NAPL and PIA working on plans to merge

Not surprisingly, NAPL and PIA are working on plans to merge.

Quite frankly, I don’t know why there are two different associations for commercial printers anyway; to me, this has been a redundant situation for years.

Letter to National Association of Printers & Lithographers members:

February 23, 2012

Dear Valued NAPL Member

Attached you will find a copy of information relating to NAPL that is being released to the press today. (Click here to view attachment.) I am writing to you this morning because I wanted to let our members know about it prior to its general release.

In response to requests from many company and associate members, NAPLʼs leadership entered into discussions with the leadership of Printing Industries of America about the possible unification of the associations into a single entity that would best serve the interests of all our members and our industry.

The groups came together over the last few days at the Vision 3 Summit and agreed to explore this association unification. This process is complex, and will take place over a number of months, but throughout, our primary concern will be to ensure that our members derive maximum benefit from any change or consolidation.

I respectfully ask that you continue your support of NAPL during the coming months. Our staff and volunteers will continue to provide you with all of our NAPL programs and services, and I hope that you will continue to make full use of all your member benefits.

As we move forward with this effort, I will keep you informed at each step along the way, and I welcome any comments or suggestions you might have about how we can make these changes work best for you.

Sincerely,

Joseph P. Truncale, Ph.D.

NAPL President & Chief Executive Officer

(800) 642-6275, Ext. 6310

Letter to Printing Industry of America members:

February 23, 2012

At a meeting held prior to the Vision 3 Summit a group of industry leaders convened to explore opportunities to unify NAPL and Printing Industries of America.

This action was taken for several reasons: the economic conditions of the past several years, the ongoing contraction of the industry and a response to calls for action from membership and suppliers. After a full day of very productive and open discussions, the group was able to reach unanimous consensus to move forward with a plan and process to address the above issues which will greatly benefit members of the groups as well as the industry in general.

A special task force has been formed consisting of representatives from both NAPL and Printing Industries of America which will collaborate and move forward with a unification process. The boards of each organization have passed resolutions supporting the process and empowering the task force to take the steps to create a new single entity. NAPL CEO Joe Truncale and I have each expressed our full support of these efforts.

The unification process is expected to take several months to reach completion. Members of each Association are encouraged to continue to support their respective Associations.

The task force will develop a number of sub-committees to address key areas such as: strategic plan; name of the organization; staffing and leadership; local representation; programs; and location. These steps will take place over the next several months along with due diligence and legal work.

The task force is being co-chaired by Laura Lawton and Darren Loken, who are the current chairs of Printing Industries of America and NAPL respectively.

The other members of the task force are:

John Berthelsen, Suttle-Straus, Inc. Tim Burton, Burton & Mayer, Inc. Keith Kemp, Xerographic Digital Printing Michael Makin, Printing Industries of America Joe Truncale, NAPL, Jules VanSant, Pacific Printing Industries Niels Winther, Think Patented Nigel Worme, COT Media Group

For further information, please contact Darren Loken at (253) 246-0453 or Laura Lawton at (509) 534-1044. Sincerely,

Michael Makin President & CEO Printing Industries of America