It was a very busy year! Ricoh made a multi-million-dollar investment in Canadian MIS leader Avanti in March. The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council (CPISC) and the Canadian Printing Industries Association (CPIA) teamed up to create a single new organization to help our industry. A new professional association for Canada’s printable electronics industry emerged last month, the Canadian Printable Electronics Industry Association (CPEIA). So much was happening and all of us here at Graphic Arts Magazine were extremely busy keeping you up to date. Personally, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to all the exhibitors, speakers and attendees at our Print Community Forum & Tradeshow held last month.
In the November issue I congratulated Jay Mandarino, head of Toronto’s C.J. Group of Companies, for winning two Bennys and dozens of other awards at the PIA’s Premier Print Awards. Well, Jay just received another accolade – the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship for his outstanding humanitarian efforts in his own community. So, congratulations are once again in order.
Congratulations also to another industry leader and a great person. HP’s Danny Ionescu, Vice President of Sales for HP Canada’s Graphic Arts Division for almost twenty years, was promoted and will now be responsible for HP’s Enterprise Business not just in Canada, but across the Americas. Danny’s been instrumental in introducing new HP technology to the Canadian market.
There were some landmark installations this year. Cober Evolving Solutions of Kitchener installed an HP Indigo 10000, the first ever in Canada and only the eighth worldwide. Calgary’s Bolder Graphics installed three EFI Vutek printers in the largest single install of its kind in Canada. And Bassett Direct of Richmond Hill, Ontario installed Canada’s first Xeikon 8600, coinciding with the company’s 20th anniversary.
Columnist Diana Brown this month has a fascinating look at some unique products from three Ontario B2C label companies. Wide format specialist Peter Dulis reviews the Product of the Year winners from the SGIA Expo, which broke all previous attendance records. In the realm of financial help, you might want to check out the second of our two-part series on how to boost your credit score, along with Columnist Elliot Schiller’s piece on the pros and cons of RRSPs.
It’s the time of year to get some well-earned R&R and think about the reasons why we all work so hard – our friends, families and loved ones. From all of us at Graphic Arts Magazine.
View from the publisher – Dec 2014
