Bracing for Hurricane Ivan
Joe and Karen Webb drove Sunday from a business trip in Orlando, Fla., to their home near Pensacola, Fla., listening to the radio. Hurricane Ivan's eye was heading toward Tampa, not toward their home or distributorship, Formsystems Inc.

Then Ivan changed his mind.

At 2:45 a.m. Thursday, the category-three hurricane made landfall near Gulf Shores, Ala., just west of Pensacola, lashing the area with sustained winds of 130 mph and torrential rain. The storm spawned dozens of tornadoes in southwestern Georgia and near Panama City, Fla., where one tore through a restaurant and killed two people.

Formsystems' employees were excused at noon Tuesday so they could evacuate the area or secure their homes. Joe Webb said the distributorship's major national accounts in Pensacola likely wouldn't have power for up to three weeks. "They process policies for 30 insurance companies, and to go more than one day without issuing policies would be compromising to their business," he said. He and other employees spent much of the week placing boards over office windows, wrapping computers in heavy-duty vinyl and calling customers to check their inventory levels. Insurance firms have high demand for forms and other printed items before and after natural disasters.

On Tuesday evening, Formsystems had planned to ship to Orlando one carton of every item a key insurance client needed to process claims. "When UPS came, we were informed that the product will not leave Pensacola until Friday or Monday," Joe Webb said. "We have the van loaded and will drive the shipment to Orlando Thursday evening." He said Formsystems' customers have been helpful in discussing contingency plans for receiving products. "There are just so many things that are essential that we take for granted in our operations," he said. "After this one, we'll spend some serious time looking at all aspects of emergencies and how to be better prepared." (To read more about disaster planning, click here.)

In Mobile, Ala., J. Wallace Walden also has several key insurance accounts. He's owner of distributorship Gentry Forms & Systems, which is located 10 miles north of Mobile Bay and just north of I-10. Residents of two counties south of I-10 in southwestern Alabama faced a mandatory evacuation. Walden's family took refuge in Arkansas, but he rode out the storm at home with his dog Nelson, eight miles north of the distributorship's leased location.

North Gulf Coast residents who didn't evacuate by early Wednesday morning endured grievous traffic. In New Orleans, Dick Dill closed his distributorship, Dick Dill Business Forms & Supplies, and began driving toward northern Louisiana. According to his daughter, Terri Smith, it took him eight hours to travel 15 miles. "It was such a major disaster, with everyone trying to leave the city at the same time," she said. Smith, who isn't involved with the company, said her father took work with him and was "probably doing business wherever he is."

Walden called Mobile "a ghost town" Wednesday morning. "Everyone's just waiting for the storm, hoping it's not as bad as Frederick," he said. When that hurricane hit Mobile in 1979, it caused major flooding and power outages that lasted three weeks. Walden worked for Moore (now RR Donnelley) in 1979. "This is the first time I've owned my own business and have been responsible for warehousing, inventory, computer systems and employees during a crisis," he said.

Like the Webbs, Walden spent much of the week calling key customers, giving them employees' home and cell phone numbers. Gentry Forms & Systems keeps "as much inventory as possible" in its office and warehouse and stores some at a location 200 miles away, he said. "It's typical in this industry for companies to think of us as just suppliers of printed materials, but we work in all areas of their business. If they need critical items, we're here to do what we can. We're also neighbors and are here for support, just like everyone else."

PrintXcel, A Quality Park Brand, operates an administrative office and plant in Fairhope, Ala., which is south of I-10 on the east side of Mobile Bay. Michael A. Vejar, vice president of marketing for Quality Park's Custom Division, said initial reports indicate only nominal damage to the facility. "As the local energy company can re-establish power, we'll be off and running," he said. "The damage to our plant in no way would hinder us from conducting business as usual, except for the power outage, which we can't control."

Beginning Wednesday, calls to PrintXcel's Fairhope sales team automatically were forwarded to the company's Clarksville, Tenn., sales team. The company transferred orders scheduled to ship from Fairhope to its plants in Marshall, Texas, and Girard, Kan. Also, the firm set up a temporary customer service center in Huntsville, Ala. If the Fairhope location doesn't have power Monday, a team of reps at the center will answer customer calls.

According to an official bulletin from the state of Alabama, 89 local roads were closed Thursday morning. Sections of most state routes also were closed, including parts of I-10 close to the Alabama/Florida state line. Walden was unsure he'd be able to drive Thursday to Gentry Forms & Systems' office, but hoped to assess the damage to his building on Friday. "We hope and pray that our building holds together and we can get into it," he said. "Everyone's going to receive some damage, and that will be trees falling into houses and debris coming into windows. I'd be thrilled to death if, come Monday, we had anything resembling an operating business here. You just hope you get lucky, and you quickly realize you have to start putting things back together."

Rainfall on Thursday will measure 6-12 inches in southern Alabama, and 3-6 inches across the rest of the state by the end of the day. Only 1-3 inches of rain is expected in the Smoky Mountains, southern Appalachians and Tennessee, but much more rain is expected Thursday night through Friday. Meanwhile, Hurricane Jeanne battered Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, heading generally toward Florida.

