The Gilman Brothers Company Renews SGP Gold Patron Status

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company introduced The_Loft@RRD, a new innovation platform that connects companies with people, technologies and strategies to accelerate their digital transformation and achieve innovation at scale. Investment in transformational technologies is growing at a 17.5% compound annual growth rate and is expected to reach $7.4 trillion between 2020 and 2023, according to IDC. Yet this investment does not always translate into strategic improvements. In 2018, Gartner found that while 66% of CIOs believed they were transforming their businesses, only 10% actually were doing so, based on their descriptions of the digital initiatives in place. To close this gap and help enterprises execute on their goals, The_Loft @RRD is an “Innovation-as-a-Service” platform physically located in RRD’s Chennai center.

Modern Litho-St. Louis, a full-service commercial printer and mailer, announces it has acquired Scotts Printing of Rolla effective December 31st, 2022. Serving similar clientele, Scotts Printing operation pairs well with the business model of Modern Litho’s St. Louis facility, located on The Hill at 5111 Southwest Ave. “Scotts Printing has had a successful presence in the regional print industry for many years with well-established customer relationships and high standards of service. We are grateful to have them on board and look forward to a bright future,” commented Skip Bray, Modern Litho- St. Louis President.

It’s not a major surprise, really, that our 38th annual ranking of the largest printing industry companies in the U.S. and Canada, as ranked by annual sales, is now the 2021 Printing Impressions 300 — and not the Printing Impressions 350 that appeared in 2020. After all, the majority of the graphic arts businesses on our venerable list reported their calendar 2020 annual sales as their most recent fiscal year, with calendar 2019 representing their previous year sales. Given the onslaught, and subsequent shutdowns, of many segments of the U.S. economy beginning in March 2020 due to COVID-19, it’s understandable that CEOs of commercial printing companies were not racing to report their annual sales numbers. And, although the printing industry was ultimately deemed “essential,” many of the vertical markets that these primarily privately-held printing businesses serve were not. Combine that with all the business uncertainty among marketers, brand owners, retailers, and other print buyers, it’s no surprise that many companies appearing on our 2021 list in this issue reported double-digit annual revenue drops.