Legacy Prep Charter Academy launches new Printing Course

Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy in Mesquite Texas is off to a fast start with their new Xerox Digital Production Printing Pathway Course. The Pathways Course is designed to help build tomorrow’s digital printing workforce by teaching students the skills required in today’s printing companies.

 The school recognized the tremendous growth of digital commercial and industrial printing and added the course for the 2023-2024 school year. Legacy Prep through meticulously designed 21st-century programs, their learning academy equips students with the skills essential for thriving in both academic and real-world settings

The new course curriculum complements Legacy Prep’s existing philosophy of empowering students in grades K-12 to take charge of their education. They accomplish this by preparing them for careers by implementing innovative opportunities using project-based learning and enriching educational programs. Legacy Prep’s focus is on coursework that provides the skills necessary to succeed in and outside the classroom.

The school added the course after a review by Innovation Specialist, Bradi Braley and Senior Director, Josie Eatman. Legacy Prep’s Principal, Dr. Stephanie Edwards, recognizing the opportunity to develop graphic communications skills related to graphic design and printing technology decided to add the course.

Graphic Communications Instructor, Tomas Matic, is teaching the Pathways printing course along with a separate graphic design course. The 50 students enrolled in 4 classes are getting many opportunities for “hands-on” experiences in producing printed projects using a state-of-the-art Xerox press. Mr. Matic brought his previous classroom and graphic design experience to implement the Pathways Course at Legacy Prep. Intellective Solutions, the developer of the course, worked with Mr. Matic through a series of Zoom calls to build his printing skills and gain a comfort level with the lesson plans, PowerPoint screens, samples, and student hands-on exercises provided.

Instructor, Tomas Matic said, “I was thrilled with the support and resources he has received from Xerox and Intellective Solutions. Frank Kanonik of Intellective Solutions is the best printing teacher anyone could have. He helped me ramp up to teach the class with confidence. The materials are excellent. I was able to build on them to introduce fun competitions and activities between students.

Mr. Matic’s efforts and dedication to his students were acknowledged this year by the PIA of MidAmerica when he was awarded the Educator of the Year award at their recent annual banquet.

His class also entered the student print competition and won the competition for researching, designing, and printing a replica of a historical newspaper to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. It was produced on a 12-inch by 18-inch sheet of paper that resembled newsprint and printed on the Xerox digital press. The award-winning entry is proudly displayed in the print classroom.

Mr. Matic explained, “I am immensely flattered by the image of the Educator of the Year award but I would much rather highlight the efforts of Ms. Jessica Sanchez of the Mid America Printing Industries of America (PIA) and my guys from 5th Period Printing & Imaging as well as Drew Grace of Xerox and Frank Kanonik and Joe Rickard of Intellective Solutions. I deeply appreciated the support of Teresa Campbell, Jessica Sanchez of the PIA team, and all my wonderful students who deserve the lion's share of the credit for making this class, indeed this academic year, such a success!

Intellective Solutions Since our founding in 2003, we have delivered, through training and consulting, significant results for digital and inkjet printing organizations, technology companies, and K-12/CTE/vocational schools throughout the world.. Our strategy is to leverage the latest developments in the graphic communications industry to provide time and cost-effective solutions based on our customer’s specific needs.

Joe Rickard 845 753 6156

Five Keys School launches print education at Los Angeles Sheriff's Department

Five Keys School has partnered with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to invest in individuals living on the margins so they can change their lives.

Offenders often exit criminal justice without a clear path or purpose to pursue a sustainable career. The Sheriff’s Department partnering with Five Keys Schools to provide at-risk youth with sustainable job skills for an opportunity with a great future.

Since the Sheriff’s Department had a large implant printing operation, they looked for a workforce development program that was industry-aligned and leveraged current digital imaging software technology. Five Keys turned to Xerox for its Xerox® Digital Career Pathway Program. The curriculum and instructor resources were developed by print education leader Intellective Solutions. Now Five Keys and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is training students in the industry-required skills to work with digital production printing, and helping them find jobs with local businesses.

 Tom Hood, Five Keys principal instructor of the Xerox Pathways course is passionate about providing students with the opportunity to succeed. A fifth-generation printer, Tom knows the satisfaction and career possibilities that employment within the graphic communications industry can give his students.

“Using the Xerox® Digital Career Pathways Program and working with their partner, Intellective Solutions, I paint a canvas of what the industry is about. At first, it’s difficult to convince a student of how high-tech the industry is. Once we take them through examples of how projects are created and produced, it becomes clear to them that they can have a long-term, sustainable career that pays well. Working with the curriculum and resources has been a tremendous help in building our outstanding program.”

Are You Ready for Digital Production Specialty Inks?

Those print providers with capabilities to produce high-quality CMYK plus fluorescent, white, gold, silver inks over the next 12 to 18 months will have a significant opportunity to capture increased margins and new business.

 As we continue to transition out of a Covid economy, printers are looking to expand their offerings. Adding specialty inks has allowed print providers to move more short-run projects from offset to digital.

 As always, the challenge is educating and marketing new capabilities to new and existing accounts. Many buyers and influencers currently do not know about the value of specialty inks.

 Those print suppliers who are engaging customers now will reap the rewards of a fast-growing market segment. Some of the samples and applications of special ink printing with an expanding complement of substrates we have seen are sensational. 

 Like any other new game-changing capability in printing, there is always a start-up curve.

We have identified 19 readiness self-assessment areas for print providers who want to enter this market.  

 Organizational Readiness

1. Documented Marketing Plan Created

2.  Specialty Ink Opportunities Identified

3.  Organization Adaptability

4.  Ability to Execute

5.  Growth Strategy

6.  Organizational Alignment

7.  Pricing

    Creative & Marketing Support Readiness

8. Can Demonstrate Creativity and Innovation

9. Cross Media and Variable Data Capabilities

10. Creative Capabilities

11. Specialty Ink Press Capabilities

12. Operator Skills

13. Specialty Ink Workflow Readiness

     Sales/Customer Service Readiness

14. Sales Training

15. Customer Communications Plan Developed

16. Specialty Ink Value Proposition Developed

17. Ability to Manage Customer Expectation

18. Strategy to Influence Creatives

19. Sales Compensation Aligned

 If you are planning to invest in digital equipment with specialty inks or are having start-up issues, feel free to let us know. We have a full range of training and Agency resources to support you.  Just send a note to Frank Kanonik at fkanonik@intellectives.com.

Intellective Solutions To Present at Xerox Beyond CMYK webinar

Seven Steps to Success!

Looking to jumpstart 2021 with a plan to capture new customers and increase your profits with specialty ink embellishments? 

Join us on Jan 27th when Joe Rickard and Bob Ross from Intellective Solutions will enable Owners, Business Development, and Sales Managers to get off to a fast start with Xerox Specialty Inks.

In this webinar, you will discover the key ingredients to a successful plan including:

• High-value opportunities for Specialty Inks

• Seven game changer strategies to Drive Business

• How do we turn great sales and marketing ideas into action?

Intellective Solutions is a leading training and consulting company focused on helping graphic communication companies and InPlants improve their sales and operational effectiveness. Their proven management, market research, and marketing consulting methodologies have helped printing organizations leverage their assets to achieve greater sales and profits.

Title: Drive Profit in 2021 - Keys to Success with Beyond CMYK

Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Time: 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Duration: 1 hour

Register for the event at https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=reg20.jsp&referrer=&eventid=2929436&sessionid=1&key=4039A2EEF3B19E14EC89A3B3042764BF&regTag=&sourcepage=register

Essentials for a Graphic Communications CTE Program

Facing a demand for skilled workers in the Graphic Communications Industry, schools are adding printing and graphic arts programs. The move to digital printing technology and platforms, new printing applications and the retirement of older workers have created an enormous need for skilled workers.

Based on our work with schools and vocational institutions around the country, we see six essential program elements when building a great CTE, vocational, or STEM printing and graphic arts program.

1.    Committed and Skilled Instructor

No program can be successful without a great instructor. Most have a graphic design or printing background.

We have seen some amazing teachers in many states that have created creative and exciting programs. LaVista High School’s highly successful program in Fullerton, CA led by instructor Henry Sandoval is not only motivating students with graphic art applications but is providing them valuable and transferable skills.

2.    Industry Linked Curriculum and Instructor Resources

Since the industry is growing and changing rapidly, institutions should make sure they are building programs aligned with current industry requirements.

Fortunately, there are resources available within the Graphic Communication’s community. Print Ed, a printing industry association, provides standards, accreditations and skill competencies for use in the classroom. Also, technical education leader, SkillsUSA provides assessment tests and competitions for High School students.

Xerox offers an industry-aligned curriculum through their Xerox® Digital Career Pathway Program for its customers. Our company, Intellective Solutions, provides a robust set of instructor resources and services to help schools launch their programs. Our resources and tools are used by vocational and CTE programs across the country.

3.    Consistent Reinforcement of Life Skills

Most successful CTE and Vocational programs ensure their students are ready for employment by adding or integrating life skills into their programs. At Hudson Community Enterprises in Jersey City, having strong Life Skill training and reinforcements in addition to a robust graphic communications curriculum has resulted in benchmark student employment results.

4.    Aggressive Business Development

We have seen schools connect with local commercial printing companies, in-plant printers, and marketing organizations. Students armed with certification and portfolio are in great demand.

For those students who want to continue their education in advanced graphic communication in College level courses, the industry provides scholarships to encourage continued education. The Industry needs design, database, engineering and supply chain workers and managers too. The Print and Graphic Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) provides approximately $500,000 in scholarships every year to high school students. PGSF also provides financial help to workers currently employed in the graphic communications industry that are attending classes part-time.

Local trade associations and PIA affiliates hoping to respond to their memberships are eager to help. For example, the Printing Industries of New England (PINE) supports the schools and institutions in their area at job fairs. Christine Hagopian, President of PINE, has made education and student skill development a priority for her organization.

5.    Program Accountability

Program accountability is the number of students who complete the program and are able to gain high wage employment or move on to higher-level graphic communications education. Great vocational programs and CTE institutions regularly report to their administrators and grantees their success rates.

There is an enormous need for skilled workers in this industry. Most schools that have implemented courses and programs will have little problem ensuring their graduates gain opportunities.  

6.    Relevant Technology

The best news is most institutions already have professional workstations, Adobe creative software programs, and high-speed digital production printers. By providing students access to current software and equipment, they become “job-ready” and potential employers find their skills very attractive.

Many institutions have implemented programs to use their current internal printing operations as classrooms, simulating real-life work environments for their students.

The Graphic Communications Industry is a huge opportunity for vocational, CTE and STEM schools to provide the foundation needed for students to obtain valuable life skills and training. The industry is a high tech and constantly changing world that provides plenty of opportunities for high pay and advancement.

If you have any questions or need information, contact me, Joe Rickard, at https://www.intellectives.com/contact

Video Call Best Practices

Many of us have been spending most of our days on video conference calls. Unfortunately, we have seen some examples of poorly executed calls.  Here is a link to a blog by Dan Park featuring Margaret Rickard Rubinacci from pureIntegration for Women in Cable Telecommunications Greater Philadelphia that gives some good tips.

What may be OK for friends and family, can be a major distractor for general business and sales calls. If a good first impression is critical for lasting business relationships then all should consider heeding this advice and recommendations.

Video Calling Best Practices

Career Pathway Need for Printing Workers is Exploding

This is an appeal to vocational schools to add production digital printing, graphic design, and introduction to graphic communications to their current offerings.

The United States printing industry is a huge manufacturing segment, employing over a million workers. The challenge to acquire talent from traditional and nontraditional labor sources is daunting. Almost every graphic communications company we speak to is concerned about the increasing shortage of skilled labor.

The graphic communications industry shift to high tech manufacturing has created a huge demand for new skills and talents. In addition to this shift is that current workers are aging, with over 30% of current workers being over 55 years old. This is putting tremendous pressure on companies to recruit employees with the necessary skills.

Contrary to popular perception, printing, and related applications are not shrinking. Innovative applications enabled by new inkjet imaging technologies have created new solutions within the packaging, label, sign, cross-media, statement, book, and home accessory segments. Estimates this year from industry sources predict that over $56 Billion in revenue will be generated by digital printing alone.  

The vocational schools that we work with are seeing extremely high placement rates for their graduating students. Every location in the country needs workers.

Unfortunately, we need more institutions to take up the challenge of preparing the future printing industry workforce. Also, some of those that are providing training for graphic designers and print workers need to immediately upgrade their curriculum to reflect current production imaging, software, and platform technologies.

In the past, the printing industry could count on hundreds of printing schools across the country to train skilled workers in various departments found in many printing companies. We need more vocational schools across the country to help prepare workers with up to date skills.

For those institutions, we offer an industry-developed curriculum, a full range of instructor resources and certifications. There should be nothing to hold back any institution that is looking to prepare students for high paying careers in the graphic communications industry. 

Starting Your Career with Five Lifelong Strategies

Here my advice for those starting their career. It is based on what I have learned during my long career.

For me in order of importance behind faith and family, comes work. I love to work. It does not make a difference whether it is physical or mental. I learned early on that work is part of who I am. It has allowed me to use my gifts and talents for good.

In the “work for pay” arena, I liked all of my jobs through my entire life. If I did not like what I was doing, I would not do it. For the most part, I have been lucky to be able to choose my jobs. I rarely put my professional life above my family and never above my faith. I worked to earn money to help my family live a good life and give them some opportunities that I did not have.

I loved teaching, coaching, working at Xerox, managing people and working in my own business. Physical, mental, for pay, not for pay, and volunteer work are all fulfilling for me because I always find a higher purpose in it. No purposeful work is too menial for me. Based on what I know and learned, here is some advice about work.

Working Hard Is Important

Current thinking is that working “hard” is not as important as is working “smart”. That may be true but putting in a sustained and strong effort is essential. When I started as a sales person at Xerox, I had no business experience or natural aptitude for sales. I had a good personality but knew very little about sales or business.

I observed successful people, studied my company, its products and my customers. I then managed my time and territory efficiently. I have found people who succeed, work not only smart but very hard.

Identify Smart People and Then Stay in Touch

I received good advice when I was young. Identify winners. Seek out successful people. Through my work life, I found there were plenty of people who did not perform due to bad work habits, weak commitment or incompetence. I tried to minimize my interactions with them. I looked for people that I felt were talented, shared my values and whom I could learn from.

It was these successful people, who helped me through my career and allowed me to start my own business. To this day, I receive business opportunities from individuals that I identified early in my career and have maintained a long-term relationship. 

Treat Your Job as A Profession

With technology advancing at a fast pace, expect that what you are doing today will likely change multiple times before your finish your career. One should think of not only what is needed today but what skills will be needed for the future. Many of the skills I learned earlier in my career has helped me to publish over 60 articles and speak extensively at business forums.

As I entered the business world, I got my MBA and worked hard to advance my marketing, managerial, financial and interpersonal skills every chance I had. It is these skills that enabled me to change jobs, advance my career and become a Divisional President at Sharp Electronics. These experiences allowed me to pursue my dream of running my own business. It also created many good and some cases more lucrative opportunities through my working life that I chose NOT to pursue.

Activities are not Accomplishments

A way to ensure success is to consistently deliver results. It is amazing how many employees go through the day completing tasks and activities that have no impact on their or their company’s results. Identifying what the company’s goals are, what your boss’s boss objectives are and setting lofty goals for yourself and then meeting them, will make you invaluable.

Though I always set goals for myself, I feel now that perhaps I did not set them high enough since I always made my goals for performance and career advancement. Maybe I could have even done better. My advice is to set lofty goals for your personal and business life.

Good People Finish First

Business people are constantly being presented with ethical challenges. Whether it is expense reports, marketing tactics or personnel decisions, I have constantly asked myself if what I was doing was consistent with my family, personal and religious values.

Most successful people that I admire are good people. The adage that “nice guys finish last” is not true. I believe that people that I have worked with through the years felt that I could be trusted to do the right things. It helped me to be a successful manager and executive. No one wants to follow a dishonest or unethical leader. I like to think I was tough and ambitious while being ethical and moral.

I have followed this advice for my whole life. All and all I have really enjoyed my personal and professional life. I seldom made decisions about my career or personal life based solely on money. I just wanted to make an impact, earn enough money to move my family forward and do good deeds.

By sticking to my core principles and working hard toward my personal and career goals, I have been afforded the freedom to work for companies and markets that I enjoy while earning a good income with a minimum of debt. Maureen and I live a fulfilled and financially secure life.

Joe Rickard is the founder of Intellective Solutions. Intellective Solutions (see our web site at www.intellectives.com) is a consulting and training company. They work with printing and technology organizations to improve their sales, marketing and operational effectiveness. 

Virginia Department of Education updates Graphic Communications skill competencies

Frank Kanonik, managing director of Intellective Solutions recently participated in a workshop to update the Commonwealth of Virginia’s graphic communications skill competencies. The courses being taught in the Commonwealth are now aligned to the new PrintED skill competencies.

The Virginia Department of Education conducts periodic reviews of the technical knowledge required by potential employers. Bringing together educators and industry representation confirms that the graphic communications courses being taught throughout Virginia will lead to students being prepared for todays high skill, high demand and high wage careers in the print industry.

It was extremely encouraging to work with such a dedicated group of teachers that equips their students with the skills required to be successful in the printing industry. What students need to know is different from even a few years ago. Courses being taught today must reflect the newer technologies being used.

During the workshop, each skill competency, also known as a Task Statement was discussed to ensure that it was both measurable and expressed a specific action that was being learned. Also developed was a description of each task to help the educator and questions to help encourage critical thinking and discussion.

An example of a Task Statement is the following:

#72 Explain the purpose of Imposition

Definition:

Explanation should state that the purpose of imposition is the positioning of pages in a way so that the pages in the finished format document come out in the proper printed sequence and should include step-and-repeat, work and turn or tumble, and signature.

Process/Skill Questions:

• What are the consequences of incorrect use of imposition on a document?

• How has digital printing technology affected imposition?

• How would a work-and-Turn imposition differ from a work-and-tumble imposition?

• How does imposition for saddle stitch binding differ from imposition for perfect binding?

The recently updated PrintED Skill Competencies were researched and managed by Intellective Solutions. Interviews were conducted with numerous educators, printing companies and vendors to validate their completeness and accuracy. To download a free copy of the Skill Competencies, visit: www.gaerf.org/printed. 

To learn more about the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Career and Technical Education department’s efforts and success stories, visit www.cteresource.org/about/

PrintED offers assistance and accreditation for schools that offer graphic communication courses. www.gaerf.org/PrintED

For information on the Intellective Solutions newly available Introduction to Graphic Communications curriculum visit: www.intellectives.com/stem.

Perkins CTE Act Approved and Improved

We are excited with the recent reauthorization of the HR Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Act. This is a bipartisan triumph for Congress and the Administration to extend and improve the 2006 Perkins Act. In the very large and transitioning Graphic Communications Industry there is a growing demand for skilled workers. This Act addresses many needs of job seekers and industry.

The Graphic Communications Industry is rapidly changing due to the impact of the internet, data driven printing, digital imaging technologies and expanding industrial applications. As a consequence, we are seeing shortages in labor in multiple states. Graphic Communications is among the top five manufacturing sectors in the United States.

A highlight of the Act is bringing the funding and decision making closer to the local communities and employers. For a good review of the improvements, see H.R. 235s: Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. A key focus of the legislation is directing resources to providing the students with the actual skills necessary to fill today’s available jobs. For us, that means less theory and old thinking and more “hands on” and creativity.

This Act is huge step in providing the right skills to available job openings. There is no better place than the ever changing and transitioning Graphic Communications industry.  We at Intellective Solutions are very proud to working with High Schools and vocational institutions across the country to provide benchmark curriculum and instructor/student resources for courses in Digital Production Printing and Intro to Graphic Communications. Congratulations to our government for agreeing in a bipartisan way to deliver a great bill.

Printing students win medals at SkillsUSA National Competition

During the week of June 25 over 16,000 students, teachers and business partners gathered in Louisville Kentucky for the 54th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference. More than 6,000 outstanding career and technical education students, all state contest winners, competed hands-on in 100 different trade, technical and leadership fields. Students worked against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations such as electronics, computer-aided drafting, precision machining, medical assisting, culinary arts and graphic communications. Contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations and labor organizations.

Graphic Communications students started the week with a general assessment based on the Graphic Communications Skill Competencies provided by PrintED, and the SkillsUSA Career Essentials Assessments provided by SkillsUSA. Intellective Solutions is proud to have been involved in the research and authoring of both.

Later in the week, each student competed by estimating projects, completing prepress work and printing and binding jobs. Each student was assessed by an industry expert. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were awarded to High School and College winners. Of special note is that Brittany Whitestone is going on to Russia to represent Graphic Communications at the WorldSkills Competition.

It was both invigorating and reassuring to see students preparing for their future in our industry. It was obvious that the schools they attended had prepared them well for the testing in Louisville. They knew how to estimate projects and were well versed on the business side of the printing industry. They had genuine excitement about starting their careers and bringing new ideas and innovations to our industry.

SkillsUSA (skillsusa.org) is a national membership association serving high school, college and middle school students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.

PrintED, administered by the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF®) is a national accreditation program, based on industry standards, appropriate for secondary and post-secondary schools offering graphic communications curricula (http://www.gaerf.org/PrintED.aspx).

Production Digital Printing Education Thriving in New Jersey

Congratulations to Hudson Community Enterprises (HCE) (http://hudsoncommunity.org) for successfully launching their new Digital Printing Career Pathways program.  All the students in the pilot program have been placed in jobs within New Jersey. This year HCE plans to make the program available to 50 job ready candidates. We at Intellective Solutions were very pleased to support their efforts.

The program was established to respond to growing need for skilled workers in the very large Printing Industry. Printing is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the country. Many thousands of skilled workers will be needed to staff open positions in the next few years. As the industry continues to transition to digital technology and emerging industrial printing applications, a strong workforce is required.

