ASME Announces 2013 National Magazine Award Finalists: Many of the usual suspects have topped the list as finalists. There are 62 publications nominated in 23 categories this year, with 26 magazines receiving multiple nominations. National Geographic leads the pack with seven nominations; Condé Nast’s Bon Appétit has nabbed six, as did New York magazine. GQ and The New Yorker each received five nominations, and Esquire, Harper’s Magazine, Mother Jones and Texas Monthly all received four nods each.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Quad/Graphics to Add Jobs in Oklahoma City
Quad/Graphics to Add 130 Jobs in Oklahoma City: Quad/Graphics is expanding its sprawling Oklahoma City printing facility and adding to its workforce. The Wisconsin-based company is adding a 93,800-square-foot storage area to its building at 6801 S Sunnylane Road at an estimated cost of $7 million. The company also is installing a press for magazine and catalog work.
Costco's Misconceptions About Printing
Michael Makin Takes on Costco to Refute Misconceptions About Printing: This is not an April Fool's joke. It has been brought to our attention today that the printing industry is under attack by yet another industry giant. Costco Wholesale Corp. is planning to distribute the April 2013 issue of The Costco Connection with an article titled “Good for the earth and business” by Carrie Madren. This article claims to be dedicated to green and sustainability but contains several serious misconceptions about the negative environmental impact of paper and the superior performance of electronic communication.
The Big Business of Franchise Issues
The Big Business of Franchise Issues: Magazines have long introduced and cultivated the franchise issue—where an editorial theme takes over a standard month’s edition. And whether they exist within the normal publishing schedule or stand outside of it as an extra issue, the franchise edition can grow into a rallying point for a large segment of readers and advertisers. From these issues we’ve seen the outgrowth of standalone events and a range of digital spinoffs—multiplying a franchise issue’s reach and business opportunities. Here, we examine how two in particular have become major brands in their own right: Sport’s Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue and Inc. magazine’s Inc. 500, which has since ballooned into the Inc. 5000.
Diversified Communications CEO Retiring
Hasselback Steps Down as President, CEO of Diversified Communications: Nancy Hasselback started out as a commercial fisherman, owning and operating fishing vessels in Rhode Island and Alaska. Over the last 33 years, though, she has worked her way up the ranks of Diversified Communications, ultimately nabbing the company’s top spot as president and CEO—a job she will leave for retirement come June 28th, the company announced Monday morning. The company’s vice president of business development, Ted Wirth, will step into Hasselback’s role to become president and CEO of the Maine-based media company, which serves the seafood, food service, natural and organic, healthcare, commercial marine and business management industries through face-to-face events, publications and the Web.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
AF&PA Releases Annual Paper, Board & Pulp Survey
http://www.afandpa.org
The American Forest & Paper
Association (AF&PA) today released the 53rd Annual Survey of Paper,
Paperboard and Pulp Capacity, reporting that U.S. paper and paperboard capacity
declined 1.6 percent in 2012 but will hold essentially stable over the next
three years (2013 through 2015).
Paper and paperboard capacity is
slated to decline 0.4 percent in 2013 but then rise 0.6 percent in 2014 and 0.2
percent in 2015. For the entire three-year projection period, paper and
paperboard capacity is expected to rise 0.4 percent at an average annual rate
of 0.1 percent.
The survey reports U.S. industry
capacity data for 2012 through 2015 for all major grades of paper, paperboard,
and pulp, based on a comprehensive survey of all U.S. pulp and paper mills.
Survey respondents represent about 90 percent of the U.S industry capacity.
Domtar Sells Shuttered Port Edwards
The new owner of the former
Domtar Port Edwards paper mill property will work with village officials to
identify potential uses for the site, a company spokeswoman said.
DMI Acquisitions of Columbus,
Ohio, the real estate arm of Dimensional Metals Inc., also will seek tenants to
fill the 192-acre site along the Wisconsin River, said Michelle Moore, a
spokeswoman for DMI Acquisitions."We're identifying expansion opportunities for companies that are currently doing business in central Wisconsin, as well as exploring development of other warehousing and light manufacturing (opportunities)," Moore said Wednesday in a phone interview with Daily Tribune Media.
Norkse Skog Plans Additional Cost Reductions
Norske Skog plans to reduce
costs by NOK 500 million ($86 million) by the end of 2015 at its 550,000
tonne/yr Saugbrugs supercalendered (SC) paper mill in Halden, southern Norway.
The plant already achieved cost
savings of some NOK 110 million in 2012 and has similar
ambitions for the coming years, managing director Roy Vardheim said. Costs will
be cut in areas including energy, pulp, chemicals and logistics. None of this
will affect the mill's production capacity.
