Printer News

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) increased in February. The index now stands at 111.14, up from 109.93 (an upward revision) in January. The February figure is 3.2 percent higher than a year ago.

Bell, California-based Zoo Printing Inc. announced its newest location in West Deptford, N.J. This new facility shortens shipping times to the East Coast without requiring rush shipping or additional production costs.

Boise, Idaho-based Boise Cascade Company reported financial results for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2012.

Staples Inc.'s quarterly net profit sank 72 percent as the office-supply giant was hit by a slew of charges related to its recent restructuring and store-closure efforts.

However, stripping out one-time items, core earnings strengthened. Staples also saw its top line benefit from an extra week during the quarter compared with the year-ago period.

Staples' earnings announcement comes after rivals Office Depot Inc. agreed to merge with OfficeMax Inc. The deal creates a retailer with $18 billion in sales and combines two companies battling the effects of too many stores, an increasingly digitized office and greater online competition.

Rochester, New York-based Kodak has reached an agreement with the Steering Committee of the Second Lien Noteholders to amend the terms for the previously announced interim and exit financing package.

Hans Müller, founder of the Muller Martini Group and pioneer in machine construction for the graphic arts industry, passed away at the age of 96 in Zofingen, Switzerland.

New York-based Mimeo, a leading online printing and content distribution solutions company, announced that Adam Slutsky has decided to step down as chief executive officer.

The tension between the Government Printing Office's traditional role as a printing operation and its future as a publisher of digital government information was apparent at a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee's Legislative Branch Subcommittee last week.

In her testimony, acting Public Printer Davita Vance-Cooks stressed the GPO's efforts to transition to the digital age and acknowledged that the agency's role has evolved to that of a publishing operation. Unfortunately, the GPO has often failed to take steps that would allow it to fully embrace that role and ensure its future as an essential source of information.

The big wheel of business has turned a million times over since Johannes Gutenberg spearheaded the printing movement. Many recognized opportunity and seized it. 

Bunting Magnetics Co. has announced dramatic changes in how it supplies flexible dies to label manufacturers.