October 24, 2018
Helping you Engage! Explore! Energize! Excel!
Only one week left to reorder your PrintROCKS! award certificates!
In case you didn't get the printed form in the mail, here's a link to the order form. Get those orders in soon! Cut off is Wed., October 31st!
Many Thanks to our PrintROCKS! Sponsors
Webinar Tomorrow: How to Take Advantage and Save BIG with the Konica Minolta Buying Program
Thursday, October 25th at 11am PDT
Learn all about the new Konica Minolta Buying Program with Brian Steck, National Enterprise PIA Account Manager. Brian will give a brief introduction on Konica Minolta, what products are included in the Buying Program, what perks and discounts PIA members can expect, and how you can take advantage of the program to save big on your next press, wide-format, label, or special finishing product purchase!
HR Volunteers Needed!
Are you in the Portland/Willamette Valley area? We could really use your help! We have several upcoming career and job fairs that we are attending in the next few months and we could use your expertise in speaking to students in the high school and college level about jobs in your industry. Check out our growing Educational Events calendar on explorevizcomm.org  for current career fair dates and details in the PPI region. Help us grow our outreach – email erika@ppiassociation.org today to get involved!
Only one month left to register for the
Best Workplaces in the Americas!
Successful Workforce. Superior Work Environment.
Culture of Innovation.
We encourage you to enter the Best Workplaces in the Americas award program and stand among the most distinguished printing industry leaders! 

The BWA award embodies your commitment to quality and excellence, passion for success, and recognizes a safety-focused environment. We look at important human resources practices and honor companies that embrace the most sought-after qualities for today’s workplace:
  • Communication & Culture
  • Employee Resources & Benefits
  • Safety & Work Environment
Workforce Development
The printing industry has a serious talent issue. The problem is multifaceted and will require a combination of ideas, actions, groups and dedication to solve. The time is overdue to take workforce development seriously. Lip service is no longer cutting it.

We all know why we are here. Baby boomers retiring, school programs dwindling and for many years now, it is the reality to many that print is dying. And today we hear increasingly that students are not motivated to seek careers in manufacturing. Read more...
Five Steps to Deliver on your Fiduciary Responsibilities
Do you make decisions that impact your company's retirement plan? If so, you are most likely a plan fiduciary as defined by ERISA.. ( read more: Are you a Plan Fiduciary)

Fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA were established to protect the interests of participants and beneficiaries, and to protect plan assets from misuse. By complying with ERISA, plan sponsors can also limit their potential liability. Here are five ways on how to deliver on on your fiduciary responsibility. Read more...
The Role of Promotion in Driving Digital Printing Sales
Investing in digital printing devices doesn’t guarantee print demand. The key to building demand lies in promotion. Marketing communications, or promotion, is what propels the marketing and sales process for digital printing; it catapults demand. Read more...
How to Excel as a Sales Manager and a Sales Leader - at the same time
Sometimes a sales organization just needs a sales manager. Other times it needs a leader and sometimes, both. From my experience, a  good sales manager hires well, nurtures the skills needed for successful team selling, and recognizes and removes obstacles to make it easier for sales reps to sell and buyers to buy. Read more...
Tariffs and the Price of Inks
There has been a lot of concerns over the increasing tariffs that are being levied against more and more products. These include key chemicals, including raw materials that are used for inks. The higher raw material costs are already drawing resulting price increases from ink manufacturers. The recently imposed tariffs are 10% effective immediately and will increase to 25% in January. Read more...
PIA Opens Nominations for Education and Kagy Awards of Excellence
The Education Award of Excellence honors educators and industry trainers who have gone above and beyond to further printed communications and enhance the future of our industry. Education Award recipients join 30 years of notable printing educators and trainers, such as Larry Kroll, Thomas Schildgen, John Leininger, and Susan Kinney. Read more...
Call for Volunteers / Notify us of events in your region
Here's the Career and Job Fairs that PPI is currently signed up to attend. More are being added as dates become available. Please let us know if there are additional events in your region that we should attend or if you would like to join us for any of these dates and/or have supplies or open positions you'd like us to provide to the students.
October 25th - Mt. Hood CC Fall Career Fair
11:00am-3:00pm
October 25th - David Douglas HS Career Fair
1:30pm-3:30pm
October 30th - Mountain View HS & Union HS Career Fair
9:00am-11:00am
November 7th - Western Oregon University Career Fair
11:00am-2:00pm
November 8th - University of Oregon Career Fair
12:00pm-4:00pm
November 15th - Benson Polytechnic HS Career Fair
10:00am-2:00pm
December 11th - Linn County Youth Job Fair
9:00am-1:00pm
February 19th - Gonzaga University Career Fair
9:00am-1:00pm
March 19th - NW Youth Expo
9:00am-1:30pm
March 19th - Auburn Chamber Career Fair
8:00am-1:00pm
April 30th - Portland Community College Career Fair
11:00am-3:00pm
Here's what's coming up:
October 30th - DTC Webinar
November 14th - Profit Matters Webinar (Rescheduled)
November 15th - Virtual Conference
December 6th - Seattle Holiday Happy Hour
(Location coming soon)
December 11th - Profit Matters Webinar
December 12th - Portland Holiday Party
*Salt Lake City, UT date and location coming soon!
A GREAT BIG THANK YOU
TO OUR PLATINUM SPONSORS: