(Nashville, TN) – The Printing Industry Association of the South, Inc. (PIAS) announced the winners of its 2011 Graphic Awards at a special presentation on June 21, 2011, during the PIAS Annual Convention at the Hilton SanDestin Beach Resort in Destin, Florida.

The PIAS Graphic Awards competition, held annually, is designed to recognize and appropriately honor those responsible for the creation, design and production of top-quality printed materials; those which have impact, appeal and effectiveness as sales/marketing, communications or educational medium.

Entries were submitted in one of four divisions:  Printers with less than 25 employees; Printers with 25 to 75 employees; Printers with more than 75 employees; and Trade Houses specializing in Binding & Finishing Services.  The judges determined which would receive: the coveted Golden Ben for Best of Show; one of five Silver Bens awarded for Best of Division; mounted certificates for Best of Category; or unmounted certificates for Excellence or Merit.  One special award winners was also decided for the best Self-Advertising piece.  In total, 558 awards were presented this year, including: 147 Best of Category awards; 544 Awards of Excellence; and 14 Awards of Merit; in addition to the Special Category, Best of Division, and Best of Show awards.

The PIAS Graphic Awards Competition is judged by a panel of 3 experts using a point system. A printed piece must earn a certain number of points based on set criteria to receive an Award of Excellence. The entry receiving the highest composite score within each category will receive the Best of Category Award. After judging is completed for each category within a division, all of the Best of Category winners from that division are grouped together and judged again to determine which entry is to receive the Best of Division award, the Silver Ben. After judging is completed for all divisions, all of the Best of Division winners are grouped together and judged again to determine which entry is to receive the top honor - the Best of Show, the Golden Ben trophy.

The trophy winners are:

BEST OF SHOW:
Falcon Press of Nashville, Tennessee, for "Why We Serve"

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WITH LESS THAN 25 EMPLOYEES:
TrueBlue of Chattanooga, Tennessee, for "Mohawk's Taniya Nayak Portfolio"
 
BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WITH 25 TO 75 EMPLOYEES:
Falcon Press of Nashville, Tennessee, for "Why We Serve"

BEST OF DIVISION – PRINTERS WTIH MORE THAN 75 EMPLOYEES:
McQuiddy Classic Printing of Nashville, Tennessee, for "Carnton Plantation"
 
BEST OF DIVISION – TRADE HOUSES –  BINDING & FINISHING SERVICES:
Bindtech, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee for "Fahrenheit 451"

SELF ADVERTISING AWARD:
McGraphics, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee, for "Holiday Leftovers"

The overall winners, by state and city, are:

ALABAMA:  

BIRMINGHAM
Commercial Printing Company, for: 1 Award of Excellence
Craftsman Printing, for: 1 Award of Excellence

BOAZ
BPI Media Group, for: 3 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award  

ARKANSAS:  

JONESBORO
Master Print Group, for: 7 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

LITTLE ROCK
Arkansas Graphics, for: 2 Awards of Excellence
Custom XM, for: 14 Awards of Excellence, and 7 Best of Category awards
Democrat Printing & Lithographing, for: 9 Awards of Excellence
Magna IV, for: 8 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

GEORGIA:

TUCKER
Scott Lithographing Company, for: 10 Awards of Excellence and 7 Best of Category awards
 
KENTUCKY:

LEXINGTON
Harp Enterprises, for: 9 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

LOUISVILLE

• Gateway Press, Inc. for: 12 Awards of Excellence
• The Merrick Printing Company, for: 3 Awards of Merit, 51 Awards of Excellence and 7 Best of Category awards
• Vivid Impact Corporation, for:4 Awards of Merit; 46 Awards of Excellence and 12 Best of Category awards
• Welch Printing Company, for: 2 Awards of Merit; 29 Awards of Excellence, and 9 Best of Category awards

SHEPHERDSVILLE
Publishers Printing Company, for: 20 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award
 
LOUISIANA:

BATON ROUGE
Baton Rouge Printing, for: 2 Awards of Merit; 30 Awards of Excellence and 9 Best of Category awards
 
MISSISSIPPI:

BILOXI
Knight-Abbey Commercial Printing & Direct Mail, for: 2 Awards of Merit; 22 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

McCOMB
McComb Printing, for: 10 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards

RIDGELAND
Hederman Brothers, for: 1 Award of Merit; 23 Awards of Excellence and 5 Best of Category awards
 
NORTH CAROLINA:

ASHEVILLE
Blue Ridge Printing, for: 2 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards
 
TENNESSEE:  

CHATTANOOGA

• Adams Lithographing, for: 2 Awards of Excellence
• Arcade Marketing, for: 5 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award
• Diversified Companies/Meridian Creative, for: 5 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards
• National Print Group, for: 3 Awards of Excellence
• Starkey Printing Company, for: 19 Awards of Excellence and 5 Best of Category awards
• TPC Printing & Packaging, for: 18 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards
• TrueBlue, Inc., for: 34 Awards of Excellence, 16 Best of Category awards, 1 Best of Division award

FRANKLIN
Kwik Kopy Printing, for: 12 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards

JOHNSON CITY
Katz Americas, for: 11 Awards of Excellence and 2 Best of Category awards

LaVERGNE
Odcombe Press, for: 4 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award

NASHVILLE

• AMEC Sunday School Union, for: 9 Awards of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award
• Bindtech, for: 8 Awards of Excellence, 4 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award
• Color Stream Digital, for: 10 Awards of Excellence and 7 Best of Category awards
• Falcon Press, for: 1 Awards of Excellence; 1 Best of Category award; 1 Best of Division award and 1 Best of Show award
• Labels Unlimited, for: 1 Award of Excellence and 1 Best of Category award
• Lithographics, Inc., for: 6 Awards of Excellence and 4 Best of Category awards,
• Marshall & Bruce Company, for: 6 Awards of Excellence and 3 Best of Category awards
• McGraphics, Inc., for: 5 Awards of Excellence; 2 Best of Category awards and 1 Self-Advertising award
• McQuiddy/Classic Printing Company, for: 39 Awards of Excellence; 8 Best of Category awards and 1 Best of Division award
• Parris Printing, for: 14 Award of Excellences and 4 Best of Category awards

PULASKI
Bert-Co Industries, for: 17 Awards of Excellence and 5 Best of Category awards
 
PIAS is a graphic arts trade association representing more than 500 member companies in their seven state region: Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia.