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Website: www.glga.info

Office - (262) 522-2210 / Fax - (262) 522-2211

Welcome to Currents, the Great Lakes Graphics Association's weekly e-newsletter, bringing you information and education you can use to run your business. Currents is published every Tuesday.

National News and Education

March Shipments

Packaging Design

Illinois NICU Leave Law

Yesterday's Playbook

Difficult Customers?

Sales Tip of the Week

GLGA Association News

State Golf Outings

2026 Wage and Benefit Survey

GLGA Academy

Member News

Royle Printing

Tactive

Specialty Print Communications

Manchester Industries - A Clearwater Paper Company

National News and Education

March Shipments Went from Lamb to Lion

After an all-time worst month in February, shipments roared back up from $6.78 billion to $7.30 billion in March. From WhatTheyThink.

Curiosity in Packaging Design Surges

Packaging design trends, ideas, regulations, and execution dominate our list of top stories from last month. From Packaging Digest.

Illinois' New Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act - What Workers and Employers Need to Know

Under the new Illinois law, employees working for covered employers can take unpaid leave while their child is receiving treatment in a NICU. The amount of leave depends on the size of the employer. From our HR partner MRA.

Editor's note: Click here for info about your membership benefits through our partnership with MRA.

Yesterday’s Playbook Won’t Win Tomorrow’s Game

The market has changed; your customers have evolved and technology is accelerating. Is your playbook keeping up? By Mike Philie of The Philie Group.

Difficult Customers or Broken System? De-escalation Wisdom

When you equip your CSRs with information, authority, and backup, and stop forcing them to cover for poor processes, you’ll be amazed at how many “problems” turn into partnerships. By GLGA member Debbie Nicholson of Think-to-INK! on American Printer.

Already Have a Vendor? Great News!

"We already have a vendor" cannot be unexpected, but it can be overcome. Check out Bill Farquharson's Short Attention Span Sales Tip. By the Sales Vault.

GLGA Association News

2026 Golf Outings: Illinois, You're Next!

Fun, food, prizes and camaraderie! Don’t miss the 2026 state golf outings – our most popular networking events of the year. Hope you can join us! If you have any questions about these events, please contact Sharon Flick.

Illinois Printers Scholarship Golf Outing

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

White Pines Golf Club, Bensenville, IL

Don't wait to register - we are nearly sold out!

Last chance to be a sponsor -

deadline is Friday, June 26.

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** NEW DATE ** NEW LOCATION **

Wisconsin State Golf Outing

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Western Lakes Golf Club, Pewaukee, WI

Participate in the 2026 Wage and Benefit Survey and Get a Free Copy of the Report

Participating in the 2026 GLGA Wage and Benefits Survey will help you gain invaluable insights to stay competitive in your local labor marketplace. With data representing more than 15,000 employees across 400 firms, the survey remains the industry’s largest and most in-depth compensation benchmarking tool.

Your data is kept confidential. GLGA members receive a complimentary report ($1,000 value) for submitting a completed survey. The final report includes both regional and state data, and will be available Fall 2026. For questions, please contact Joe Lyman.

Membership News

Royle Printing: Huge Shoutout to the Rocking Team that Hit an Outstanding 525,549 Impressions in a Single Shift! 

Posted on LinkedIn by Royle Printing, Sun Prairie, WI.

Tactive Project Spotlight: Rad Care Services at AORN

Posted on their website blog by Tactive, Indianapolis, IN.

Specialty Print Communications: Celebrating 30 years Never Felt So Hot, Literally. ☀️

Posted on LinkedIn by Specialty Print Communications, Niles, IL.

Clearwater Paper - Manchester Industries Welcomes Kris Ing as New Senior Account Manager for Chicago and Wisconsin Territories

Posted on LinkedIn by Manchester Industries - A Clearwater Paper Company.

About Us

The Great Lakes Graphics Association is the trade association dedicated to representing the graphics manufacturing industry throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin through education, promotion, and public affairs. It represents approximately 13 percent of the total graphics manufacturing market in the United States with its three-state region, accounting for combined annual shipments of nearly $19 billion. Founded in 1886, GLGA is celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2026 and continues to be the oldest print and graphics manufacturing trade association in North America. 

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