Author Archives: Patrick Henry

Graphic Communications Scholarship Foundation Brings Industry Leaders Together for First Annual Spring Fling

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NEW YORK, NY, April 9, 2015 – The board of directors of the Graphic Communications Scholarship, Award and Career Advancement Foundation, Inc. (GCSF) is pleased to announce its first annual “Spring Fling” event.

The event promises to be the premier networking opportunity for meeting industry leaders as well as top scholarship recipients. All of the proceeds will go toward funding scholarships for New York and New Jersey metro area students interested in pursuing careers in graphic communications.

The Spring Fling will be held on Thursday, June 4 at 5:30 p.m. at Ogilvy & Mather’s rooftop venue located at 636 11th Avenue in Manhattan. It is a seasonal follow-up to GCSF’s highly successful “Holiday Bash,” a gala party held last December at the Art Directors Club in New York City.

Like the Holiday Bash, the Spring Fling get-together will be an industrywide event thanks to the participation of Printing Industries Alliance, The Advertising Production Club of New York (APC-NY), IDEAlliance, and The Navigators.

Jerry Mandelbaum is President of GCSF. Chairing the Spring Fling is Diane Romano, who may be contacted at diane@hyards.com.  For further information and tickets visit http://www.gcscholarships.org/springfling.

ABOUT GCSF
A 100% volunteer organization that operates without professional staff or overhead expense, GCSF has distributed a total of $416,000 in scholarships to 116 students of graphic design and communications since the fund’s inception in 2002.

The not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation acts as a coordinator for a large number of individual scholarship funds. It gives all of the money collected through them to students attending or bound for colleges and universities with degree programs in graphic studies. GCSF also has established a one-to-one mentoring program that pairs students with industry pros for 12 months at a minimum of two contact hours per month.

GCSF’s annual scholarship awards presentation ceremony is a high point on the industry’s calendar of events. The date for the 13th Annual GCSF Scholarship Awards Celebration and Ceremony at the Hearst Tower is Thursday, June 18, 2015.

 

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Gamma Epsilon Tau Fraternity Will Honor Freeman and Sandler at 2015 “Gold Key” Ceremony

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Tim_KathyGamma Chapter of Gamma Epsilon Tau, the national graphic arts honor society, will present Gamma Gold Key Awards to Timothy Freeman and Kathy Sandler at its 2015 Gold Key Awards ceremony in New York City on May 28.

Freeman is President of Printing Industries Alliance, the trade association representing graphic communications and related businesses in New York State, northern New Jersey, and northwestern Pennsylvania. Printing Industries Alliance provides a variety of consultative, informational, educational, representative, and expense reducing business services to companies within its geographical footprint. Printing Industries Alliance is an independent regional affiliate of Printing Industries of America.

A Certified Association Executive (CAE), Freeman joined Printing Industries Alliance in 1984 and was appointed its President in 1988. His responsibilities include working with member companies to resolve individual and industry issues; representing industry interests at all levels of government; managing programs and services; maintaining organizational financial stability; and managing relationships with other industry organizations and educational institutions.

In 2007, Freeman led Printing Industries Alliance’s expansion into the metro New York area, which had been unrepresented by a trade association since the demise of a predecessor organization. This initiative resulted in, among other things, the rescue and reinvigoration of the annual Franklin Event, now the Franklin Luminaire Awards program. Held annually, the Franklin Luminaire Awards program is a major source of scholarship funding for students planning careers in graphic communications.

Sandler is recognized as a leader, a visionary, and a technologist in the field of publishing. Involved in publishing technology for 30 years, she currently is Senior Manager, Content Applications and Digital Workflow Development at Penguin Random House. Previously, she helped Scholastic launch the Storia eReader and assisted Meredith in developing digital editions of Parents and Fitness magazines for the iPad and Android platforms. She also was a publishing technologist at Hearst Magazines for 20 years.

Sandler was listed as one of the 40 Most Influential People in Publishing by Folio: magazine. She has been President of Women In Production and has served on the boards or committees of the Association of Graphic Communications, the American Business Press Production/Manufacturing Technology Committee, the IDEAlliance PRISM and DIM-2 Committees, and the Publishers Symposium.

