Following the Printing Industry of America’s (PIA) agreement with APTech (formerly NPES) to relinquish its ownership in the Graphic Arts Show Company (producer of Print/Graph Expo), the association was bound by a three-year non-compete agreement, which has now expired. That led to the much-anticipated merger of PIA with the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) effective May 1, 2020. As a result of the merger, Ford Bowers was elevated to President and CEO of the combined organization. Michael Makin, current President and CEO of Printing Industries of America, became an Executive Vice President of the unified organization. We spoke with Bowers to glean more details.

Printing News: Ford, first of all, congratulations on the merger. Perhaps you can explain for our readers why this was a merger and not an acquisition.

Ford Bowers: In the trade association world, you can’t acquire because there is no stock. There are different mechanisms for combining associations. You can officially do a merger where you create an entirely new corporate entity, or you can have a merger where one survives and the other gets folded in—which is what is happening in the background here. Both organizations were 501c6 trade associations, qualified non-profit organizations. In this merger, the underlying legal entity that was PIA goes away and SGIA survives but will be renamed to reflect the fact that it is, in effect, a new organization.