Florida Companies Resume Normal Operations
After Hurricane Frances rampaged through Florida last weekend, many printing companies have begun full-scale operations. The Category 2 hurricane with 105-mph winds killed at least nine people in Florida, and left 6 million customers without power. Gary Brown, president of The DBF Printing Group, a manufacturer in Jupiter, Fla., said "we're up and going." The company experienced a power outage over the weekend, but didn't suffer leaks and flooding, he said, adding that deliveries to customers were on schedule.

Randy Eubanks, vice president of sales at Ft. Lauderdale-based distributorship Suncoast Marketing, said the company held a meeting Aug. 30, a week before Frances hit, to chalk out a "hurricane schedule." The company updated its employees' phone list. Managers met again on Sept. 2 and decided to close offices by noon. In the next few hours, employees put computers, monitors, calculators and other equipment in bags and placed them next to walls. They also tied and taped files, and placed tarpaulin on the vents in the warehouse.

Eubanks and Robert Scala, the company's president, visited the offices Sept. 5 to assess the damage. The company booted up its computer network and phone system the following day and on Sept. 7, the company was running normal operations.

Jan Weaver, president of Tampa-based distributorship ArtForm ink, said business was slowly coming back to normal in the area. "There's all kind of damage around Tampa and there are many businesses that are still without power."

Champion Acquires Syscan Corp.
Champion Industries Inc., Huntington, W. Va., announced that it has purchased all the stock of Syscan Corporation, Charleston, W.Va. The acquisition is an all cash purchase with a contingent earn-out feature. Syscan was founded in 1959 as a West Virginia manufacturer under the name "West Virginia Business Forms Inc." The name was changed in 1987. The company is now a regional provider of integrated business products, administrative services and procurement solutions that include its enterprise resource electronic catalog. Its geographic markets include West Virginia, northern Virginia, Pennsylvania and central and eastern Kentucky.

Strata-Tac Launches New Products
Strata-Tac Inc., Batavia, Ill., launched face stock for Clean Card. The PolyCard is a 7 mil white, polyester-based construction that's ideal for long run direct mail projects. The company also introduced integrated label material with repositionable adhesive.

Deluxe, California Bankers Association Extend Contract
Deluxe Financial Services, a business unit of Deluxe Corporation, St. Paul, Minn., extended a 5-year agreement to serve as the endorsed check printer for the California Bankers Association.

Competition Heats in Office Products Market
Any reluctance by the three big players in the U.S. office products market to move into their competitors' regional strongholds is waning, with Staples, Office Depot and OfficeMax setting their sights on battlegrounds such as the Northeast and as far away as Europe and China. The rival big box-style retailers are gearing up for more rapid growth and heated regional competition by giving their so-called "superstores" makeovers. Full story.

IKON Launches Integrated Solutions Portfolio
IKON Office Solutions, Valley Forge, Pa., launched a comprehensive portfolio of solutions designed to address such document management needs as capture, workflow, output and retention. The portfolio combines document management equipment and software with web-based tools, the company said.

Georgia-Pacific Sells 3 Mills
Georgia-Pacific Corp., Atlanta, completed the sale of three hardwood lumber mills to Allegheny Wood Products Inc., Petersburg, W.Va., which assumed immediate operating responsibility for these facilities. The lumber mills sold are located at Enfield, N.C.; Green Valley, W.Va.; and Marble, Pa., and employ 250 people.

Weyerhaeuser Closes $400 Million Sale
Weyerhaeuser Co., Federal Way, Wash., completed the sale of 270,000 acres of timberland in Georgia in a deal worth $400 million. The company will use the proceeds to pay down debt. Virginia Forest Investment LLC, Georgia Fall Line Properties LLC, Oaky Woods Properties LLC and Station Holdings bought the land. Weyerhaeuser said it will continue to operate nine facilities and manage some 34,000 acres of commercial timberland in Georgia.

Sales and Marketing Tip
Top 10 Low-Cost or Free Ways
to Promote Your Business
Whether you have been in business for years or are just starting out, marketing your business is always critical to success. Here are 10 ways to promote your business inexpensively. Full story.

E-Commerce Spotlight
Finding Affiliate Profits Online
Thousands of merchants each year are seeing success in the online arena. But for some it can seem like a steep hurdle, especially if you're not sure what to sell online. Full story.