Norske Skog may also raise the
capacity of the biogas facility at its Saugbrugs mill in order to cut costs.
The biogas plant uses sludge and residues from the wastewater treatment plant
as raw material and the biogas is used in the mill's boiler.
Oji Raises Pricing on Graphic Papers
Japanese paper and board giant
Oji Paper has announced its intention to raise domestic prices for its graphic
paper range, joining a cohort of its competitors there.
While Daio Paper, Hokuetsu
Paper, Mitsubishi Paper Mills and the Nippon Paper Group have all called for a
hike of ¥15/kg (or roughly $159/tonne) on shipments from April 21, Oji is
calling for a 20% hike from the beginning of May. A spokesman from Oji did not comment on whether the increase was for deliveries or orders from that date.
They cited dropping paper prices consequent to the increased graphic paper imports that have been available in Japan since since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Some remarked on the cost of raw materials and fuel as well.
Sustainability Important to Loggers
The director of the Louisiana Forestry
Association told foresters at a March 12 conference that several industries are
planning to locate in Louisiana that would use wood to make biofuels and
fertilizers.
“If you are in the logging business, here’s
great opportunity for you,” said Buck Vandersteen at the LSU AgCenter Forestry
Forum attended by more than 150 foresters from across the state. He said the companies want to know if timber will be taken from sustainable forests, and they want assurances that lumber companies are harvesting wood in environmentally acceptable methods.
“If you are in a certified program, it will pay dividends for you,” Vandersteen said.
Hearst Names Steven R. Swartz as CEO
Hearst Corporation Names Steven R. Swartz as New CEO: After leading the Hearst Corporation for 28 years, Frank A. Bennack, Jr. (pictured right) will step down as CEO, passing the torch to COO Steven R. Swartz (below left), who will officially succeed him June 1. Other than William Randolph Hearst himself, Bennack is the company’s longest-serving chief executive and sixth in the company’s 126-year history.
Bennack will remain active in the affairs of the company, serving as executive vice chairman of the Board of Directors and chairman of the Executive Committee. Swartz has been part of the Hearst Corporation for the past 20 years, first signing on as founding editor of SmartMoney, the company’s venture with Dow Jones which launched in 1991. In 2001 he became senior vice president of Hearst Newspapers and was tapped as president of Hearst Newspapers in 2009. He was appointed chief operating officer in 2011 and assumed his role as Hearst Corporation president last year. Swartz began his career as a reporter with the Wall Street Journal in 1984 after graduating from Harvard.
Bennack will remain active in the affairs of the company, serving as executive vice chairman of the Board of Directors and chairman of the Executive Committee. Swartz has been part of the Hearst Corporation for the past 20 years, first signing on as founding editor of SmartMoney, the company’s venture with Dow Jones which launched in 1991. In 2001 he became senior vice president of Hearst Newspapers and was tapped as president of Hearst Newspapers in 2009. He was appointed chief operating officer in 2011 and assumed his role as Hearst Corporation president last year. Swartz began his career as a reporter with the Wall Street Journal in 1984 after graduating from Harvard.
Enhanced iPad App from New York Magazine
New York magazine is finally scrapping its digital replica
app and launching a new interactive version of its weekly print magazine that
was created with digital design agency The Wonderfactory and uses the Mag+
platform.
The app will be available for download from the Apple
Newsstand—another first for New York's tablet edition—beginning on April 1.
Non-subscribers can buy single copies or monthly or yearly digital
subscriptions, while existing print subscribers will get full access to the
digital version for free.
Some of the magazine’s special issues, like the
current New York Weddings, will also be available as interactive tablet
editions.
Berner Speaks at MPA Swipe 2.0 Conference
At MPA Swipe 2.0, App Model Begins to Grow Up:
MPA president and CEO Mary Berner once again took the opportunity in her opening address to defend and promote magazine media: "There's never been a better time to be in the business of magazine media," she said. "And if you ignore the pundits and the potshots you'll see why this statement is true."Berner touted the magazine platform as one on a growth trajectory, especially taking into account the various media a brand is represented by. "It is no longer accurate or even appropriate to talk about ourselves as a magazine. It does not begin to measure our reach," she said.
MPA president and CEO Mary Berner once again took the opportunity in her opening address to defend and promote magazine media: "There's never been a better time to be in the business of magazine media," she said. "And if you ignore the pundits and the potshots you'll see why this statement is true."Berner touted the magazine platform as one on a growth trajectory, especially taking into account the various media a brand is represented by. "It is no longer accurate or even appropriate to talk about ourselves as a magazine. It does not begin to measure our reach," she said.
