The Rhode Island Printing Industry Coalition is proving to be a sound
investment on the part of the Rhode Island Human Resource Investment
Council.
The fledgling organization — established through a $100,000, three-year
state grant in January of this year — is doing its part to take
advantage of the one sector of Rhode Island’s manufacturing base that is
showing consistent growth — the printing industry.
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RIPIC represents 11,000 workers in printing and related fields or 17
percent of the manufacturing jobs in Rhode Island, according to Larry
Morse, chairman of RIPIC and president of Docu-Print, Inc., in East
Providence.
“In Rhode Island in the last 10 years, the printing industry has seen a
9 percent growth in employment,” said Morse. “Printing is one of the few
manufacturing sectors to grow.”
Morse added that the desktop publishing sector of the printing industry
is anticipated to grow 70 percent by 2005.
“We have a wonderful opportunity, in fact, to grow jobs,” said Morse.
That opportunity — that potential to give a shot-in-the-arm to Rhode
Island’s manufacturing base, has not been lost upon the Rhode Island
Department of Labor and Training and its Human Resource Investment
Council. Dr. Lee Arnold, executive director of the Department of Labor
and Training, said that by establishing industry clusters, the state is
able to go to a particular industry and help address particular needs.
The state first found success with such an approach in the plastics
industry. Arnold expects to find similar success with the printers.
“We looked at our arsenal of weapons that we use to help Rhode Island
businesses become more competitive,” said Arnold. “And then we said:
`What if we can get industries to work together?'”
To Elaine Paolino, vice president of Cranston-based Print Source and a
member of RIPIC’s board of directors, the printing industry is indeed a
wise place for the state to invest money.
“We contribute close to $65 million to the economy of Rhode Island,”
Paolino said. “People don’t realize that.”
Peter Rainone, president of S & A Paramount Printing in Lincoln, and
also a member of RIPIC’s board of directors, expects growth in the
printing industry to continue.
“Printing on the whole is definitely on the increase,” Rainone said.
“And all the projections we have show the same kind of growth as we have
seen in Rhode Island the last few years, about 9 percent. All we hear
about is a ‘paperless society,’ but it’s not going to happen.”
By working together, RIPIC is already making a difference. A big
difference.
Just ask some of the former employees of Quebecor Printing Federated
Inc. The Montreal-based company closed the doors of its Prairie Avenue
operation in November — putting 140 employees out of work.
So RIPIC — still in its infancy stage — held a job fair, specifically
for former Quebecor workers. About 60 of those workers attended the job
fair, along with representatives of at least 15 companies.
And last Monday night at Rhode Island College in Providence, RIPIC — and
representatives from state and federal agencies — sponsored a series of
information sessions.
It was an opportunity for the nearly one-year-old RIPIC to formally
bring the printing industry together. It was also another opportunity
for RIPIC to help its own — namely, the former Quebecor workers. So in
addition to all the information and services they heard about, those who
attended the forum at RIC also received a bound packet filled with
resumes of Quebecor workers.
Some of those workers, said Morse, have already landed jobs as a result
of those resumes being circulated. Others have scheduled interviews.
“Those are win-win situations for everybody,” said Morse. “That’s what
we’re all about, RIPIC serving as a vehicle for these people.”
In essence, RIPIC is a group of printing and allied companies the
comprise the Ocean State’s printing industry. The organization is funded
by a three-year grant through the Human Resource Investment Council and
administered under the direction of Dr. Lenore D. Collins, an associate
professor at Rhode Island College.
Included in the printing portion are commercial printer, quick printers,
screen printers, packaging and label printers, and newspapers. Allied
industries are service bureaus, paper companies, suppliers, equipment
vendors, ad agencies/graphic designers, and finishing facilities.
RIPIC is a not-for-profit trade association. Its objectives include:
- Create a state-of-the-art resource and training facilities for the
printing industry at Rhode Island College and area vocational schools - Promote the Rhode Island Printing cluster
- Enhance the educational environment in advanced print and technology
The Human Resource Investment Council’s interest makes sense, said
Collins, when one considers that the printing industry is the third
largest industry in the state and one that holds great potential in
providing jobs for displaced workers or the unemployed.
“The idea behind the grant is to improve the workforce and make the
printing industry competitive,” said Collins. It’s an industry that
provides jobs and helps expand the tax base.”
For Collins, the establishment of RIPIC — with an office at RIC — is a
natural.
“The college has always been a resource to the printing industry, but
now with this grant I have an opportunity to expand those services,”
said Collins.
To Morse, RIPIC’s first year illustrates its potential — and the
positive impact the organization can have on the Rhode Island economy.
“We have made tremendous strides in our first year,” said Morse.
Those strides include the recent hiring of a full-time executive
director, Michael Sweeney. Sweeney will have an office at RIC, at the
school’s Center for Management and Technology.
“For a new organization, we needed someone with strong organizational
skills who can pull all of our resources together,” said Morse.
That’s
good news for a printing industry on the move — and a manufacturing base
that will take all the help it can get. Arnold hopes that other
manufacturing sectors will respond to the cluster approach. He’s got
close to a dozen more sectors in mind. By working together, he insists,
Rhode Island manufacturers can prosper.
The plastics and printing manufacturers are an example.
“We try to do an awful lot to help our manufacturers,” said Arnold. “We
think that Rhode Island is a good environment for manufacturing. We
think they can find a home here — and find support here.”