Her roles in education include serving as a Trustee of the Graphic Communications Scholarship Foundation (GCSF) and as a member the Advisory Commission of the Department of Advertising Design and Graphic Arts at New York City College of Technology. The holder of an MBA from New York University, Sandler taught Information Technology Management for Publishing in NYU’s Masters in Publishing program. She currently teaches online classes in the Masters in Publishing Program at Pace University, including a class in eBooks that she proposed and developed.

Gamma Epsilon Tau is a national, coeducational, collegiate printing fraternity in which students of printing and publishing can meet and interact in a professional and social atmosphere. It has eight chapters at colleges and universities that offer degree programs in graphic communications.

Gamma Chapter of Gamma Epsilon Tau is located at the Department of Communication Design (COMD) of New York City College of Technology, part of the City University of New York. Previous Gold Key honorees are identified in the table below.

The 2015 Gold Key Awards dinner will be held on Thursday, May 28 at Club 101, 101 Park Avenue, New York City (between 40th and 41st Streets). The event starts at 6:30 pm. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact City Tech’s Frank Adae at (718) 260-5833; e-mail: fadae@citytech.cuny.edu. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

Gold Key Award Recipients, 2000-2014

2000
Prof. James Hanratty
Kin Wah Lam

2001
Patrick Henry
Susan G. Greenwood
Annette Wolf-Bensen

2002
Joseph A. Prestino
Dawn Nye
Jerry McCauley
2003
Frank J. Romano
Michael R. Brice
Jean Bourges
2004
Harvey R. Levenson, Ph.D
Scott C. Cornish

2005
Jack Powers
Michael Esposito
2006
Hans Max
Donald A. Berkowitz

2007
Hoag Levins
Thomas Saggiomo

2008
Lawrence Herbert
Ann Marie Bushell
2009
Diane Romano
Russell K. Hotzler, Ph.D

2010
Michael Cunningham, Ph.D
Florence Jackson

2011
Bob Sacks
2012
Vicki R. Keenan
John D’Onofrio

2013
Mike Connors

2014
Howard Weinstein
Mark Darlow

A list of all recipients since 1956 is available here.

 

 

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Edison Litho & Printing Corp.
Acquires Compass Display Group

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Edison Litho & Printing Corp. (North Bergen, NJ) has announced its acquisition of Compass Display Group (Kennesaw, GA), an award-winning company that delivers both temporary and permanent point-of-sale materials and displays. A leader in the point-of-sale display industry, Compass will become a new business unit of Edison Litho and will operate under the name Edison Compass Display Group. The Edison Compass transition will be led by Edison COO Joseph Ostreicher along with the existing Compass management team.

“The move to acquire Compass allows Edison Litho to offer our clients permanent displays and environmental graphics in addition to the vast printing options previously offered,” said Edison CEO George Gross. Ostreicher noted, “We are committed to embracing the new age and to servicing all of our clients’ needs and do whatever it takes to keep our customers happy.”

Edison Compass’s Georgia location provides a strategic complement to Edison’s existing location in North Bergen. With the Jersey plant working at near capacity, the acquisition of the Georgia plant will enable Edison to service its Southwestern client base in a more cost-effective way. With this increased capacity, Edison Compass will offer their services and seek new opportunities in the Southern markets.

A provider of large-format and high volume printing for many of the world’s biggest brands and retailers for over 55 years, Edison Litho has served North America’s largest companies in a wide range of industries including retail, product manufacturing, entertainment, and packaging.

Launched in 1998, Compass Display Group has been a source of temporary and permanent point-of-sale programs for the past 15 years. Among its honors are awards from the Path to Purchase Institute and Global Shop (POPAI). Compass also has been named by Creative magazine as one of the top 50 POP companies in the U.S.

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Printing Industries Alliance – Long Island Shows Them the Money with Program on Sources of Business Financing

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PIA-LI-finance-meeting.011415From left, speakers Richard Amsterdam, Thomas E. Dolan, Keith Lawlor, and Nicholas Terzulli, with Printing Industries Alliance – Long Island program organizers Greg Demetriou, Richard Schielke, and Bill Dirzulaitis

Smart printers never leave money on the table. The trick, though, is knowing where all the tables are. That’s no easy task when it comes to locating sources of public and private funding for business development, especially in the high-cost environment of Long Island.

The Long Island branch of Printing Industries Alliance made the search a little easier for members who attended its recent winter meeting on the theme of “Where’s the Money?” and how to go about obtaining it. As the guest speakers, a banker and three representatives of local government agencies said that financial assistance is available to printers willing to ask for it and able to work with providers that want to help.

