CHARLOTTE, NC (FEBRUARY 3, 2006) – The Foundation of The Printing Industry of the Carolinas, Inc. has announced that the PrintForce Teachers’ Conference, held in late January, was a resounding success. The conference, held at the Harper Campus of Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, featured general sessions on a number of informative topics aimed at teaching printing to students as well as hands-on training and demonstrations. An informative session on bindery techniques was presented by J.B. DuRard of Bindtech, Inc. in Nashville, TN. DuRard also presented samples of specialty bookbinding applications. Nona Woolbright and John Leininger of Clemson University led the general session on flexo and litho press operations, including tips on equipment maintenance and supplies. Zach Blackburn of Central Piedmont Community College taught the teachers how to separate an image for extended grayscale gamut production in the advanced screen printing general session, and John Craft with Appalachian State University led an informative session on Prepress: RIPs, Traps, Calibration and Font Management. Terrie Duncan with PICA led the industry/careers overview general session. Woolbright and Leininger led the flexo and litho breakout sessions, respectively, and Jeff Stoudt with PICA instructed the educators on teaching color. “This conference was wonderful!” said Jill Pack with New Hanover High School in Wilmington, NC. “It was well-organized and had great information.” Attendees also participated in Classroom/Lab Management Roundtables during a barbeque lunch, which was catered by Jimmie Hammitt of Mac Papers in Charlotte. The conference was sponsored by Mac Papers, Bindtech, Central Piedmont Community College, Clemson University, and Appalachian State University. Scholarship sponsors were John Goodell, Anderson-Vreeland and The Phoenix Challenge. The annual Teachers’ Conference is part of PrintForce, the workforce development initiative spearheaded by the PICA Foundation to increase awareness of careers in the Carolinas’ printing industry, improve graphic arts education, provided continuing education, and recruit and develop graphic arts teachers. For more information on PrintForce, contact PICA at (704) 357-1150 or [email protected]. The Printing Industry of the Carolinas, Inc. (PICA) is a trade association representing the graphic communications industry in North and South Carolina. North Carolina ranks as the 14th largest state print market in the United States with $4.0 billion in sales, 975 total printing establishments and 26,328 employees. South Carolina ranks 31st in the nation with $1.5 billion in sales, 374 establishments and 9,675 employees. Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, it is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2006.