New Youth in Print Scholarship Fund Will Help Train the 'Next You' (Includes Videos)
CHICAGO—October 8, 2015—Look around the printing industry and you’ll find a lot of gray-haired people in senior management and key operational positions. It’s human nature not to want to address our own mortality—let alone who will one day assume our job duties.
Compound that with the fact that the graphic arts industry is evolving rapidly, meaning the next generation of industry leaders to fill your shoes will require individuals with different skill sets and aptitudes. The evolution of job skill requirements in many print shops today, including knowledge of marketing automation, big data, app development, custom programming, Web-to-print workflows, cloud-based services and more, gives just a snapshot of what more will come.
There are various industry scholarship efforts to help attract young people to pursue careers in the printing, document management and allied graphic arts industries. But one of the most prolific is the Electronic Document Scholarship Foundation (EDSF), which has been awarding annual scholarships of $1,000-$5,000 to deserving students since 1996.
But, as is so often the case, there is more need than there are funds available. What’s needed is an industry-wide fundraising effort at the grassroots level to educate tomorrow’s leaders. Aside from some endowed scholarships, the usual suspects—namely key industry supplier organizations—are often tasked to provide financial support and donations.
Case in point was the sixth annual "Give Back @ GRAPH" EDSF scholarship fundraiser held during GRAPH EXPO 15, which raised money through table sponsorships, individual pledges and an auction of donated items. But, the banquet room was filled primarily with executives representing industry vendor organizations; printers themselves were few and far between, even though they have the most to gain.
During the event that evening, Mark Subers, president/CRO of the Printing & Packaging and Publishing groups at NAPCO Media—which includes Printing Impressions—announced the new "Youth in Print" scholarship fund housed at EDSF. Visit www.edsf.org/youthinprint to make a tax-deductible donation. No dollar amount is too small, or too big, to support this worthy industry cause.
Mark Michelson is the Editor-in-Chief of Printing Impressions. Serving in this role since 1985, Michelson is an award-winning journalist and member of several industry honor societies. Reader feedback is always encouraged. Email mmichelson@napco.com