The Babylon Industrial Development Agency, for example, lends a hand by doing whatever it can to make it easier for businesses to relocate to or grow within the town’s boundaries. Resources include fast-track bureaucratic approvals, tax abatements and extensions, and tax-exempt bonds. Thomas E. Dolan, a senior project manager for the agency, urged printers in Babylon or those thinking of setting up shop there to contact his office whenever they plan capital improvements or other kinds of expansion.

According to Keith Lawlor, a vice president for TD Bank, “there’s free money out there” for business development because of declining interest rates on commercial rates on commercial loans. Banks have to compensate by stepping up their lending volume. That’s good news for would-be borrowers, said Lawlor, but it also means closer scrutiny by the banks of the qualifications of loan applicants—even customers who have been doing business with their banks for decades.

Bank financing usually is the key to one company’s acquiring another, and on Long Island, said Lawlor, the pace of mergers and acquisitions has been brisk. The type of M&A lending that banks prefer is the arrangement in which the seller partially finances the transaction by holding a note of repayment, leaving the bank to provide the rest of the funding to the buyer. He said that selling printers should be realistic about what they can expect in terms of multiple of EBITDA, a calculation that determines the selling price. (EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Desirable companies have high EBITDA multiples; less attractive companies, smaller ones.)

Lawlor urged printers to get their financials in order now, even if they are not yet at the point of applying for a loan. “It’s all about what’s on paper,” he said, explaining that applicants must be prepared to document their ability to repay what they borrow. The most challenging loans to finance, he said, are those for working capital in which the collateral is the borrower’s accounts receivable—a volatile asset that can be hard for banks to base decisions on.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) doesn’t make loans for working capital, but it does provide lending for fixed-asset acquisition through The 504 Company—a not-for-profit corporation it established in 1981 to administer the SBA 504 Loan Program in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Coordinating it for the three states is the New York Business Development Corporation (NYBDC), represented at the PIA-LI meeting by Richard Amsterdam, its vice president.

Through the 504 program, he said, NYBDC can provide 40% percent of the fixed-rate loan amount in partnership with a bank that finances most of the remainder. All business sectors except the adult and gaming industries are eligible for loans that can range from $50,000 to $5 million.

The idea is to enable businesses to acquire fixed assets while retaining the working capital they need for growth and job creation. Amsterdam said the program recently worked well for a printer who obtained $4.3 million in financing to buy and install a new offset press using the invoice value of the machine as collateral. Processing and approval of 504 program loans, he said, takes only about 30 days on SBA’s end—the same as the bank.

High taxes on businesses, acknowledged Nicholas Terzulli, director of business development for the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, represent the “biggest barrier to growth and entry in Nassau County—hands down.” He said that while his agency can’t necessarily lower the rates that businesses pay, it can help to protect owners against increases while making sure that they are taking advantage of all of the incentive programs available to them.

These include real estate, sales, and use tax exemptions; mortgage recording tax abatements; and financing through tax-exempt and taxable bonds. The agency’s Local Enterprise Assistance and Development Service (LEADS) program provides direct financial assistance and other kinds of help to the county’s small and mid-sized businesses.

Nassau’s IDA coordinates its efforts with those of state agencies and local utilities, connecting businesses with these entities to break logjams and move projects forward. On Long Island, said Terzulli, “everybody loves to work together on economic development” regardless of the turf or the politics involved.

Among Nassau IDA’s recent successes, he said, is the decision by automotive retailing software developer DealerTrack to build a $150 million campus in Lake Success following 18 months of negotiations with the county to craft a package of incentives. On a smaller scale, the IDA worked with a technology company that wanted to move from the South Bronx to a safer haven on Long Island. Taking part in the conversation that sealed the deal, Terzulli said, was the chief of police of Plainview, where the company now is located.

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Mark R. Hahn Forms
 Graphic Arts Advisors, LLC

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022815.mark-hahn-forms-gaaMark R. Hahn has announced the formation of Graphic Arts Advisors, LLC, headquartered in Mountain Lakes, NJ with an additional office in Dallas, TX.

Graphic Arts Advisors, LLC is a boutique strategic financial advisory and consulting firm focused exclusively on the printing, packaging and related industries. The firm provides financial advisory services to clients with both mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital transactional needs of up to $100 million and consulting services related to valuations, corporate restructuring and turnarounds, and strategic shareholder advisory services.