Our company, Intellective Solutions along with Xerox helped HCE to develop a course using the proprietary Xerox® Digital Career Pathways Program Curriculum (//www.xerox.com/en-us/services/government-solutions/print-production-training). Students are trained at the HCE’s fully operational print shop. Within this facility, students have an opportunity to learn and develop the key skills necessary to work in a graphic communications organization. The emphasis is to give students the necessary knowledge and hands on experience that would be welcomed by any employer looking for job ready entry level workers.

Here is a summary of the program

·       12-week Intensive Digital Printing Curriculum

·       Career Development Classes

·       4 week paid internships

·       Job Placement and Higher Education Referral Services

·       Nationally recognized accreditation upon successful completion

·       Open to people with and without disabilities

The HCE Jersey City-based program is led by printing industry pro Brian Opitz, VP Digital Printing Services. Some the areas that the students are trained include pre-press, production, printing workflow and personalized printing. In addition to an industry expert instructor, graphic designer Alex Rivera works with students to help them to properly receive, proof, fix common errors and prepare files for printing.

HCE is a non-profit organization that has been based in Jersey City, New Jersey since 1957. Since the organization’s inception, the primary mission has remained consistent – creating employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment while providing valuable services to the business community.

Intellective Solutions (intellectives.com) works with vocational and STEM organizations to provide resources and support for printing industry training programs.

For perspective participants in the HCE’s program or employers looking for more information contact:

Abbe Morello , VP, Workforce Development, 201-434-3303 ext.228, amorello@HCE.works         

Sarah Barks, Senior Vocational Counselor, 201-434-3303 x437, sbarks@HCE.works                                      

Get Better Results from Fewer Marketing Programs

Marketing Makes the Difference

We find the number one challenge for printing companies to develop great marketing and sales programs is time and focus. For smaller companies, success is seldom about the size of marketing budgets or the number of marketing initiatives being managed. With the day to day pressures of satisfying customers and getting work out, many marketing activities are often relegated to a low priority. This is counter-intuitive because without marketing there can be no sustained growth.

There are more choices than ever for businesses. For instance, for many small printers, maintaining and regularly creating new content for a great web site, pushing content to multiple social media sites, managing Google ads, maintaining an eCommerce site, participating in business networks, keeping up with LinkedIn, hosting a customer event or two, driving Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as well as other forms of marketing is just “too much”. The time and focus needed to manage everything possible is daunting.

Recently we researched printing company web sites. It was interesting to find so many not well maintained, displaying broken links and errors. A poor web site will create a negative perception for a perspective customer and may cause them not to place a call for a quote. This helps prove the point that it is better to do a few things very well than to do many things poorly.

Before spending any money or exerting any effort on marketing, here are 10 questions to answer. The answers will help narrow down your program to a “vital few”.

Ten Questions

1. What is your company’s story? How did you get to where you are now?

2. What do your sell that generates the most sales and profits?

3. Are you a technology company, a service company, or a PRINTING company

4. Who are your customers?

5. How do your customers describe what you do and how you make them successful?

6. What are your company advantages?

7. How much is the company willing to spend on marketing and sales?

8. Based on the answers above, list and prioritize every marketing and sales initiative
   that the company could possibly implement

9. Pick 1, 2 or 3 of the top initiatives that can supported and maintained

10. Monitor progress regularly and adjust as required

Whatever is decided upon, the approach should be: do it well. The advantage of doing a few things well is that they can be easily scaled up or down as required. For instance, one company may do well a robust eCommerce site, an aggressive Search Engine Optimization program and a well-managed in bound and out bound telemarketing team. While another print provider may want to focus on a direct sales team, customer events and a dynamic web site.

If something is working, then increase it. On the other hand, if an initiative is getting tired or simply not working, replace it with a new program. Doing a few things well builds a great brand and generates results.

Joe Rickard is the founder of Intellective Solutions. Intellective Solutions (www.intellectives.com) is a consulting and training company. They work with printing and technology organizations to improve their sales, marketing and operational effectiveness. 

Print and Graphics Scholarship (PGSF) Recipients Selected

I recently had the honor of participating in the selection of the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) scholarship recipients. The PGSF distributes about $400,000 in scholarships to 200 students each year. The PGSF was formed over 60 years ago and since its inception, over 7,000 students have benefited from the financial help they have received from PGSF.

The PGSF awards scholarships to students pursuing a career in the graphic arts and is made possible by donations from individuals and companies. For me, it was great to see the names on the endowed scholarships. I’ve had the privilege of knowing and working with many of these individuals who have built this industry through their innovations and determination.

