Portland, OR - PPI Association, a visual communications trade organization, hosted its 10^th Annual PrintROCKS! Awards & Party on September 22, 2017 at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Washington. Print manufacturing companies, agencies, and even students entered the 28 categories ranging from direct mail to catalogs to posters to packaging. 

PPI received 210 PrintROCKS! Awards entries from 40 companies in PPI’s six-state region and Utah. This year’s entries raised the bar as new technology and techniques expand traditional capabilities. Excellent examples of web, offset, digital, large format, folds, dies, finishing and special solutions challenged the panel of judges comprised of Karen Wang – PDX Design Scout, Helen Doty ­­– AAA Washington, Carl Vonder Haar – Sales Aficionado and Abe Hayhurst – Konica Minolta Inkjet.  Michael Makin, President & CEO of PIA shared the stage with PPI Executive Director Jules Van Sant to honor the top PrintROCKS! award winners. The PrintROCKS! Award winners include: 

Best of Show: ColorGraphics – Kent, WA

People’s Choice: PrintWest ­– Woodinville, WA ­

Best of Division:

101 or more employees: Hudson Printing – Salt Lake City, UT

51-100 employees: Wright Business Graphics – Portland, OR

21-50 employees: PrintWest – Woodinville, WA

20 or less employees: Minuteman Press of Redmond – Redmond, OR

Bindery: North West Book – Bellingham, WA

Student: Highline College – Des Moines, WA

Mad Props: Journal Graphics, North West Book, Premier, and PrintWest

WTFabulous!: Premier

** See all award winners at PrintROCKS.org **

Congratulations to all the winners and participants. The PrintROCKS! Awards Party was a celebration of excellence and achievement. The attendees were thrilled with the entire evening’s event. This year’s theme, Your Name in Lights, celebrated the 10^th year of PrintROCKS! complete with a red carpet and Hollywood flair. Party attendees enjoyed Hotel Murano’s fine cuisine, entertainment by caricature artists, and photo booth fun, plus a guest visit from Marilyn Monroe and Sean Connery. Following the awards ceremony, guests enjoyed networking and entertainment. 

The Pacific Printing Industries Educational Trust is held in high regard by the PPI membership and was spotlighted at the PrintROCKS! Party. This year, the Ed Trust benefitted from a fundraising auction offering highly valued donations provided by the membership and sponsors. Over the course of the evening, we raised over $23,000 toward developing a future workforce for the print and visual communications industry. The Ed Trust extends a “thank you” to all the donors.