Transcontinental Inc.

THE CLIMATE of the printing industry changes with print media competition growing, weekly news reports of consolidations, and daily challenges from a myriad of resources and technology innovations. Companies make over their names, add processes, rework their customer bases, add new mixes to their repertoire of services, and leverage the Internet and other new technologies. The industry is vibrant, exciting and changing—and we recognize this. What does not change is the need for individuals to keep abreast of the management trends, operations and production issues related to the printing and graphics community. With that as the backdrop, the board of directors of the Web Offset

SEWICKLEY, PA­—January 30, 2007—The Association for Graphic Arts Training (AGAT) announced a partnership with the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation to co-present the 2007 PIA/GATF Continuous Improvement Network Conference. The event, now in its 17th year, is scheduled for April 15–18 in Jacksonville, Florida. AGAT will present a seminar track at the conference designed to help companies increase their productivity through efficient education and training. Sessions already scheduled include connecting employee training and development with continuous improvement, creating effective training sessions, building and energizing teams, partnering with vendors, and locating resources for continuing education programs. A special Train-the-Trainer workshop immediately precedes the

Valassis, ADVO Settle, Merge LIVONIA, MI—After several months of acrimony, Valassis and ADVO have decided to patch their differences and merge. The sides have dropped their chancery court case and will move under one roof via a renegotiated $1.2 billion deal, at $33 per share for the outstanding common shares of ADVO stock. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007. Bowne Buys St Ives Financial NEW YORK—Bowne & Co. is acquiring St Ives Financial, the financial printing division of St Ives plc. Terms of the deal were not revealed. St Ives, which is keeping its annual report printing business, has financial printing

Lifetime Memories For Hall Of Famer Dear Editor: Thank you so much for the photographs from my recent induction into the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame. I really do appreciate the honor you bestowed on me. It is something I will cherish the rest of my life. Please thank everyone on your staff for making this a special evening. I hope that if you are ever in Dallas, you will let me show you our Texas hospitality. Jesse Williamson President Williamson Printing Dallas Award Brings Many Kind Words Dear Editor: It seems it was only yesterday that I was in Chicago at the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall

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Transcontinental Nabs Pact MONTREAL—Transcontinental signed an exclusive 15-year contract with Hearst Corp. to print the San Francisco Chronicle, related products, and to provide postpress services. The deal is worth in excess of $1 billion. Transcontinental will start production in the spring of 2009 at a new, state-of-the-art Bay Area plant. The printer’s planned investments for the building and new gear are estimated at more than $200 million. The Chronicle, one of 12 daily newspapers owned by Hearst, has the 14th largest ABC-verified circulation in the United States, according to Transcontinental. Quebecor World Ups Co-mailing MONTREAL—Quebecor World is expanding the co-mailing offering at its new Bolingbrook, IL,

EVER WONDER about the heft of the paychecks top executives in the printing industry haul in? This is your chance to see what the top money earners are taking to the bank. Printing Impressions’ 17th annual executive compensation report highlights the industry’s top earners at the largest publicly held printing companies. Mark Angelson, CEO of Chicago-based RR Donnelley, again ranks first in annual salary for this list, earning more than $5 million. This is the fourth consecutive year that a RR Donnelley exec has topped our list. The rankings indicate previous fiscal year salaries, most recent fiscal year wages, and the percentage change in

New Additions Increase Efficiency APPLETON, WI—JP Graphics is counting on Kodak’s Prinergy workflow and a new Kodak Lotem 800 II Quantum platesetter with a five cassette automated plate loader to keep up with growth and customer demands. The midsize printer has acquired three different printing firms since 1998, including its latest acquisition 18 months ago that doubled its workforce overnight from 25 to 50 employees. CHICAGO—Hi-Liter/Inland and MAN Roland executives meet at Graph Expo to raise their glasses to the printer’s new 4x4 32-page web press destined for its Burlington, WI, facility. Brian SanFillipo has filled the new position of director of digital operations at

CHICAGO—Four new members of the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame were inducted during a gala event coinciding with the 19th annual Gold Ink Awards during Graph Expo last month. Shown at the event are, from left: James Hopkins, president/CEO, Hopkins Printing; Dave Leskusky, group president/publisher, Printing Impressions; Jesse Williamson, president, Williamson Printing; Ray…

BACK IN August, we ran a cover story on industry veterans and featured some of their memorable stories, an idea we’d like to repeat for a future issue. Or, we’ll just call Jesse Williamson and ask him to spin a few yarns. The president of Williamson Printing in Dallas is an honest and open man, one of the more colorful and charismatic figures in the printing industry. The stories other people tell about Williamson are pretty amusing, and almost as good as those he tells on himself. Too bad we can’t tell them all, but a funny one appears in his Hall of Fame