Federal government printing work awarded to private sector printers has shown no signs of increasing based on third quarter data released by the United States Government Printing Office (GPO), the federal agency through which federal government agencies are to submit their printing needs.
 
Third quarter 2011 (3Q11) volume was $78 million for July through September compared to $79 million for 2Q11, $61 million for 1Q11, $66 million for 4Q10 and $82 million for 3Q10.  Total work awarded by the GPO to private sector printers in FY2010 was $358 million, and total work awarded for FY2009 was $425 million.
 
“Disturbingly, it appears we are on a course to end the year with less than $300 million awarded by the GPO to  thousands of private sector printers who depend on federal print jobs for their livelihoods,” said Deborah Snider, senior vice president of e-LYNXX Corporation and head of its Government Print Management division.  “The GPO was awarding half a billion dollars a year to the private sector in the 1990s.  Some decline can be attributed to less demand because of e-communications, but the main reason for the decline is federal agencies have been allowed to setup their own print shops in defiance of Title 44 of the United States Code.”
 
Title 44 of the U. S. Code states that all federal printing, with a few exceptions, is to be channeled through the GPO.  If, in practice, this were happening Snider said GPO work awarded to private sector printers would be a boon to an industry that very much needs a shot in the arm.  Public Printer William Boarman has said that if the estimated $800 million in print work now being done by agencies were awarded to the private sector the federal government and taxpayers could save about $400 million and the jobs created would help with the economic recovery.       

For 3Q11, the top 50 print suppliers produced for the GPO work valued at $49 million compared to $57 million for 2Q11, $39 million awarded during 1Q11 and $45 million awarded during 4Q10. Work done by the top 50 suppliers during 3Q10 was valued at $48 million.
 
Of the more than 1,423 print suppliers that obtained GPO work during 3Q11, NPC, Inc., of Claysburg, Pennsylvania, won the most work with $5,748,230 awarded to the firm.  Rounding out the top five GPO job winners for 3Q11 were Gateway Press of Louisville, Kentucky, with $3,606,682, Monarch Litho, Inc. of Montebello, California, with $3,329,197 and Pearson Custom Publishing of Boston, Massachusetts, with $2,524,410.
 
With declining GPO work, Snider said it is more important than ever for a printer to fully understand the GPO marketplace. “A printer can expect to increase its profitability from an industry average of 2%, before GPO work, to 14% or more afterwards,” she added.  “Those percentages are based on a printer working with an experienced GPO bid service firm, identifying open production capacity and offering margin pricing to fill otherwise non-productive, non-revenue generating schedule openings.”

Top 50 Contractors for the Government Printing Office – 3rd Quarter Calendar Year 2011    
                              
     Rank    Company    Location    Winnings         
     1    NPC, Inc.    Claysburg, PA    $5,748,230         
     2    Gateway Press    Louisville, KY    $3,606,682         
     3    Monarch Litho, Inc.    Montebello, CA    $3,329,197         
     4    Pearson Custom Publishing    Boston, MA    $2,524,410         
     5    Signature Graphics    Portland, OR    $2,331,420         
     6    Cenveo    Stamford, CT    $2,267,354         
     7    Sourcelink LLC    Miamisburg, OH    $2,015,542         
     8    Gray Graphics    Capitol Heights, MD    $1,909,862         
     9    McDonald & Eudy, Inc.    Temple Hills, MD    $1,651,015         
     10    National Envelope    Nashville, TN    $1,267,113         
     11    P.A. Hutchison    Mayfield, PA    $1,041,669         
     12    Compton & Sons    St. Louis, MO    $1,007,893         
     13    Coastal Mailing    Salinas, CA    $921,104         
     14    District Creative Printing    Upper Marlboro, MD    $910,449         
     15    RR Donnelley    Chicago, IL    $884,603         
     16    United Book Press    Baltimore, MD    $852,805         
     17    Colonial Press Int'l.    Miami, FL    $811,965         
     18    Envision    Wichita, KS    $795,301         
     19    Darby Printing Company    Atlanta, GA    $762,502         
     20    Fry Communications    Mechanicsburg, PA    $743,964         
     21    KD8 Enterprises    Centerville, UT    $732,324         
     22    Balmar Printing & Graphics    Gaithersburg, MD    $639,541         
     23    Litho Press    San Antonio, TX    $638,359         
     24    CRT Color Printing    Santa Fe Springs, CA    $632,752         
     25    BKR Printing    Salt Lake City, UT    $571,766         
     26    Precision Printing    Moberly, MO    $549,167         
     27    Premium & Specialty, Inc.    Medford, NJ    $517,147         
     28    Universal Printing Company    St Louis, MO    $505,738         
     29    Art Litho Company    Baltimore, MD    $491,816         
     30    Production Press    Jacksonville, IL    $490,983         
     31    ICM Conversions    Phoenix, AZ    $487,942         
     32    Intelligencer Printing    Lancaster, PA    $482,109         
     33    Alphagraphics    Boston, MA    $466,555         
     34    Banknote Corporation of America    Browns Summit, NC    $454,432         
     35    Bosworth Printing    Stoughton, MA    $451,201         
     36    Learfield Communications    Jefferson City, MO    $450,000         
     37    Printing Resources    Cleveland, OH    $414,690         
     38    West Shore Printing & Distribution    Mechanicsburg, PA    $385,160         
     39    Corporate Media Solutions, LLC    Falls Church, VA    $377,964         
     40    Printwell Acquisitions    Taylor, MI    $375,343         
     41    Data Integrators    Woodbridge, VA    $365,146         
     42    Sekan Printing    Ft. Scott, KS    $358,756         
     43    Todd Allan Printing    Beltsville, MD    $354,984         
     44    Goodway Graphics of VA    Springfield, VA    $346,163         
     45    Graphic Visions & Associates    Gaithersburg, MD    $346,072         
     46    Nocona Envelope & Tag    Nocona, TX    $342,144         
     47    The Standard Register Company    Dayton, OH    $337,475         
     48    Pinnacle Data Systems    Hoover, AL    $322,134         
     49    Consolidated Graphics    Houston, TX    $320,559         
     50    Las Vegas Color Graphics    Las Vegas, NV    $311,894         
                              
This list was compiled exclusively by Government Print Management®, a division of e-LYNXX Corporation.