked together on a number of important industry issues through the years, and much of the success we have achieved on these issues should be attributed to her business acumen and political savvy. Her knowledge and perseverance have always been big industry assets that will be hard to replace. Please join the PIA membership, Board, and staff in wishing Vicki all the best for happy and healthy retirement.”
Vicki Keenan will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Franklin Luminaire Awards program on September 17, 2014 at Pier Sixty in Manhattan. For further information contact Printing Industries Alliance at 716-691-3211.
Printing Industries Alliance, a printing trade organization with offices in Amherst, NY, and Roselle Park, NJ, serves graphic communications firms in New York State, Northern New Jersey and Northwestern Pennsylvania.
COMMENT: This writer has had a decades-long relationship with print industry trade groups, past and present, throughout the New York metro region. No officer that I have ever met in any of these organizations has done as much to defend and promote the industry’s interests in the public sphere as Vicki Keenan. As PIA members know well, virtually every print-friendly legislative or regulatory change that has taken place in the region over the last 20 years bears her imprint. A consummate governmental insider with the instincts and the skills of an investigative journalist, Vicki has compiled a record of service to the industry that is unique among association executives. It’s a pleasure to add my voice to what’s sure to be an enormous chorus of gratitude and praise on the occasion of her retirement.
