Industry News

BFL&S Magazine received the 2006 Apex Awards for Publication Excellence in the categories of “Best Redesign” and “Best Feature Writing”. Congratulations to the entire staff. For more information, visit www.bfls.com.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Business Forms, Inc. (BFI) has acquired certain assets of Belknap Business Forms, Mayville, N.Y., and will handle Belknap’s traditional forms product line. BFI will now have greater presence in the forms industry and the ability to print larger volumes of forms. Dave Stroup will continue to lead BFI as general manager, and he will become proactively involved with Belknap’s business forms customers. BFI has already received current files and production material related to the jobs that have been acquired. “With the receipt of the files from Belknap, we hope to make the transition as seamless as possible,” affirmed Stroup. Business Forms,

International Paper, Memphis, Tenn., has enhanced its Carolina brand and announced changes to create the Next Generation Carolina. Carolina Coated Cover that is currently 91 brightness will increase to 94 brightness and 145 CIE whiteness, while shifting to an improved blue-white shade. Carolina Ultra light-88 and MD Blanks are increasing to 88 brightness with a neutral-white shade. With Carolina’s new 94 brightness and 145 CIE whiteness, International Paper offers a matching text and cover portfolio with its uncoated Williamsburg and Hammermill papers. The new Carolina Ultra light-88 and MD Blanks changes simplify the company’s offerings from four to two shades, while the brand streamlines

Keith S. Walters, chairman, president and CEO of Ennis, Midlothian, Texas, recently announced that the Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 15-1/2 cents a share on its common stock. The dividend is payable August 1 to shareholders of record on July 14. For more information, visit www.ennis.com.

Headquartered in Lewiston, Maine, One Right Business Printing upgraded its Web site with an award-winning online order system to better serve customers. The state-of-the-art e-commerce system provides greater control over ordering, including secure access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Said Mark Hartnett, president, “Customers should be able to place orders when it’s convenient for them, not when it is convenient for us. Our new system was even awarded ‘Product of the Year’ by PrintImage International and was named ‘Best of Breed’ by Xerox.” Now, users can view and approve proofs of jobs immediately, attach files to job tickets, view previous jobs,

Ted Schultze, a leader in the automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) and bar coding fields at Symbology, Minneapolis, has been installed as an expert provider in the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (AIM) Global Authority Speakers Bureau. AIM established the database of industry experts to help meet a growing need for qualified speakers at worldwide conferences and summits. Featured topics relate to various aspects of automatic identification and mobility aspects, such as bar coding and RFID. Schultze, a pioneer in bar coding, will be available to speak on any aspect of the topic as well as on more general AIDC topics. Special

Unisource Worldwide, Norcross, Ga., has named Garth Geist as vice president of marketing of the company’s uncoated papers division. He will report to Newell Holt, president of the paper division. Geist will be responsible for the marketing and sourcing of all uncoated and specialty papers. “I am excited Garth will be leading our uncoated papers marketing efforts. His dedication, as well as his knowledge of our products and customer segments, will serve him well in his new role,” said Holt. “During Garth’s 17 years in the industry, he has been actively involved with many trade associations and has led the introduction of many

Wise Business Forms, Alpharetta, Ga., named Sally Spurr as general manager of its Ft. Wayne plant. Spurr brings more than 18 years of experience to the company. She formerly held the positions of operations manager with Avery Dennison and manufacturing manager with General Cable. For more information, visit www.wbf.com.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., SATO America announced the appointment of Ron Brown as the southern regional sales manager. Reporting to Robert Linse, president, Brown will be responsible for the continued development and growth of channel business within the southern territory. He will focus on securing new reseller agreements and working with existing SATO business partners to offer new data collection systems and labeling solutions. Brown’s prior work experience includes holding senior-level sales positions with WH Brady, Domino Amjet, Printronix and Xterprise. Said Linse, “With more than 14 years of experience in the auto ID industry and four in the RFID space, Ron Brown joins

Each year, many businesses are faced with restructuring, mergers, downsizing, contract disputes and other factors affecting relationships between management and employees. BFL&S learned of a situation that began to unfold on Feb. 5 in Girard, Kan., when 39 bargaining-unit employees (production workers and press operators) were locked out of Forms Manufacturing Inc. (FMI) during a union contract dispute. More than four months later, a new contract has been ratified, but not before lawsuits, appeals and the loss of union label work during that period. The last contract had expired in April 2005. FMI and Global Communications Conference/International Brotherhood of Teamsters (GCC/IBT) Local 235-M met