The print industry would not be as formidable as it is today without people like Bert Bassett, Zeb Green, Fred Kagy and Naomi Berber. These fine folks (and many others) dedicated their lives to print and with the help of their scholarship support are passing the baton to a new generation of innovators.

It was stimulating to read some of the students’ comments on what they are hoping their career paths will be. Many were interested in the design aspect of our industry, some were interested in management, a good-sized number want to work in companies that blend print with new media, and there were even a few that had the desire to go into sales.

There was an awareness by the students of the power and value that print provides. Kudos to the teachers who are emphasizing this in their classrooms! As we all known and cringe about, there has been a fair amount of negative opinions about print tossed around in the media over the years.

Of note, this is what one of the students had to say about their career aspirations…

“I see myself striving to achieve my goal of owning my own printshop. Working in this industry is my passion and I want to have the opportunity to make my own mark, to grow this industry and keep it moving forward.”

With students like this, their passion and their love for the printed word, our industry will continue to lead, grow and prosper.

For more information about the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation and how to support it, contact John Berthelsen at 608-575-3904 or jberthelsen@printing.org.

For scholarship information, contact Bernie Eckert at 412-259-1740 or beckert@printing.org. The PGSF website has some great resources for students and parents investigating the graphic communications industry as a career. www.pgsf.org

PIA Print Award Judging held at Dubiski High School

I recently had the honor of being a judge for the PIA of MidAmerica print awards held in Dallas. These types of regional competitions showcase examples of print that are in a word, extraordinary. They reward those printers who produce printed pieces that are flawless and celebrate the craft of the printing industry.

What made this year’s competition so special was where it was held. The judging took place at the Dubiski Career High School in Grand Prairie, Texas which is near Dallas.

We hear a lot about how young people aren’t interested in the printing industry today…how it’s old, boring and lacks the glamour of other high tech occupations. The students that we encountered at Dubiski were genuinely enthusiastic and very engaged about their future in the print industry. It was incredibly refreshing to see students busy creating pages on their computers, printing their projects on a digital press and running a booklet maker. All with a determination to produce the best work they possibly could! The students in the graphic communications program are outstanding examples of the future of our industry.

Dubiski is a member of SkillsUSA (www.skillsusa.com) which provides help for both students and teachers. Its an organization that is aligned with the PrintED (www.gaerf.org/PrintED) program, which offers accreditation for schools that offer graphic communication courses. The graphic arts students were so proud of the awards they received from SkillsUSA. When I asked one of the students about the SkillsUSA pins she was wearing, she gushed excitement about what each of them meant to her and how she won them.

In addition to the graphic arts programs, Dubiski also has other programs such as engineering and architecture. While we were there judging the PIA print awards, the culinary students prepared and served us breakfast and lunch. It was awesome! They are well on their way to successful careers.    

Leading Printers Praise GAERF Skill Competencies and Assessments

Printing company owners Tim Boucher and Todd Ventura discussed the value of skill competencies and assessments for employees of printing companies provided by Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF).

GAERF provides Graphic Communications Skills Competencies (GCSC) and Skill Assessments  for the graphic communications industry. The competencies and assessments were written by industry professionals and graphic communications educators to provide measurable or observable knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors critical to successful job performance in six key content areas

“The ability to evaluate and benchmark high level skills for prepress and print production professionals is essential” says Tim Boucher owner of BSquared Design & Printing. BSquared is a state-of-the-art digital printer that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Boucher feels to compete in his very competitive market he insists that his employees maintain the highest level of technical and professional skills. Supporting high expectations of his time-starved customers is an important ingredient to his company’s success. BSquared is one of the fastest growing printers in the Northeast.

Discussing SkillsUSA assessments, Megan Valdez, Managing Director of BSquared said, “Many pre-press professionals are self-taught or learn through on the job training”. The use of these assessments is a way to identify areas where further training or mentoring is required”.

Recently, one of BSquared customer service account representatives reviewed the results of the Digital File Preparation and Output Assessments and found a potential gap in their knowledge of color management. This allowed the employee to take steps to deeper their skill level in this area by working with more experienced employees and reviewing available training materials.

PRP Companies is a full service commercial printer located in San Luis Obispo, California. The President, Todd Ventura, is a firm believer in the value of putting in place a continuing education program for both sales and production staff.

According to Ventura, “because of the changes in the graphic communications industry, we must provide a systematic educational approach to stay abreast of not only technological changes, but also in what types of products and services our customers are requesting”.