Printegra Consolidates Plant Capabilities
Printegra announced it's integrating the manufacturing capabilities, personnel and services of its Peachtree City, Ga., plant with its Smyrna, Ga., facility. Uniting the two locations advances the company's strategy to align a broad portfolio of products and services with distributors' needs. The expanded facility will house graphics and prepress departments; offset capabilities for short- to medium-run business documents, checks, envelopes, pressure seal mailers and integrated products; flexographic capabilities for high-color prime labels and tags; a fully equipped short-run commercial print shop; an Indigo 6-color digital press; and a dedicated team of customer service professionals.

Avery Dennison Creates RFID Division
Avery Dennison Corp., Pasadena, Calif., announced the formation of a new business unit dedicated to the manufacturing and marketing of low-cost radio frequency identification (RFID) inlays and tags. The new division will market RFID inlays and tags to its label converter customers, who supply pressure sensitive labels to various markets.

Paris Business Products Releases Software
Paris Business Products Inc., Burlington, N.J., introduced check writing software called "Documents Now, Version 2.0." This print-on-demand software allows businesses to print a variety of documents, including custom checks, gift certificates, coupons, deposit tickets and check registers. The software is compatible with a majority of printers and money management programs, the company said. For a free demonstration, visit booth 138 at Print Solutions 2004 Conference & Expo, Oct. 5-7, Rosemont, Ill.

American Solutions for Business holds Summer Conference
American Solutions for Business, Glenwood, Minn., held its 2004 summer conference with more than 330 company sales associates attending the 4-day event at Cragun's Resort near Brainerd. The show, with the theme of "Celebrate Victories," featured seminars, workshops, an awards ceremony and a 7-hour vendor show.

Sales and Marketing Tip
Promote Your Site Every Day
Consider lost every day that you didn't do at least something to promote your site. Each day you do not promote your site is exactly how much longer you'll have to wait for the future you want.
Full story.

E-Commerce Spotlight
More Tips to Online Business
Improving the bottom line of an e-commerce business requires a 2-pronged approach: It's about fixing common problems and making use of typical shopper behavior. 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
Rock and Roll Timeline
The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame has a timeline that'll help you visualize the history of rock 'n' roll. It's a work in progress, but you'll have a great time browsing around by date, genre, social context and more. Visit the site.

Motorcycle Rally Season
Harley owners know that the end of summer marks the last few weeks of the rally season. If you're looking for a few more events and runs before the weather turns, drop by this site for its schedules and maps for bike events across the country. Visit the site.

Creative Envelope is Efficient Answer
TBF Graphics/Digital's envelope sales are primarily #10 window envelopes, but "that's only scratching the surface" of the market, says Jim Nightingale, vice president of sales and marketing at the distributorship, based in Saginaw, Mich. With materials and features ranging from Tyvek to specially cut windows, "the spectrum begins to broaden considerably--the sky is the limit," he says. Full story.

Sales Training Program
You want to grow your business? This multi-month sales managers and sales representatives training program is designed to do just that! The program will combine a mix of live events, online instruction and management exercises. Dirk Beveridge is not only one of the most sought after speakers and trainers in the United States, he also is the most highly rated speaker by DMIA members in the last 20 years. This 8-month training program begins Oct. 4, a day before Print Solutions 2004 Conference and Expo, Oct. 5-7, Rosemont, Ill. For more information,
click here, or call Lloyd Tucker at (703) 836-6232, ext. 137.

Here are the top unusual source requests received by DMIA:

1. Wire Dump Bins/Baskets; used as a point of purchase display item; QTY=25-300
2. Warehousing and Forms Distribution Services in Kentucky
3. Continuous Form; 1 part; 18" x 14"; prints 4cp/4cp; QTY=2MM-3MM
4. Perfect Bound Book; 7" x 10"; cover prints 4cp+varnish/0 on coated stock; 248 text pages prints blk/blk with a few pages printing 4cp/4cp; 10 coupon pages in the center with perfs; QTY=1M-3M-5M
5. Measuring Strip; 5/16" x 16" and 5/16" x 27"; prints blk/0 on PVC .010; QTY=1M-20M
6. Piggy Back Label for Dot Matrix Printer; 1 color; 4" x 1 7/16"; QTY=5M
7. Cut Sheet; 9 1/2" x 11"; prints 2/1 on 24# MOCR bond; consecutive 3 of 9 bar code; 8 digit consecutive numbering with a pre-fix; QTY=300M per month
8. Label Rolls; 1 1/2" x 2 1/2"; prints with 1 color thermography; QTY=5M
9. Laser Form; 8 1/2" x 11"; two horizontal perfs; OPAS coating on face and back; blank; Z-folded; QTY=50M-100M
10. Edge Glued Form; 2 part carbonless; 8 1/2 x 11; 25 plate changes; 2 hole punched; hand collate; QTY=1M sets

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.