In establishing GAA, Hahn noted, “Now more than ever and especially in the dynamic and ever changing marketplace in which companies in the graphic arts and related industries now operate, they need a trusted financial advisory firm working with them and on their behalf that is exclusively focused on their industry in order to build or monetize shareholder value.”

Prior to founding GAA, Hahn served as Senior Vice President of NAPL’s Business Advisory Group with primary responsibility for the group’s M&A practice. Before joining NAPL, he held several senior management positions at a diversified graphic services company, most recently as CFO/COO and Corporate Development Officer. Hahn previously served as a Managing Director of Brownstein Corporation, a nationally recognized financial advisory firm.

He is regularly quoted and published in several printing industry trade and management journals; and through his monthly blog, The Target Report, Hahn provides the printing, packaging and related industries with a high level overview of industry trends and a central source of information where owners, investors, lenders and other professionals can view information about the latest mergers, acquisitions and restructuring in the printing industry, broadly defined.

Graphic Arts Advisors, LLC is a boutique strategic financial advisory and consulting firm focused exclusively on the printing, packaging and related industries serving clients with revenues of between $5 and $100 million and transactional needs of up to $100 million. Additional information can be found on the company’s website.

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“Nous sommes CTD”

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I’ve published a piece at the WhatTheyThink blog in response to last week’s outbreak of terrorist violence in France. As the world knows, a part of this terrible drama was played out at a printing plant near Paris. I couldn’t let the symbolism of the incident pass without comment. Sad but necessary to say, as members of the printing industry, we are all in this fight for freedom of expression together.

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Scholarship Fund’s Holiday Bash Raises Spirits and Money on Behalf of Graphics Education

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122214.gcsf_holiday_bash.1Nearly 300 industry members mixed and mingled at The Art Directors Club during the GCSF holiday bash.

The mood couldn’t have been more festive, the setting more sophisticated, or the cause more worthy as nearly 300 members of the industry gathered at the Manhattan gallery of The Art Directors Club to celebrate the both the holidays and the outstanding work of the Graphic Communications Scholarship Foundation (GCSF).

The December 11 event was notable not only as a social get-together, but also as a revival of camaraderie among groups and clubs that continue to represent graphics professionals in the New York City metro area. Six organizations joined in supporting the holiday bash, while numerous individual friends of the industry contributed time, cash, and gifts to help make the evening a success. Veterans who remember the industry’s annual rounds of Christmastime banquets and parties of 20 to 30 years ago heard many echoes of those much-missed affairs in the clink of glasses and the buzz of conversation at the gala for GCSF.

To those who attended, the scholarship fund needed no introduction as the metro area’s leading source of stipends for young people taking academic degrees in graphic communications and related disciplines.

A 100% volunteer organization that operates without professional staff or overhead expense, GCSF has distributed a total of $416,000 in scholarships to 116 students of graphic design and production since the fund’s inception in 2002. The not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation acts as a coordinator for a large number of individual scholarship funds and gives all of the money collected through them to students attending or bound for colleges and universities with degree programs in graphic studies.

122214.gcsf_holiday_bash.2Not-so-secret Santa David Luke, a past president of the scholarship fund, emcees with the help of its current president, Jerry Mandelbaum.

Although scholarship recipients can use their stipends at any school with a recognized graphics studies program, GCSF’s hope is that most of them will bring what they learn back to the metro area by pursuing their careers here. To encourage this, GCSF has established a one-to-one mentoring program that pairs students with industry pros for 12 months at a minimum of two contact hours per month. Fifteen students currently are taking advantage of this structured opportunity to gain hands-on experience in graphics-related career fields.

GCSF’s annual scholarship awards presentation ceremony is a high point on the industry’s calendar of events. The tentative hold date for the 13th Annual GCSF Scholarship Awards Celebration and Ceremony at the Hearst Tower is Thursday, June 18, 2015. About a year and a half ago, the fund’s governing committee also began to talk about a year-end celebration to raise additional awareness for the fund and to give the industry in the metro area a new focal point for its still-vigorous fraternal spirit.

