Print Management Conference speaker earns national honor
Joe Becker, who will lead talk on succession planning, is inducted into Soderstrom Society
Joseph A. Becker, who has been named recipient of a major national award for his career of service to the printing industry, will lead a working session on ownership succession planning for family businesses at PINE’s Northeast Regional Print Management Conference next month.

Becker has been named as the 2007 inductee into the Walter E. Soderstrom Society, an organization administered by the National Association of Printing Leadership that recognizes select individuals for their contributions to the development and progress of the printing industry.

Becker is a founding partner of Becker & Co., which recently merged with H.R. Margolis & Co., to form MargolisBecker, LLC, in Lanham, Md. Becker has been a consultant to the printing industry for more than 30 years. His areas of expertise include finance, production standard, compensation, and incentive packages, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic planning.

Becker is currently engaged by many printing companies on a continuing basis as a consultant and acts as facilitator to printing peer groups. Several of these companies began business with zero sales and no employees and, after 15 to 25 years, grew to $30 million in sales and more than 200 employees.

He is a frequent speaker on a range of financial management topics, including cash management, business valuation, strategic planning, and other business planning issues, and is a lead professor of the Financial Management course of NAPL’s Management Institute.

Succession planning
Becker will focus on tax issues, financial planning, management leadership, and other aspects of proper planning for ownership transfer when he leads “Succession Planning: Do You Have an Exit Plan?” one of the workshops at Printing Industries of New England’s management conference scheduled for Sept. 23-25th at the Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club in Lenox, Mass. Room reservations are currently being accepted at 1-800-272-6935.

“We’re devoting workshop time to succession planning because it is one of the most critical issues for owners of family businesses in our industry,” said PINE President Jim Tepper. “An exit strategy — or in many cases a plan to transfer ownership from one generation to the next — is extremely complex in an industry that is as highly capitalized as printing.

“And as a mature industry, constant technological influence bearing down on an industry leaves little room for error in making strategic business decisions,” he said “We’re thrilled that we have perhaps the most authoritative and seasoned voice in the entire country joining us for this presentation. And we’re very happy for Joe that he’s been selected as an inductee into the Soderstrom Society. That affirms Joe’s stature in our industry.”

Becker will augment his workshop session with an actual case study.

Conference offers full schedule
In addition to Becker’s presentation, other industry topics that comprise the business portion of the conference are “The Economy and Print Markets: What’s Up & What’s Next?” “Transitioning a Successful Sales Team,” “The Challenge of Mangling Today’s Workforce,” “Web-2-Print: Where Is It Going and How to Make It Work,” “Building Value in Your Business,” “How Green Will Help My Business,” and “Are You Prepared for a Disaster?”

There will also be several informal morning roundtable discussions led by facilitators where attendees are welcome to participate at their leisure.

A new schedule and resort setting
This year’s conference schedule is a break from the past. Early arrivals can check into their resort rooms Saturday, one day ahead of the formal opening of the conference.

“We’ve polled past attendees and several suggested moving the conference to a Sunday to Tuesday format as opposed to Thursday to Saturday,” Tepper said, “so we’ve accommodated them. We hope that schedule change appeals to many owners, executive and managers.”

There will be one work session Sunday morning and an afternoon golf outing.
A welcome reception, evening dinner and casino night and auction fill out the Sunday schedule.

Mixed in with workshops planned for Monday and Tuesday are leisure activities ideal for spouses, partners and companions. Attendees are also welcome to set their own schedule over the three-day gathering as the conference provides the ideal setting for informal networking.

The Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club offers 107 rooms in several buildings spread across 380 acres of pristine woodlands, golf course and manicured grounds in Lenox, considered by many to be the heart of the historical, cultural and artistic offerings that draw many visitors to the Berkshires each year.

“Between golf, an evening dinner for attendees at the Norman Rockwell museum, and other activities, this is sure to be a great conference,” Tepper said

Added to the schedule is a tour of author Edith Wharton’s home “The Mount,” an estate built in 1902. The property features walking gardens rich in details.

Barbara Gardner, wife of current PINE board chairman Thomas Gardner, will host a welcome brunch for companions.

Co-host organizations & sponsors
The Printing Industries Alliance (formerly the Printing & Imaging Association of New York State) and the Philadelphia-based Graphic Arts Association are co-hosting the event with PINE. Together the three regional trade associations represent more than 1,000 member companies.

Room reservations are now being accepted. Contact Jim Tepper at 508-804-4101 or Carole Taylor at 508-804-4109 or call the Cranwell Resort directly at 1-800-272-6935. More information is available at www.pine.org.

Sponsors include Adobe, EFI, Heidelberg, Komori, MAN Roland, Prisco, United Insurance Company, Utica National Insurance Group, Xerox and xpedx.