Printegra

Ennis Inc., the Midlothian, Texas-based manufacturer of printed business products and apparel, has agreed to acquire certain assets of Cenveo's document business including the manufacturing facilities branded under the names PrintXcel and Printegra. Sales from both businesses are approximately $80 million annually.

Fayetteville, Georgia-based PathQuest Group recently hired Bill Reid as a vice president.

Austell, Georgia-based Graphic Dimensions recently announced several management changes.

Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., Wise recently added three people to its management team.

Austell, Georgia-based Graphic Dimensions has named Al Havens to the newly created position of national sales manager, where he will be accountable for all sales operations.

It's not just famous for its inner harbor and crab cakes. It's not just the backdrop of HBO's now defunct The Wire. Many know it as "Charm City," but for the printing industry it's the site of PSDA's annual Print Solutions Conference and Expo from May 24 to 26 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Tommy Gillis, senior partner and co-owner of Grand Prairie, Texas-based CFC Print Solutions, LLC, began his printing career as a plate maker at a computer services company in Georgia. He recalled, "I spent most of my time eating Snickers bars, drinking Mello Yello and studying in the plate room for my night classes at Georgia Southern University. I had no idea what a printing press was much less what an aluminum plate did!"

You can run, but you can’t hide. There’s no escaping [cue dramatic music]: The Recession. Had enough of the media’s fear-inducing headlines? Like it or not, this is reality—and not just for the printing industry. But that doesn’t mean suppliers and distributors have to close their eyes and wait for miracles to fall in their laps.

1. The Defending Champions Midlothian, Texas-based Ennis has much to celebrate—perhaps most importantly its repeated procurement of the winning spot in Print Professional’s top 100 manufacturers list. The company attributes its success to product expansion and national branding efforts. Acquisitions, in particular, give the supplier prime positioning to accomplish such feats. Most recently, Trade Envelopes, Carol Stream, Ill., Phoenix-based B&D Litho of Arizona and Skyline Business Forms, Denver, have been added to the Ennis catalog. “Since the acquisition, we have expanded Trade Envelopes’ envelope conversion capabilities. We have also added envelope converting equipment in Calibrated [Forms], and coupled with our existing Block Graphics

A little change never hurt anyone. With that in mind, this year’s big show promises a change of pace, a change of scenery and a change in demand. The newly revamped PSDA (formerly DMIA) will host its annual Print Solutions Conference and Exposition on Oct. 23-25 at the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore. This year’s featured general session keynote speaker will be Charlie Pesko, founder and president of InfoTrends, a leading market research and consulting firm in the digital imaging and document solutions industries. Technological advances and refined marketing strategies are just some of the issues gaining momentum in a slowing economy. To encourage print