July 16, 2004-  With almost 3,300 firms combined registered vendors approved to provide services to the Government Printing Office (GPO), Maryland and Pennsylvania rank first and second in the amount of federal printing work obtained and produced by the private sector. With the average profit margin in the printing industry running at less than 2% (according to the Printing Industries of America), GPO work had become an essential pool of work to supplement commercial work, maintain profitability, and retain jobs. Maryland companies produced $60,074,893 of work bought by the GPO during the last full Federal Fiscal Year, a figure that is directly related to its proximity to Washington, DC.  Two of the 21 procurement offices are in the Nation's Capitol and buy 59% of the $400 million outsourced each year.  Maryland firms that obtained GPO work were able to individually place an average of $369,000 to their bottom line. Pennsylvania, which has historically been the home for more employees in the print industry than any other state, produced $48,641,456 during the same period.  Compared to Maryland, however, Pennsylvania companies that obtained work averaged $501,000.  According to Mark Witzigman of Migu Press in Warminster, PA, GPO work is an important element to overall profits at his 25 person business. "As with many vendors, we do a good job for the government and, in turn, receive valuable sales with a swift cash flow that helps you stay afloat in slow times," Witzigman says.  "After spending considerable time and effort to create this market, loss of GPO work would create slowdowns and even a layoff potential." After Maryland and Pennsylvania, other states receiving the most GPO volume into their economies were California, Ohio, Missouri, New York, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, and Georgia.