Rhode Island’s printing industry is determined to buck the trend of declining manufacturing jobs.
Technology just might help it to do so.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
While traditional press room operators and typesetters may no longer be in demand, workers skilled in the intricacies of electronic pagination and graphic design are finding themselves to be a commodity. And those workers who are willing to re-train are finding that the printing industry does indeed offer them a future.
Dr. Lenore D. Collins, an associate professor at Rhode Island College who works closely with the printing industry through the school’s Center for Management and Technology, points out that the desktop publishing sector of the printing industry is expected to grow more than 100 percent by 2005.
“Some elements of the industry become obsolete but others, such as electronic pagination, are going up more than the other segments are going down,” said Collins.
Collins said the people with the background in printing – those press people who truly understand color schemes and reproduction processes – have unlimited potential in terms of being re-trained.
Re-training is a major priority of the year-old Rhode Island Printing Industry Coalition, which was established through a $100,000 three-year state grant. The grant represented an investment by the Rhode Island Human Resource Investment Council (HRIC).
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. The printing sector includes commercial printers, quick printers, screen printers, packaging and label printers, and newspapers. Allied industries include service bureaus, paper companies, suppliers, equipment vendors, ad agencies/graphic designers, and finishing facilities.
In Rhode Island in the last 10 years, Morse said, the printing industry has seen a 9 percent growth in employment.
But the very creation of RIPIC is designed in part to ensure that such growth continues – and to lend a helping hand when the industry stumbles. Rhode Island’s manufacturing base has steadily eroded in recent decades. Dozens of manufacturers have closed their doors – others have moved south.
The printing sector has fared better than most, but despite projections for growth it has not been immune to hard times. An example of those hard times came in the fall of 1998, when Quebecor Printing Federated, Inc., a Canadian company closed two Rhode Island operations. Close to 300 workers lost their jobs – all before the holidays. RIPIC stepped in immediately to help the displaced workers find jobs throughout the industry – and dozens have already done so.
The potential for growth in the printing industry has been significant enough to attract the HRIC, which looks to back programs in industries that have the potential to provide jobs for displaced workers or the unemployed. The printing industry is a perfect fit, said Collins, considering it is the third largest industry in the state.
Michael Sweeney took the helm as RIPIC’s executive director last month. He has a theory as to why the printing may be prospering while its sister manufacturing sectors are hurting.
Printing, Sweeney said, meets the majority of its needs locally and is not so dependent on national or global accounts. In Rhode Island, service industries have flourished in recent years, as have financial services. And both industries, Sweeney said, do a great deal of printing.
“If the service industries, the financial industries and health industries are growing – they’re helping support the printing industry,” he said. “Most of their printing needs are going to be met locally.”
All of which keeps Collins busy at RIC’s Center for Management and Technology. She is busy designing internship programs and spearheading re-training efforts. I have been excited about this industry since day one,” said Collins. “It’s always changing. This industry keeps you learning.”
