Pittsburgh, Pa., -- The 2009 National Environmental, Health and Safety (NEHS) Conference boasts two impressive keynote speakers for this year's event - chief executive officer of U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Robert C. Tapella and editor-in-chief of Graphic Arts Monthly Bill Esler.

Robert Tapella will discuss what the GPO is doing to promote sustainability. He will also talk about how the graphic communications industry can become an active part in the nation's efforts to become a "greener" country. Sustainability Perspectives from a Federal Viewpoint looks at the U.S. Federal Government and how it has adopted sustainability strategies to reduce its overall environmental impact. Tapella will share how one federal agency is moving forward and what this may mean for printers and others within the graphic communications industry.

Former president George W. Bush nominated Tapella for the position of Public Printer and he was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 4, 2007. Known as someone who makes sustainable environmental stewardship one of his top priorities, Tapella has set out goals for GPO to be a good steward of its resources. He is working towards moving GPO's headquarters into the first LEED Platinum printing plant in the country. LEED is a voluntary green building rating system with benchmarks for developing high-performance sustainable buildings.

Bill Esler's presentation, State of Sustainability in Graphic Communications 2009, will review the second annual sustainability survey results. Last year, the results of the first sustainability survey conducted by Reed Business Information (publisher of Graphic Arts Monthly, Converting and other leading magazines) were revealed. That survey showed only 14% of printing and packaging companies had a formal sustainability policy, but those companies were the most successful in working toward their goals and satisfying customer demands. This year, Esler will examine to what extent the attitudes and activities of printing and packaging companies shifted in the last 12 months. 

Bill Esler has been in the graphic arts field for more than 30 years in various editorial and print industry production positions. He began his career at Monarch Matrix in Chicago's Printer's Row, pulling repro proofs from letterpress plates for conversion to offset negatives, and operating the cutter. He was also assistant typographer at Spiegel Catalog, production manager at Professional Press, and national newspaper ad production coordinator at Ace Hardware Corp. Currently, as the editor-in-chief of Graphic Arts Monthly, he is responsible for overall editorial planning and content of each issue, as well as for companion online publications e-GAM and graphicartsmonthly.com.

Printing Industries of America is co-sponsoring the conference, March 16-18, 2009, at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre in Indianapolis, IN. This is the only conference that addresses sustainability, environmental, health, safety, and HR issues for the printing industry across all platforms. 

For more information about the 2009 NEHS Conference, visit www.nehsconference.org or contact Jeanette Tuttle-Hamer at [email protected] or 800-910-4283, ext. 712.