The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) has announced that Graphics Plus Printing (GPP) of Cortland, N.Y., has become part of Quartier Printing Company, headquartered in Syracuse, N.Y., and will operate out of Quartier Printing’s Cayuga Press of Cortland facility. The transaction comes less than a month after Quartier and Cayuga Press successfully joined forces. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

NAPL has provided ongoing strategic advice on growth by acquisition to Quartier. Senior Vice President John Hyde, head of NAPL’s Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory Team, stated, “Quartier Printing is a great example of a forward thinking company that is positioning itself for future success and growth. It fully expects to explore further strategic acquisitions in 2012.”

“We are happy to have Bob [Eckard] and his team come on board with us,” said Tom Quartier, President of Quartier Printing. “We appreciate that they think highly enough of us to trust that their customer relationships will be maintained and enhanced with access to our customer service team and additional capabilities.” 

“Everybody in this venture is going to benefit immensely,” said GPP Owner Robert Eckard. “All three companies have been around for a long time; we all have something different to offer.”

“GPP has in-house design services that support all the companies,” he continued. “We do sportswear, screen printing, and embroidery, which many commercial print customers buy. We’ve got a customer base that is 33-34 years old and we call on a different group of customers [than Quartier and Cayuga] so there’s not much overlap. We’re able to sell what Cayuga Press does, which is large-format work, and we have the firepower of Quartier production and marketing, as well as the storefront activity that we can offer customers, which is extremely important.

“People are joining forces these days to operate more efficiently and to lower costs,” Eckard added. “As part of the Quartier and Cayuga Press family, we have a diverse group of customers—in everything from manufacturing to education. We’re going to become pretty powerful.”