Direct Mail Printer IWCO Direct to Close Lithographic Printing Plant in Minnesota (piworld.com)
Last June, Chanhassen, Minnesota-based IWCO Direct announced a two-year, $50 million expansion plan, the largest in the 52-year history of the the direct marketing solutions provider. Part of those expenditures includes the installation of high-speed inkjet printing presses, largely in response to changing direct mail client needs for more highly personalized, data-driven campaigns, produced in shorter runs with rapid turn times. This new omnichannel market reality has also required IWCO Direct CEO John Ashe and his executive team to make difficult decisions about how to optimize the company's existing production facilities and remove excess capacity. As part of this, the 330 workers employed at IWCO Direct's Little Falls, Minn., lithographic printing, letter shop, and commingling plant were told last week that the 200,000-sq.-ft., leased facility — located 100 miles north of Minneapolis in a town of 8,500 residents nestled along the banks of the Mississippi River — will close by Jan. 2, 2022.