“Even in this tough economy, industry leaders continue to buck the trends and look for something new. And they inevitably come out of downturns in better shape than they went in relative to competitors.”
 
That was how Tim Fischer, chief operating officer and senior consultant, National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), opened “The Digital Balance Sheet: Driving Profits in a Tough Economy” Thought Leadership Workshop sponsored by Xerox Corporation. The two-day workshop at Xerox’s Gil Hatch Center for Customer Innovation attracted about 40 company owners, presidents, chief financial officers and other financial executives for sessions aimed at helping them strengthen their businesses’ financial models and drive profits in the economic downturn.
 
Fischer’s presentation examined the critical metrics leading companies track and analyze to continuously improve their businesses.
 
Joseph Rickard, president, Intellective Solutions, joined with Gavin Jordan-Smith, vice president, Commercial Print and Pre-Media and Premier Partners Global Network, Xerox Corporation, to lead the workshop. Rickard also spoke on success strategies for print businesses and on pricing for digital print.
 
A number of Xerox executives also presented. Their topics included today’s financial options for acquiring capital systems and tools for value-based pricing and managing and growing digital businesses. Each attendee received the book Renewing the Printing Industry, by Dr. Joe Webb, director of WhatTheyThink.com's Economics and Research Center.
 
Attendee David Zamorski is chief operation officer, Associates Graphic Services, Wilmington, Del., which has grown its digital business 13 percent so far this year over the same time period last year.  “Programs like this one at the Gil Hatch Center help companies like ours stay focused on the areas of our business that can deliver the highest returns,” he said. He found the workshop helpful for the opportunity to network with peers and because it reminded him, he said, “to revisit the data we collected to see that we’re using it to improve our business.”