In February, NAPL - the National Association for Printing Leadership, formalized the intentions of I. Gregg Van Wert to step down as president and CEO of the 69-year-old association at the end of this year. His decision was planned and follows a career with the Association that spans almost 30 years of industry service. He has served as NAPL’s President and CEO since January, 1992.

NAPL simultaneously announced that a management transition had commenced which would elevate Joseph P. Truncale to the position of NAPL President on January 1, 2003. Truncale has served as NAPL’s Executive Vice President since 1992.

I. Gregg Van Wert joined NAPL in 1973 as Director of Communications. He was named Executive Vice President in 1982. In the intervening years, he headed NAPL’s Member Relations and Exhibits Departments, serving as Director and Exhibit Manager of the Graph Expo series of industry expositions prior to formation of the Graphic Arts Show Company.

Joseph P. Truncale joined the staff of NAPL in 1984 as Director of Member Relations. In 1988 he was given the added title of Senior Staff Director. He was named Executive Vice President in 1992.

We were able to interview Gregg and Joe recently. We asked them about this leadership transition and have divided the interview into two parts. Below, Gregg Van Wert gives his perspective on the industry and changes over the years at NAPL. In part two, Joe Truncale shares his thoughts going forward and what the future holds for NAPL and the printing industry.

WTT: You have served as NAPL’s president for over ten years, and you’ve served the organization for almost 30 years. In this long span of time, you’ve seen the printing industry change significantly. What are some of the most significant changes from your perspective?

Gregg Van Wert: Without question, technological and structural change have had tremendous impact on our industry over the past 10 years. In effect, these changes have redefined the printing industry. Some say these changes will lead to the demise of print.

Certainly, technological advancements have driven customer needs and expectations that position our industry far differently from anything I envisioned in the early 90s, much less the early 70s. I believe, however, that prognostications of print as a dying industry, or even as a mature industry, should be viewed with suspicion. While it may be true that some of print’s traditional markets will never regain their vigor, it is also true that entirely new markets are developing. Advancing technologies and customer expectations which have limited the success of so many companies in recent years, have simultaneously given rise to evolving business strategies for just as many others.

I believe that the most significant change that NAPL’s new administration will confront is a positive one. In the coming months and years, NAPL will face a printing industry economy whose growth is driven by new markets, and is evolving in a way for printers to position themselves as providers of value-adding communications solutions that surround their existing core manufacturing competencies. Not everyone will successfully make the shift away from being a commodity, ink-on-paper producer. For those who do, their best years are still ahead.


WTT: During your tenure, the organization changed its focus and its name to emphasize the concept of leadership. Tell us about that change.

Gregg Van Wert: In the early years of the 1930s, our industry was introduced to photo lithography, a new technology that offered improvements over traditional letterpress methods of reproduction. In 1933, the National Association of Photo Lithography was founded to help printers understand and apply this new technology. The fact is, NAPL would not exist were it not for change. Our new name reflects NAPL’s early commitment to help printers master change. It represents the ongoing leadership position our Association has taken for nearly 70 years in helping printers understand, apply, and profit from advancing technologies, evolving print markets, and shifting economies. As these evolving technologies and markets continue to reshape and redefine our industry, the need for leadership will become even more pressing. Our new name was selected because it represents NAPL’s absolute commitment to occupying a preeminent position in providing that leadership.


WTT: As you pass on leadership to Mr. Truncale, tell us about the Association’s challenges for the future.

Gregg Van Wert: As it has always been, NAPL’s ongoing challenge will be to understand and remain focused on the needs of its members, and the value our Association provides in offering its members and the industry superior knowledge and assistance in developing member companies as learning organizations.

Staying ahead of change has never been easy. As the pace of change advances, so too will the challenges NAPL faces in its efforts to provide accurate information about what changes are likely to occur, and how they will impact and apply to a thriving business enterprise. In looking ahead, I see great opportunities that are developing for printers, including:

- Enhanced services—from variable-content digital printing and database management to Web page design and fulfillment. These represent great opportunities for printers to satisfy a far broader range of their clients’ communications needs than ever before.

- New technologies—the Internet being among the most important—that support faster, more profitable production and delivery of both our industry’s core lithographic services, and the complementary value-adds our clients now desire.

- Diversification that gets printers involved in their clients’ jobs earlier, keeps them involved longer, and elevates them from provider of a commodity to provider of communications solutions.


