Ennis To Acquire Tennessee Business Forms
Ennis Inc. entered into an agreement to acquire Tennessee Business Forms/Avant-garde (TBF), a privately held company headquartered in Tullahoma, Tenn. The acquisition is expected to be completed Jan. 1. Ennis will purchase TBF's outstanding stock, and the associated land and buildings from a partnership which leases the facility to TBF.

The move is part of Ennis' growth strategy through acquisition of complimentary manufactured products. Ennis now will offer additional short run print products and solutions, and integrated labels and form/label combinations. TBF reported sales of $2.2 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2004. Robert Boldig, president and CEO of TBF, will stay on as its general manager and also will assist the company in developing other product lines. Full story.

Additionally, Ennis reported financial results for the quarter and the period ended Nov. 30, 2005. Net sales increased $39.9 million over the same quarter last year and $198 million over the comparative 9-month period last year. Profits increased 65.6 percent for the quarter, and 93.8 percent for the 9-month period ended Nov. 30. Full story.

Firms Looking to Hire Ex-Cenveo Employees
Two printing companies contacted the Connecticut Department of Labor to hire some of the 65 workers terminated by Cenveo Inc. when it closed its Waterbury, Conn., facility, according to a Dec. 24 story in the Waterbury Republican-American. Cenveo closed the plant Dec. 13 and scheduled appointments Dec. 14 for workers to gather their belongings and sign paperwork, according to the newspaper's conversations with four former employees.

According to a Dec. 16 story published in the State Journal-Register, Joe Racey, who sold Production Press to Cenveo in 1998, is finalizing a deal to buy back Production Press and satellite facility Production Express from Cenveo. Racey called Cenveo to see if Production Press fit in with the plans of Robert Burton after he took over Cenveo, the story said. When Racey was told that that Production Press would likely be closed or sold, he offered to buy it. The company, which employs approximately 40 people, will revert back to its Production Press name effective Jan. 1, it said. The story is available for a fee at this link.

NewPage May Sell 2 Chillicothe Mills
Union leaders say that NewPage Corp. is holding talks with a potential buyer for its two Chillicothe mills, according to a Dec. 23 story in the Dayton Business Journal. "The Dayton-based company and a committee of employees had been exploring the feasibility of an employee buyout of the mills for the past several months, but NewPage halted those discussions two weeks ago to pursue talks with an interested buyer, said John Allen, international representative for United Steelworkers of America, whose assignment includes Locals 731 and 988, which represents the 1,400 hourly workers at the mills," the story said.

American Wins Health Care Contract
American Solutions for Business (ASB) signed a 3-year agreement with El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC), El Centro, Calif., to provide forms, labels, printing, envelopes, marketing pieces and promotional products. In 2005, ASB signed a purchasing agreement with Novation, the largest medical group purchasing organization (GPO). Additionally, ASB employees raised $5,000 to support needy families in West Central Minnesota this Christmas. Recently, the company completed its fifth year as an employee-owned company and reported a 19.35 percent growth in its share value. This year's growth was fueled in part by American's merger with Health Print Ltd., a division of Amarillo, Texas-based Graham Data Supplies Ltd.

Gartner: RFID Spending to Surpass $3B in 2010
Worldwide RFID spending is expected to total $504 million in 2005, up 39 percent from 2004, according to Gartner Inc. RFID will experience broader industry adoption with business value-focused implementations toward the end of 2006 when new license revenue totals $751 million. By 2010, Gartner forecasts worldwide RFID spending to surpass $3 billion. Analysts said companies shouldn't think of RFID tags as a replacement for bar codes. Instead, the two technologies will coexist with users applying the right data collection technology for the right process.

Koch Industries Finalizes Purchase of Georgia-Pacific
Koch Industries Inc. completed its $21 billion acquisition of Georgia-Pacific Corp. The deal was finalized Dec. 23 through the merger of Koch's wholly owned subsidiary, Koch Forest Products Inc., with and into Georgia-Pacific. Georgia-Pacific will retain its name and operate from its Atlanta headquarters as a privately held, indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries. Full story.

A Profitable Enterprise
Pens, pencils, paper clips and note pads aren't the first products most print distributors think about when looking to diversify. "The perception of office products is that they're low margin and not worth going after," says Dave Pydlek, channel manager for forms and print at United Stationers Inc., Des Plaines, Ill. "In fact, distributors can enjoy margins in the low 20s to upper 30s. There's a learning curve, though, because most salespeople need to sell a process and not a product." Full story.

Here are this week's top unusual source requests received by DMIA:

1. Post binders to store unit set checks; QTY=12
2. Vinyl presentation folders, 9 x 12 inches with 2 4-inch pockets; QTY=2.5M
3. Plastic bags to package beef jerky, printed four color; QTY=300M
4. Label imaged by a thermal printer using a heat transfer thermal ribbon for dry cleaners to identify garments. The ribbon transfers an image to the label and then to the fabric; QTY=5M
5. Trade source to provide map folding on provided stock; QTY=20M
6. Medical-themed posters as stock item
7. Union plants in the Chicago area to produce 4-color post cards; QTY=1.6 M
8. Continuous form with a 9 1/2-inch repeat, four parts and bleed through numbering; QTY=20M
9. Insert mailer with a label as the entire last ply; QTY=10M
10. Business card with two holes punched and printed three colors; QTY=5M

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.

Excess Inventory Depot
DMIA's Excess Inventory Depot enables members to sell items such as excess inventories, blank forms and labels, pre-converted material, paper stock, converted material, new or used equipment and other business-related items. Take advantage of this introductory offer and post your items for free. Find out what's for sale. DMIA members can view postings 24/7 at no charge.

E-Weekly Instant Poll
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