Agoura Hills, CA - PIP Printing executives recently honored top performing franchisees and staff, handing out more than 75 awards for achievements in sales, quality printing and ongoing contributions to the PIP Printing network. The franchisees and employees were recognized for their accomplishments during PIP Printing's national convention on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Steve Collins of Englewood, Colorado, was honored for his outstanding contributions and named PIP Printing's Franchisee of the Year. The Franchisee of the Year award is given to an individual who not only runs a successful and efficient PIP Printing operation, but to one who has also made significant contributions to reinforce and improve the franchise network, by supporting and encouraging fellow franchisees and working to strengthen the PIP network. "Steve has demonstrated overall business management excellence and outstanding customer service. He is one of the top-performing PIP Printing centers in our franchise network of nearly 450 locations," said Catherine Monson, president of PIP Printing. Together, PIP Printing's Top 10 operations produced an impressive sales volume of nearly $29 million in 1999, which was a record-breaking number. Tom Unthank, PIP Printing's vice president of franchise services, presented the awards. "PIP Printing's Top 10 franchisees excel in business management and providing high-quality printing and copying services in an extremely competitive marketplace," said Unthank. "Their progressive management style has enabled them to adapt quickly to changes in technology and operate state-of the-art printing centers to handle all of their customers' business printing needs. PIP Printing's Top 10 *The Fulner family, represented at the conference by Tom D. Fulner, Carol Sandburg and Scott Fulner, of Indianapolis, Indiana and Nashville, Tennessee. *Dan and Pam Tiedt and Trey and Lisa Waldrop of Iowa City, Iowa, and Norcross, Georgia. *John and Jan Tatham and Shelley Bramstedt, Anchorage, Alaska. *Scott Cochran, Peoria, Illinois. *Gail and Tom Preisser, Worthington, Ohio. *David, Eileen and Justin Tracy, Riverside, California. *Bill and Cindy Preisser, Schaumburg, Illinois. *Dale and John Edson, Indianapolis, Indiana. *Bob and Claudia Pelzek and Vicki and Michael Tarby, Springfield, Massachusetts. *Ed Horwich and Bill Kirsch, Burbank, California. PIP Printing's Volume Increase Percentage (VIP) award recognizes the operations that achieve the largest volume increase percentage from one year to the next. "The fact that our award-winning VIP franchisees achieved significant sales increases in highly competitive markets is a testament to their dedication to consistently deliver products and services that exceed their customers' expectations," said Monson. For operations that started with $1 million in 1998, the winner was Ray Truluck, of Greenville, South Carolina. David and Susan Spillers, of Reno, Nevada, were the winners in the $500,000 to $1 million category. Donald Stocks, of Greenville, North Carolina, locked up the category of up to $500,000. Pride and creativity abound in the PIP Printing network. The Masters Quality Printing Awards honor quality achievement in both digital imaging and traditional offset categories. Three of PIP's Top 10, Tom Fulner, Scott Fulner and Dan and Pam Tiedt, captured nearly half of the trophies. Additional winners include Camille Meldrum, Moreno Valley, California; Jim and Joann Bialosky, Solon, Ohio; Ovid Culler and Walter Burgess, Anderson, South Carolina; Alan and Chris Mimms, Greensboro, North Carolina; Myra and Gary Hennes, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Kay and Ray McNaught, Sacramento, California; Christopher Spoto, Erie, Pennsylvania; and Michael and Freddie Franklin, Beaverton, Oregon. Managers of the Year awards go to those key employees who run PIP Printing centers in a highly efficient manner and demonstrate superior staff management and development skills, and excel in customer service. The winners are: *North Central Region - Michael Badour (Dominic and Margaret Mencarini, franchisees, Rockford, Illinois). *South Central Region - Debbie Parler (Jimmy and Judy Brumley, franchisees, Burlington, North Carolina). *Western Region - Robert Graves (John and Jan Tatham and Shelley Bramstedt, franchisees, Anchorage, Alaska). Outstanding performances by top salespeople were also recognized in several categories: National Salesperson of the Year - total sales volume and growth over prior year *Mike Vania (John and Jan Tatham and Shelley Bramstedt, franchisees, Anchorage, Alaska). *Teri Manley (Elnore and Keith Hamilton, franchisees, Stockton, California). Salesperson of the Year - total sales volume and growth over prior year *North Central Region *Sam Krafty (Gail and Tom Preisser, franchisees, Worthington, Ohio). *Michael Kubasek (Judy Kubasek, franchisee, Middleburg Heights, Ohio). *South Central Region *Rob Kohls (Scott Fulner, franchisee, Nashville, Tennessee). *Kathy Hetrick (Ray Truluck, franchisee, Greenville, South Carolina). Salesperson of the Year (Franchisees) *Western Region - Buzz Jones, West Sacramento, California. *North Central Region - Michael Tarby, Springfield, Massachusetts. *South Central Region - Judy Brumley, Burlington, North Carolina. Rookie of the Year *Western Region - Joani Fuller (Pete DeMatteo, franchisee, Goleta, California). *South Central Region - Lee Whitaker (Jimmy and Judy Brumley, franchisees, Burlington, South Carolina). PIP Printing executives also expressed thanks to dedicated franchisees for their outstanding and ongoing contributions to the PIP network while participating as committee members. Those receiving recognition include Steve Collins, Englewood, Colorado; Bob Jaffe, Boca Raton, Florida; Mark Lake, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; Steve Liss, Newburgh, New York; Linda Ramirez, Paramus, New Jersey; Dennis Ridge, Manhattan Beach, California; Steve Sax, Lauderhill, Florida; Steve Solotoff, Livingston, New Jersey; Sherry Swim, Paradise, California; and Dan Tiedt, Iowa City, Iowa. More than 450 PIP Printing franchisees, family, key employees and vendors attended the four-day conference that included one of the largest franchise printing exhibitor shows held in the United States, along with sessions that focused on printing industry technology and trends, e-commerce, marketing and business planning. PIP Printing also unveiled its new e-commerce enabled Web site, pip.com. Each franchisee now has another tool with which to provide excellent customer service to fulfill his customers' business printing needs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers can access a franchisee's Web site via www.pip.com or by logging directly on to the individual franchisee's URL. PIP Printing, a leader in the business-to-business printing industry, offers a full-range of print services and cutting-edge document management solutions, including digital file transfer technology. Headquartered in Agoura Hills, California, PIP Printing was founded in 1965 and today has a network of nearly 450 locations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.