Product of the Week
2004 Distributor Compensation
& Benefits Report
The 2004 Distributor Compensation & Benefits Report is here! This 294-page report includes actual compensation for all positions at a distributorship. The data is broken down by sales volumes to compare your company to like-sized firms. The report also includes sales per sales representative and sales per employee for six levels of distributorships. You can see how sales representatives are paid, benefits, experience levels, and more. Code: DICOMP. $149. To order, click here, or contact
Tina Davis.

Hot Sites
270 to Win
Get a deeper understanding of swing states, red states, blue states, and how it all adds up for November at this well-designed site. You control the projections of states' electoral vote allotments. Election results on each presidential bid are included, along with issues of the day and how those electoral votes panned out. Visit the site.

Nostalgia Central
The site features topical and fun material on various fads, fashions, movies and musical movements of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Visit the site.

Distributorship Profits by Selling Catalogs
Many distributors have expanded their product offerings, selling virtually anything with print. Francis Warren took the opposite approach. "Instead of furthering my product mix, I decided I'd be better off concentrating on one thing," says Warren, vice president of distributorship Warren Business Graphics, Waltham, Mass. Warren selected commercial printing and even narrowed down that niche. "I also decided to get away from the small stuff," he says. "So I sell primarily catalogs." Full story.

You Can't Miss Print Solutions 2004 Conference and Expo
Are you looking for products to sell that have a margin of 30 percent or higher? You'll find them at Print Solutions 2004 Conference and Expo, Rosemont, Ill., Oct. 4-7. The exhibit floor will feature two product theaters featuring presentations on selling specific products and/or services with proven margins of at least 30 percent. Click here to see the schedule.

New this year for your pre-conference planning is an interactive, online floor plan and show guide! Click here to check it out. You can search and sort the floor plan by product or simply click on a booth number to see what each exhibitor offers. For example, if you sort on plastic products, you will see highlighted on the floor plan all the booths featuring that product line.

And, to add to the excitement on the show floor this year, Crabar/GBF, an Ennis Inc. company, is giving away a Lexus RX330 (valued at $35,000). This top-of-the-line SUV will be on display at the expo for some lucky attendee to drive home. But the only way you can win is by coming to the show. Click here to register online.

Here are the top unusual source requests received by DMIA:

1. Cardboard Picture Frames; various sizes; 15 different colors; QTY=100M+ per order for an annual QTY of 5MM
2. Continuous Form; 3 5/8" x 7"; two parts; prints 2 colors; crash imprint variable imaging on each form; insert into #10 with a #9 reply envelope; QTY=20M-50M-100M
3. Floppy Disks; imprinted 1 color; QTY=3M
4. Outdoor Signs; prints 4cp+2 or 4cp; 12" x 9"; QTY=3M
5. Wet Wipe Dispenser/Pop-Up Tub; plastic; 8 1/2" x 4 1/2"; QTY=5M
6. Laser Cut Sheet; 8 1/2" x 11"; affixed 3" x 6" Tyvek Tag prints black; integrated 5" x 10" label with vertical & horizontal perfs; 10 die-cut labels; QTY=30M-75M
7. Continuous Form; 3 parts; 9 1/2" x 6 2/3"; prints 1 color; QTY=5M-10M-20M
8. Flip Charts; 24" x 36"; prints 4cp/4cp; 18 different sheets per chart; bound by 3 or more ring binder clips for easy addition or removal of sheets; QTY=1M-2M-4M sets
9. Freezer Case Dividers; 24 die cuts; flange at bottom; 8" x 19 1/4"; prints 2/2; .070 styrene material; QTY=1M-2.5M-5M
10. Turkey Bags; plastic; 13" x 23" and 10" x 20"; prints 3 colors; QTY=1M

If you have a source request--for anything--call the Hotline at (800) 333-2828 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, or use the Source Hotline Database online. For new sales ideas every day, try our 1,000 Sales Ideas Database. Manufacturers, if you produce any of these items and would like to check your listing with the Source Hotline, please email Cheryl Rush.

The E-weekly is designed by Christine Kenny and edited by Preeti Vasishtha with contributions from Darin Painter
and Andy Brown.

Contact us at eweekly@printsolutionsmag.com. Visit Print Solutions Magazine at www.printsolutionsmag.com.
To advertise, click here.