April 9, 2004 -- Steve Kirk has been appointed Quad/Graphics' Vice President of Finishing Operations, succeeding Frank Arndorfer, who retired in March, President & CEO Tom Quadracci announced April 6. “It’s only natural for a man who was hired by Frank and mentored by Frank to succeed Frank at the helm of Finishing,” Tom said. “The growth I have experienced here at Quad shows that employees can start at the bottom and become more than they ever imagined,” Steve said. “I knew when I joined Quad that I wanted to spend my career here, but I never dreamed I would be in the position I am today.” Steve’s progression to the vice president role started more than 24 years ago when Frank hired him as a Finishing technician on September 5, 1979. At the time, our Finishing operations consisted of three stitchers, one shrink wrap machine, a flat cutter and approximately 50 employees. Before his interview with Frank, Steve wondered to himself if he wanted to “work for a company that big.” Ultimately Steve was ready to start a career and accepted a job at the end of the Finishing line. Three years later, in 1982, Steve was named the company’s first stitcher area leader. After being named into management in 1984, he became a shift leader in our Sussex plant. Since then, Steve has been the manager of Finishing operations in three plants: Saratoga Springs, Sussex and Lomira. For the past year, as the Director of Corporate Finishing Operations, Steve has been working closely with Frank in overseeing our day-to-day Finishing operations company-wide, as well as employee, client and vendor relations. In addition, he has worked with the Finishing department to improve productivity, particularly through Lean Manufacturing techniques. “Steve’s expertise in our Finishing operations make him a natural choice to continue building what Frank helped start more than 32 years ago,” Tom said. “When looking at his track record within the company, I have no doubt that Finishing will continue to thrive under Steve’s leadership.” Steve graduated from Sussex Hamilton High School in Wisconsin and has taken classes at the State University of New York and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Recently, he completed education certification and 6 Sigma Problem Solving Methodology Training at the Milwaukee School of Engineering and an executive development program at Northwestern University to prepare him for his director role.