The result was the December 11 bash, which included, besides GCSF and the The Art Directors Club, the participation of Printing Industries Alliance, The Advertising Production Club of New York (APC-NY), IDEAlliance, and The Navigators (a club well remembered by many for its Service to Industry Award program). The evening also featured the inauguration of memorial scholarships in the names of industry figures Nina Wintringham and Steve Server, as well as a toy drive on behalf of the Harlem Children’s Zone. (So many toys were donated that some of them were sent to Schneider Children’s Hospital as well as to the Harlem organization.)

Richard Krasner, a past president of the fund and one of the event’s lead organizers, said that the joint support of the groups drove a turnout that enabled GCSF to cover the costs of the party at a ticket price of just $25. According to Krasner, more than a third of those who attended gave cash donations over and above the ticket price. Hearst and Time Inc. helped by buying blocks of tickets for employees.

Jerry Mandelbaum, GCSF’s current president, said that although fundraising wasn’t the primary reason for the holiday bash, the event pulled in almost $15,000 for scholarships from net proceeds, tickets and raffles, and group and individual contributions and donations.

122214.gcsf_holiday_bash.3GCSF stuffed a few holiday stockings with the help of a Chinese auction led by (from left) David Garcia, David Luke, Nick Patrissi, Diane Romano, Paul Nicholson, and Jerry Mandelbaum.

Krasner said GCSF hopes that the financial and social success of the holiday bash will turn it into a “legacy evening” that the industry can use as an occasion for celebration and good fellowship in years to come. A date for the 2015 edition of the event will be announced.

In the aftermath of any affair that comes off as happily as GCSF’s first holiday bash, thanks and recognition are due in abundance. GCSF gave a special shout-out to Olga Grisaitis and Hugo Verdeguer of The Art Directors Club for their help in making the first-floor space at the gallery on West 29th Street available for the party. Also thanked were those who contributed gifts for a fund-raising Chinese auction: Hallie Satz (Highroad Press), Paul Nicholson (Showtime), Diane Romano (Hudson Yards), David Garcia (LB Graph-X), and Ellen Hurwitch (RedTie Ltd.). Howard Weinstein got credit for sending personnel from Candid Litho to assist with setup and cleanup.

122214.gcsf_holiday_bash.4GCSF officers and trustees, from left: Jack Kott, Jerry Mandelbaum, Jessie Ann Murphy (also a GCSF scholarship recipient), David Luke, Diane Romano, Nick Patrissi, David Garcia, and Mark Darlow.

The planning committee for the holiday bash included Richard Krasner, Diane Romano, Ellen Hurwitch, and Mark Darlow. The current slate of GCSF officers includes Jerry Mandelbaum, president; Ellen Faith Hurwitch, vice president; Diane Romano, vice president; Steve Kennedy, treasurer; Nick Patrissi, secretary; and David Luke, immediate past president.

Our thanks and congratulations to everyone concerned for a swell affair and an uplifting reminder of the philanthropic unity of spirit that has always been our industry’s most distinguishing characteristic.

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Printing Industries Alliance Appoints Marty Maloney as Executive Vice President (announcement with commentary)

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marty_maloneyPrinting Industries Alliance, the trade organization dedicated to supporting the success of the New York State, northern New Jersey, and northwestern Pennsylvania graphic communications industry, announced the appointment of Martin J. Maloney as its Executive Vice President, effective on December 1, 2014.  Maloney, whose graphic communications career spans 40 years, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in every facet of the graphic communications business to the position.

Timothy Freeman, President of the Printing Industries Alliance, stated, “We are very happy to have Marty Maloney on board. His vast printing experience and skill set will be immediately utilized in several areas, including membership, marketing, events and more.  His strong voice in support of the printing industry has been heard for many years, and we now look forward to his staunch support of the Printing Industries Alliance.”

Maloney commented, “Over the years I have promoted several printers, large and small, and many of the world’s largest suppliers to graphic arts industry. Now I am taking that experience and applying it to the industry at large in perhaps its most important market.  I am very pleased to be given this important opportunity.”

Maloney is currently Chairman of Broadford & Maloney Inc. (BMI), a full-service marketing, public relations, and advertising firm dedicated to serving the needs of the graphic communications industry. Starting in December, BMI is transitioning to a public relations and marketing consultancy that will serve only a few select clients.