WTT: What’s next on your agenda? Will you still be working in the industry in some capacity?

Gregg Van Wert: I am so glad that you asked. At (a very youthful) 56, I have too much energy, and too much passion for the industry I love, to simply retire. As I approach December 31, my plan is to identify a limited number of client companies whose history I admire, and whose management I respect. Because the Association remains at the top of that list, I will continue to devote a significant portion of my time to advancing new NAPL initiatives. I also plan to work in a consultative capacity with NAPL member companies as a facilitator of strategic planning, and as a resource for public relations and marketing communications support.

Toward that end, I have established The Haven Group, a consultancy that specializes in advancing the business, communications, and planning objectives of client companies. The Haven Group will offer client services in three specialized areas:

- Drawing on my consultative experience with industry firms that have engaged me as a facilitator of strategic planning, The Haven Group will serve a select clientele as advisor on matters pertaining to business strategy.

- Using my portfolio of industry association experience, The Haven Group will support client companies and organizations that seek to benefit from my varied project management capabilities.

- Applying my communications and promotional skills acquired as editor, author, and relationship manager, The Haven Group will provide an experienced resource for client companies that seek to advance their Public Relations and marketing communications objectives.

And yes, we welcome all calls.


WTT: The economy has been the subject of much discussion even before September 11. What are the latest NAPL projections regarding the economy and the printing industry?

Gregg Van Wert: We believe that the outlook for the printing industry is promising—for printers who understand two fundamental principles of the new print economy:

- First, that they are in the communications business, not just the ink-on paper business;

- Second, that the way people communicate is changing profoundly.

Of course, our industry’s recent performance hasn’t exactly inspired. Print sales fell 3.7% in 2001, as we wrestled with our deepest recession, by far, in 20 years. Direct mail (-11.7%), promotion (-5.1%) and other advertising-based printing were hit hardest. But sales were down across all product markets, geographic zones, and company size categories. And for every printer who has seen profits rise through early 2002, three others have seen the opposite.

The good news is that the recession is finally over. The NAPL Printing Business Index hit an 18-month high in April. This comprehensive measure of print activity includes current business conditions, expected future business conditions (confidence), work-on-hand, hiring plans, and profitability trends. But that doesn’t mean we’re about to go from bust to boom. Continued weakness in corporate profits and the advertising budgets they support will limit print sales growth to 3.4%--at most—this year. Next year, however, we expect print sales to grow as much as 7.6%, as the economy and ad spending hit full stride.

If you’ll permit a brief commercial, we’d refer your readers to NAPL’s Economic Edge quarterly newsletter, and our State of the Industry Report. Both provide detailed analysis of where the markets for print are taking us. Access to this data can be gained through our Web site at www.napl.org.


WTT: Industry trade shows have become smaller over the last few years, and some say the trade show of the future will look differently. What is your take on the future of trade shows?

Gregg Van Wert: In truth, trade shows have not become smaller in recent years. Graph Expo 2000, the most recent national show produced by the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), was our largest annual show ever. Last year’s PRINT ’01, although it took place at the nadir of a plummeting economy and was directly impacted by the immediate aftermath of 9/11, was nonetheless as large as the previous quadrennial international show, PRINT 97. Although a steadily deteriorating economy, which led to consolidation in both the printer and vendor communities, may have moderated the growth of trade shows over the last 18 months, I firmly believe that the future outlook for industry trade shows overall is a very bright one.

My vantage point for these comments is my service as treasurer of the Graphic Arts Show Company, which manages most of the industry’s largest shows – regional, national and international – and of which NAPL is one-third owner, along with PIA and NPES. We are celebrating GASC’s 20th anniversary this year, and its longevity didn’t just happen. It grew out of the commitment of its staff, as well as the leaders in the graphic arts who have volunteered their passion for advancing the value of trade show participation as our industry’s technologies, markets and customer needs change with blinding speed year after year.

Yes, the GASC exhibitions of 2002 will be different than those in the past because of our industry and its needs are different. Our trade shows will continue to evolve to serve our industry better because NAPL and its GASC partners remain absolutely committed to listening to the needs of the business people who seek the kind of timely, dependable information that we believe is best presented, understood, and experienced in the comprehensive, live action "hands-on" venue of a major industry trade show.



Thank you Gregg. We appreciate your time with us and most of all, your contribution to the industry.