Ventura’s staff has been involved with the review of the updated PrintED GCSC skill competencies and assessments. “As the person responsible for ensuring that PRP companies maintains its competitive edge by hiring and maintaining a skilled workforce, the PrintED skill competencies are exactly what we need”

When asked about the value of the assessments for his company, Ventura answered “We were not aware of the PrintED program prior to agreeing to review the materials. However, we absolutely will use the GCSC skill assessments in two different ways; number one is to give preferential treatment to prospective candidates that possess a PrintED certification and number two, to use the assessments to benchmark current employees to help develop a training continuum based on their needs.”

Small Businesses Working and Succeeding in Government

This week I attended a workshop at Dominican College in Orangeburg, NY sponsored by the Palisades Institute of Dominican College. The title was, How to Make Government Your Customer.

Business educational workshops are always good for networking but even better if you can learn a few things along the way. In this one, I received a double payoff for attending and listening. The format of the session was two panels of speakers. One represented Rockland County Government and the other was successful small businesses serving the county.

Paul Brennan Director of Purchasing for Rockland County gave a compelling overview of Doing Business with Rockland County, Local Governments and School Districts by sharing engagement approaches and taking the mystery out of engaging public entities. He explained the national state and local government marketplace is very large and represented over $6 trillion dollars and there are over 90,000 local governments nationwide. He suggested this is a perfect place for small businesses of any type to build their top and bottom lines.

With him were Paul Piperato, Rockland County Clerk, who discussed the engagement and contractual process. There was a surprise for me when Lin Simeti, Program Director, of the REDC Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PATC) shared the free services of her organization to help small businesses wade through the myriad of steps to effectively engage government agencies. She provided some straight forward strategies for those in attendance.

A key message from the government panel was that it is great for small businesses to gain business from government markets but they should not depend on it. They recommended that no more than 50% of their total revenue should come from the public sector to assure a less risky mix of customers.

For the small business panel, Harry Campbell, President, Biofeedback Resources International, Ellie Kassner, President, W.H. Kassner, Inc., Marcelo Reggiardo, Principal, Alianza Services shared their processes, successes and recommendations to compete and succeed in this market. There were also some great tips on how to succeed as a Minority Supplier.

Getting out there and spending the time in events like this is a great way to gain valuable information and insights. There is no substitute for listening, learning and interacting in person.  If you are alert, you will find many of these networking and learning opportunities by colleges, trade associations, community groups and networking groups.

Joe Rickard is the President of Intellective Solutions which is a training and consulting company for the Graphic Communications Industry. He serves as an advisory Board Member of the Palisades Institute of Dominican College.

Skill Assessments are Crucial to Validate Performance For the Graphic Communications Industry

Frank Kanonik , Printing Industry Expert

There are thousands of students enrolled in programs preparing them to enter the printing and graphic communications workforce. For graphic communications industry instructors and employers, there is no better way to ensure that new hires have required skills than with industry-driven skill competencies and assessments.

We at Intellective Solutions are proud to be the developer of the competencies and assessments used by the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF) and SkillsUSA. Joe Rickard and Frank Kanonik led the efforts to create and develop the industry resources. They worked with education and industry subject matter experts to ensure the competencies and assessments are current, valid and relevant to today’s printing industry.

Patty Duncan, Program Manager of the SkillsUSA Work Force Ready System recently said, “I am impressed with Intellective Solutions professionalism and as well as their expertise in graphic communications. They have developed outstanding and timely industry standards and assessments that will benefit all those who use them”

GAERF has available through PrintED, a national accreditation program that is based on industry standards for graphic communications courses of study at the secondary and post-secondary levels. Their Graphic Communication Skill Standards (GCSC) are six sets of skill competencies and corresponding assessments that are used by instructors to validate their curricula, and also by employers to confirm a potential candidate’s capabilities.

There are 6 topics that are covered by the GCSC competencies, and are available for free download at www.graphiccommcentral.org/gcsc.

·        Digital File Preparation and Output

·        Digital Production Printing

·        Graphic Design

·        Introduction to Graphic Communications

·        Offset Press Operations/Bindery & Finishing

·        Screen Printing

The GCSC assessments are available through GAERF and SkillsUSA, and test technical skills and knowledge using an online, graphic rich format. The assessments correspond to the six GCSC competencies. Ordering information can be found at www.workforcereadysystem.org. Immediate grading and feedback is provided.

With rapidly changing technology, digital integration and new business models, having up to date and printing industry driven standards and assessments are critical for our industry to ensure a steady stream of great employees. These standards and assessments support that requirement.