PARAMUS, N.J., and WHITE STONE, Va., Sept. 10, 2002—The Board of Directors of the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) and the members of the Research and Engineering Council of the Graphic Arts Industry, Inc. (R&E Council) have approved a merger of the two printing industry trade associations.  The combination is expected to enhance the value of membership in both organizations significantly as it preserves the identity and mission of the R&E Council, which is being renamed the R&E Council of NAPL. Under the agreement, all members of the R&E Council and their companies are being enrolled as full corporate members of NAPL.  “We believe that our consolidation with the R&E Council will establish a new ‘gold standard’ for membership benefits among printing industry organizations,” said I. Gregg Van Wert, president and CEO of NAPL. “By complementing each other’s traditional strengths in our areas of special expertise, NAPL and its R&E Council will add new depth and desirability to what is already the industry’s premier selection of member services.  “Because the NAPL and R&E Council cultures and foundational values are so closely aligned, we’re confident that the merger of our two associations will enrich members of both organizations, as well as the printing industry as a whole,” he added.  “NAPL is the perfect home for the R&E Council,” said Ron Mihills, managing director. “Its long history of dedication to advancing the industry, its forward-looking approach to helping its members manage and profit from change, and its culture of superior member service all dovetail perfectly with the aims of the R&E Council and its future goals.”  The R&E Council of NAPL will be managed from NAPL’s headquarters in Paramus, N.J., and Mihills will join NAPL as the council’s senior staff executive. In addition, two R&E Council officers will be named for election to the NAPL Board of Directors.                        The merger, which grew out of the strategic alliance that was established last year between the two organizations, will provide expanded services to both groups. While R&E Council members will benefit from access to NAPL’s printing management and economic resources, NAPL members will have access to the R&E Council’s resources for educating printing industry personnel in the latest technologies and productivity improvement methods. These include “Progress in the Pressroom,” “Digital Smart Factory Forum,” “Critical Trends in Printing & Publishing Technology,” and the “Binding, Finishing & Distribution Conference.”  NAPL and its R&E Council will draw upon this knowledge base in continuing these and other conferences and initiatives designed to facilitate the practical and profitable management and integration of technologies.                                    The formation of the R&E Council of NAPL is expected to “exceed the sum of the parts” by combining the best of what each organization does in important new ways. “Although we are renowned for our leadership in management training and print industry econometrics, NAPL traditionally has been less involved than the R&E Council in programs relating to the practical integration and application of emerging technologies,” said Joseph P. Truncale, NAPL executive vice president. “Now we will have the resources and the expertise to link NAPL’s proficiency on the business side to the R&E Council’s strength in print-specific technical education. This will enable us to develop programs that will help our members attain excellence across the full spectrum of their companies’ operations.”  Chartered in 1933, NAPL is a not-for-profit trade association representing some 2,000 printing companies in the $88 billion commercial printing industry. Its mission is to “enable the printing community to profit from change” through a full range of management, educational, and economic information services to its membership.  In addition to on-site training at its Center for Professional Development in Paramus and its Management Institute leadership program at Northwestern University, NAPL provides consulting services and an annual Top Management Conference for printing executives. The organization’s Printing Economics Research Center, a source of late-breaking data and analysis on trends within the graphic arts industry, produces its Economic Edge newsletter and annual State of the Industry Report. It publishes Printing Manager magazine, proprietary newsletters, books, and special reports, and NAPL Blue Book Cost Studies. NAPL is one-third owner of the Graphic Arts Show Company, which produces such major events as GRAPH EXPO and PRINT.  The R&E Council, which was founded in 1950, is a worldwide technical trade association whose membership comprises printers, publishers, vendors, suppliers, educators, and consultants. In addition to its conferences, the organization holds technology breakfasts at key industry trade shows and conducts two Steering Committee meetings at which critical trends affecting the graphic arts industry are explored in depth.