In the last two decades, BMI’s long-term clients included HP Indigo, The New York Times, Xerox, DuPont, Procter & Gamble, Polaroid, Agfa and many more. Also served were hundreds of printers from RR Donnelley to the corner digital print shop. Before starting his own firm, Maloney was Chief Marketing Officer for Arcata, where he served on the LBO team to facilitate the nation’s first billion-dollar leveraged buyout. Previously he was Vice President, Marketing for the Graphics Division of John Blair & Company, which had 14 printing, mailing and marketing companies including Meehan-Tooker and Alden Press.

Concurrently with BMI he was a Board Director for Cenveo, a $2 billion printing firm with 90 plants. In this role, he served as Lead Director, Chair of Corporate Governance and sat on the Audit, Compensation and Search committees. He also was a founder and first Executive Director of The Print Council, an advocacy organization for the printing industry. On the legislative side he was Chairman of a 6,000-member PAC and served on the Finance Committee for a six-term Congressman.

Maloney is a longtime member of the Advisory Board of the department of Strategic Communications, Marketing, and Media Management (SCM3), part of New York University’s School of Professional Studies.  He recently concluded a three-year term as Board Chair.  SCM3 includes the master’s degree program in Graphic Communications Management and Technology, in which Maloney teaches graduate courses as an adjunct professor.  Maloney is also a 20-year member of the Franklin Committee and was a four-time chairman of the event; he continues to serve on the Franklin Luminaire Committee. Maloney is a frequent speaker at industry functions.

Maloney will work from the newly established New York City satellite office of the Printing Industries Alliance in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in the exact center of the five boroughs and also equidistant from Long Island, northern New Jersey, western Pennsylvania, and New York’s Westchester County.  The office is located at 195 Prospect Park West, Suite 1A, Brooklyn, NY 11215. The office number is 718-499-0401.  Maloney’s direct dial and cell number is 203-912-0804. He can be reached via email at m.maloney@bmcorp.com or mmaloney@pialliance.org.

About Printing Industries Alliance
Printing Industries Alliance provides a variety of consultative, informational, and cost saving services to support its members’ success and to provide a significant ROI on their dues investment.  In addition, the organization provides industry representation to a variety of governmental entities at the local, state, and federal levels. Printing Industries Alliance is a regional affiliate of Printing Industries of America and is headquartered in Amherst, NY.

For further information contact:
Timothy Freeman
President
Printing Industries Alliance
716-691-321 / tfreeman@pialliance.org

Commentary: Marty’s impressive list of career achievements speaks for itself. But, what the announcement may not convey to those who don’t know him personally is the depth of his charismatic and inspirational leadership style. I’ve enjoyed the pleasure and the privilege of his acquaintance for many years, and, speaking also as a member of Printing Industries Alliance, can say that I’ve never seen a better match of personality to position than the one that underlies Marty’s acceptance of this important job. In recruiting Marty, Tim Freeman has picked someone fully capable of sustaining the exemplary tradition of industry service established by Vicki Keenan, Marty’s predecessor in the role. The fact that he’ll be representing the association from a home base in Brooklyn means that at long last, NYC-metro printers will have a resident spokesperson and a problem-solver for the five boroughs in their midst once more. Here’s wishing Marty all the best, and here’s a salute to Printing Industries Alliance for a brilliant choice on behalf of its members everywhere.

—Pat Henry

 

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PIA Announces Retirement of Vice President Vicki Keenan, Who Will Be Honored at the 2014 Franklin Luminaire Awards Event

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090414.vicki_keenan_retirementThe 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.

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Joel Quadracci of Quad / Graphics Keynotes at PRIMEX East Conference in New York City

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PH & JOEL QUADRACCI @ PRIMEX EAST.081314 Joel Quadracci (right) is interviewed by Patrick Henry at PRIMEX East.

On June 19, 2014, I had the privilege of interviewing Joel Quadracci, chairman, president, and CEO of Quad / Graphics Inc., in his keynote presentation at PRIMEX East, a leadership conference in New York City sponsored by IDEAlliance, Quad, and other industry partners. Answering my questions on behalf of WhatTheyThink, and fielding numerous additional questions from the audience, Quadracci covered a wide range of subjects relating to the state of the industry and Quad’s role in it. IDEAlliance has now posted the video recording of the nearly hour-long interview along with recordings of most of the other PRIMEX East sessions. These include remarks on the outlook for the U.S. Postal Service by its Postmaster General, Patrick R. Donahoe; and a report on the continuing turmoil in the periodical distribution industry by a leading authority in the field, John Harrington of Harrington Associates.

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