Some in the industry may breathe a sigh of relief on June 13, and not just because it’s the 89th anniversary of the day on which the U.S. Postal Service declared—we’re not making this up—that children could no longer be sent through the mail via parcel post. This year, June 13 marks the end of a promotion by Staples that offers free résumé and business card printing to job-hunters. (There was a similar giveaway by FedEx Office in March.) In the meantime, printers will carry on marking the days in their own way, just as these newsmakers have: • The Atlanta Business Chronicle recently carried a guest editorial by Hoyt Tuggle, president of Graphic Communications Corp. (Lawrenceville, GA), on that company’s exceptional efforts to go green. The plan includes repurposing the heat generated by a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102 offset press to help warm the bindery department in the cold winter months. The underground pressroom is warmed entirely by the heat from the equipment it contains, further reducing energy consumption. In another story about the company, the Chronicle reported that its CEO, Ann Stallard, has been named to chair the board of United Way of America. • When Omnipress (Madison, WI) decided that it needed a better way to manage the production of the conference and meeting materials that it provides to trade associations and other educational groups, it turned to the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. By applying QRM principles developed by UW-Madison professor emeritus Rajan Suri, Omnipress was able to cut the production cycle for offset-printed bound books from 19 days to 10. The same principles helped to slash the turnaround of CD-based conference materials by 70%. Omnipress CEO David McKnight credits QRM with taking the entire company to a new level of efficiency and competitiveness. Get the full story here. • Public News Service used Bartlett Art Printing & Graphic Design (Bartlett, TN) as a case in point in a story about the effects of prohibitively expensive health care on small businesses in Tennessee. Bartlett Art proprietor Paul Crum is quoted as saying that the high cost of health insurance prevents him from hiring the help he needs, even though he would like to provide jobs. He also says that he pays almost as much for personal health coverage as he does for rent. The story contains a link to a FamiliesUSA report on rising health care costs which claims, among other things, that from 2000 to 2008, the total percentage of firms offering health coverage declined by 6 percentage points (from 69% of firms offering coverage to 63%), with small businesses being the most likely to drop coverage. • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan’s loss has become Indianapolis, Indiana’s gain now that Printing Technologies has announced its intention to move Mercury Tickets, a sports, entertainment and transit ticketing company, south of the border. According to a story at TicketNews, an online news service for the ticket industry, Mercury Tickets had been a major player in the field until the economic downturn and labor difficulties caused it to lose major accounts. Printing Technologies, an erstwhile competitor, has acquired Mercury’s assets and will relocate all operations to its Indianapolis headquarters. According to the story, “many” former Mercury employees are expected to follow their jobs to the new location, although a few will continue to staff an office in Saskatoon. • Congratulations to Sam and Karen Morenings at Universal Printing (Bristol, VA) on being cited by WJHL-TV (News Channel 11) as the owners of an outstanding small business in the Tri-Cities region of southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee. The firm, started by the Morenings 20 years, offers standard commercial products as well as custom-produced specialty items. The online version of the story features a film clip of the Morenings at work, including a shot of a vintage platen press that appears to be diecutting or perforating. “It’s got to be in your blood,” says Karen of business life as a small printer. “You’ve got to love it.” Want to see more roundups like this at A Printing Office? Let us know. If your company has made news locally, please tell us where to find it, and we’ll post it here for all to read.