GAAmericas Names Quad/Graphics Company of the Year
Quad/Graphics Named Company of the Year - Publications in Inaugural ...:
Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: QUAD) (“Quad/Graphics”) has been named Company of the Year/Gravure Publications in the inaugural Gravure Management Excellence Awards sponsored by the Gravure Association of the Americas (GAAmericas). Quad/Graphics also won the Overall Company Growth Award. The awards were a feature of the GAAmerica’s Gravure Global Summit held in Miami earlier this month.
Quad/Graphics uses the gravure printing process to print leading consumer magazines, catalogs and retail advertising inserts.
Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: QUAD) (“Quad/Graphics”) has been named Company of the Year/Gravure Publications in the inaugural Gravure Management Excellence Awards sponsored by the Gravure Association of the Americas (GAAmericas). Quad/Graphics also won the Overall Company Growth Award. The awards were a feature of the GAAmerica’s Gravure Global Summit held in Miami earlier this month.
Quad/Graphics uses the gravure printing process to print leading consumer magazines, catalogs and retail advertising inserts.
RRD Announces Results of Tender Offers
RR Donnelley Announces the Expiration/Final Results of Its Tender Offers: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company today announced the expiration and final results of its offers (the "Tender Offers") to purchase for cash up to $500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its notes, including up to $300,000,000 of its 6.125 percent Notes due January 15, 2017 (the "2017 Notes"), up to $150,000,000 of its 8.600 percent Notes due August 15, 2016 (the "2016 Notes") and up to $50,000,000 of its 7.25 percent Notes due May 15, 2018 (the "2018 Notes", together with the 2017 Notes and 2016 Notes, the "Securities").
Standard Register Invests $10 Million in Center
Standard Register (NYSE: SR) has announced plans for a new national Center of Excellence for digital printing, kitting and distribution in Jeffersonville, Ind., which is in the greater Louisville, Ky. metropolitan area. This new 335,000 square foot center will provide Standard Register customers more flexible delivery options and improved speed-to-market for communications products, services and solutions.
“Standard Register’s $10 million investment in this new Center of Excellence allows us to operate more efficiently, advance our digital printing capabilities and leverage the deep capability of the local workforce to better serve our customers”
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
NewPage Settles with Government
NewPage’s
Rumford mill in Maine to pay $3 million to settle federal allegations it
manipulated regional energy market.
Rumford Paper
Co., which operates the paper mill in town, has agreed to pay more than $3
million to settle allegations brought by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission that it profited from manipulating New England's energy market.
In the consent agreement published Friday, Rumford Paper,
which is a subsidiary of Ohio-based NewPage Corp., agreed to a total fine of
$10 million and return of more than $3 million in payments FERC maintains the
Rumford mill received fraudulently through the manipulation of an electricity
program administered by ISO-New England that compensated large industrial
electricity users for reducing their electricity consumption during peak demand
hours.However, because NewPage filed for bankruptcy in September 2011, FERC has agreed to accept a cash payment of slightly more than $3 million to settle the case.
Maryland's Special Deal for NewPage
Maryland
‘black liquor bill’ resurrected in legislate after special deal for NewPage
mill.
Some Annapolis lawmakers have gotten in the Easter spirit a
little early. A bill that would curtail millions in renewable-energy subsidies
for mostly out-of-state paper mills comes to the Senate floor Monday, after
being killed last week and then revived with a special deal for Maryland's only
paper-making plant.
The bill, SB684, pushed by environmentalists, would phase
out the ability of paper facilities to cash in on Maryland's renewable energy
law by burning "black liquor," a tarry byproduct of the pulping
process, and other wood waste to power their operations.Under the 2004 law, paper mills collectively received $3.8 million in 2011 by selling "renewable energy" credits to companies supplying power to Maryland's households and businesses. The state's electricity customers.
Newton Falls Assets to be Liquidated
The sale of the Newton Falls paper mill as an intact
operation has failed and the assets will be liquidated in the latest turn of
events surrounding the plant.
Scotia Investments Vice President Robert G. Patzelt wrote in
an email that the special bid received at the end of an auction Thursday for
the entirety of the mill's equipment was terminated during finalization of the
details."The owners are disappointed with this development as they put tremendous time and effort into selling the entire mill which was seen to be in the best interest of all the stakeholders and especially the mill and the community," Mr. Patzelt wrote. "Ideally, we wanted the mill to be sold as a going concern, or, in its current state of being ready to be reopened by another party."
Port Townsend President Resigns
After coming to work at Port Townsend Paper Corp. in 2008,
President Roger Loney has resigned.
According to a March 26 release from Dale Stahl, executive
chairman of the Port Townsend Holdings Company, Loney intends to pursue other
business interests and spend more time on the East Coast with his family. He
committed to three to five years when he initially joined the mill as a mill
manager, according to the release.
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