Reston, VA - PRIMIR, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization, the research unit of NPES, announced the recipients of its 2016 Service Awards at the NPES 2016 Annual Conference and PRIMIR Fall Meeting, held November 14 – 16, 2016 in Marco Island, Florida. Themed "PRINTscape: World-Wide Markets & Megatrends," the combined program was enriched with data and content from two new PRIMIR research studies: "Megatrends in Printing Applications" and, from the first ever co-produced study by NPES and VDMA (the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association of Germany), the "Worldwide Market for Print 2.0 —“ Packaging".

"Producing PRIMIR's tremendous portfolio of industry research takes an enormous amount of effort, professional guidance, and many volunteers who serve on each of the study task forces," stated NPES President Thayer Long, in appreciation of the dedicated volunteers who served as PRIMIR study co-chairs in 2016. 

Together, PRIMIR Immediate Past Chairman Eric Frank and PRIMIR Managing Director Rekha Ratnam acknowledged with plaques of recognition the 2016 PRIMIR task force chairs present at the meeting, which included:

• Deanna Klemesrud, Global Marketing Director-Brand & Promo, Packaging & Narrow Web at Flint Group; and, Tony Laurino, Marketing Research & Analytics for Sun Chemical, the task force co-chairs who worked diligently to produce a very successful panel presentation at last year's PRIMIR 2015 Summer Meeting, which evolved into the formal 2016 PRIMIR study, "North American Food Packaging Compliance: Impact on the Printing Industry," produced by LPC. 
• Richard Mullen, Vice President Market Development and Analysis at Domtar, for his leadership as a task force co-chair on the latest PRIMIR study, "Megatrends in Printing Applications: A Refresh and Expansion of the 2010 Study Data and Future Outlook." Recognized, as well, was Paul Jaynes, who served as a co-chair to guide this research conducted by Marco Boer of I.T. Strategies.

Equally acknowledged also for their dedication in guiding impactful recent PRIMIR research studies were:

• PRIMIR Chair Frances Cicogna, Manager, Business Development & Segment Marketing, Canon U.S.A., Inc.; and, John Foley, Jr., President/CEO, interlinkONE, for serving as co-chairs on the "Digital Printing Technology's Influence on the U.S. In-Plant Printing Market"study, and
• Chris Calomino, Marketing & Communications Manager, ACTEGA North America; and, Mark Barrington, Business Director Americas, Trelleborg Coated Systems US, Inc., for their service as co-chairs in guiding the "Coatings Market in North America by Applications and by Chemistry"study.

Frank commended as well his task force co-chair, Mark Hunt, Director, Strategic Alliances, Standard Finishing, for his guidance and work on the "Inline Finishing Solutions in the Digital and Offset World" study.

Extending appreciation on behalf of both organizations, NPES Treasurer Mark Hischar, concluded the PRIMIR Service Awards presentations by presenting a plaque of recognition to Eric Frank, Senior VP Marketing and Product Management, KBA North America, Inc. for his service as PRIMIR Chairman from 2011 to 2015.

Further, as involvement in the work on research studies is strictly voluntary, NPES and PRIMIR recognize and thank all the many task force members who participated in the 2016 studies.

For more information about PRIMIR research studies or membership, contact Rekha Ratnam at phone: 703/264-7200; e-mail: [email protected], or visit www.primir.org.