PRINT United Focus Group: Printing Industry Realizes Alignment, Growth

Over 120 attendees from all over the world came to the Security Day hosted by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) for the first time in Wiesloch in mid-July. Using identification document printing (ID printing) and meaningful examples from the plastic card industry, the company showed that it has been the reliable partner for these applications for many years.

Kansas City, MO-based Richardson Communications Group, a leading printer in the Midwest for nearly a century, has been acquired by Kingston Printing, Eudora, KS, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary as a premier, independent commercial printer. Graphic Arts Advisors, LLC (GAA), Mountain Lakes, NJ, a strategic financial advisory and consulting firm devoted exclusively to all sectors of the graphic communications industry, represented Richardson in the transaction. GAA Director Michael Wurst served as lead advisor on the engagement, with Mark Hahn, GAA Senior Managing Director, providing support. John Hyde, Esq., GAA Managing Director, is advising Richardson on the post-sale wind-down and creditor settlement negotiations. Combining Richardson’s customer relationships and capabilities with Kingston’s operations creates a full-service, robust company offering clients a broad spectrum of printing and marketing services. With similarities in terms of 2019 sales volume ($5.2 million for Richardson and $6 million for Kingston) and number of employees (Richardson with 35 and Kingston with 36), the two firms had different areas of specialty and equipment.

Members of the printing, publishing and paper-producing industries, which employ more than 600,000 workers, are announcing the formation of Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers (STOPP), a coalition to fight proposed countervailing duties (CVD) and anti-dumping duties (AD) on imports of Canadian uncoated groundwood papers, including newsprint and other papers. These preliminary duties, which were assessed by the Department of Commerce in January and March, respectively, are the result of a petition filed by one company, North Pacific Paper Co. (NORPAC), an outlier in the paper industry that is looking to use the U.S. government for its own financial gain. The STOPP coalition is concerned that these CVD and AD duties, which range up to 32 percent combined, will saddle U.S. printing and publishing businesses with increased costs and threaten thousands of American jobs. The Coalition is asking the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Congress to reject these newsprint tariffs and protect U.S. jobs. With the announcement, STOPP has launched a new website: www.stopnewsprinttariffs.org and is inviting other interested parties to join in the fight to overturn these tariffs. Click Read More below for additional information.