Reg Gibson of Summit Press is Ben Franklin winner
Printing & Publishing Council of New England to present award at May 6 Gallery event
Reg Gibson, a 50-year veteran of the regional printing industry and currently a sales representative with Summit Press in Chelsea, Mass., has been named as the 2008 recipient of the Ben Franklin Printer of the Year Award from the Printing & Publishing Council of New England (PPCNE).

The award is given annually to an individual who has demonstrated a consistently generous and exemplary interest in the graphic arts for a substantial period of time. This award has been given annually since 1959. Gibson will be the 50th
recipient of this award.

The 2008 Ben Franklin Award will be presented to Gibson on Tuesday, May 6, at the 31st Gallery of Superb Printing, which is produced and hosted by the volunteers of the Boston Litho & Craftsmen’s Club.

The Gallery dinner and awards program will take place at the Marriott Burlington Hotel in Burlington, Mass. The evening will begin with cocktails and vendor booth viewing at 5 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards ceremony.

A 50-year career in print
After graduating from Cambridge High & Latin School, and following an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, Gibson completed a six-year apprenticeship as a union pressman. Thus began his 50-year association with the printing industry.

Printing sales is specifically where Gibson has made his long and still-active career. Currently a sales rep for Summit Press in Chelsea, Gibson started out with the Wright Engraving Company in Cambridge.

He then worked for numerous commercial printers – all of them in Massachusetts – including AVCO Printing and Publishing, Acme Printing, Geneva Printing, Clark Franklin Kingston Press, Chadis Printing, Foremost Litho, and Winthrop Printing.

Following his employment at Winthrop, Gibson worked for seven and a half years at Inner City, Inc., which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaroid Corporation.

When it closed, Gibson incorporated it as Inner City Printing and became the firm’s chief executive officer. In 2001, he moved to Summit Press.

Giving back – and stepping up
His long career in print sales has been matched by Gibson’s solid commitment to promoting the industry by participating in trade organizations. In 1984, he was the first African-American president of the Boston Club of Printing House Craftsmen. That same year, he was elected to the Printing & Publishing Council of New England, also as the first African-American.

At the request of the Boston Private Industry Council, Gibson was asked in 1984 to serve on the Graphic Communications Advisory Committee at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. Ten years later, he was elected chairman of that Committee.

In 1991, he was elected as the First District Governor of the International Association of Printing House Craftsmen,” which served seven different Craftsmen clubs in New England (New Haven, Hartford, Providence, Springfield, Worcester County, Cape Cod and Boston).

Then Governor William Weld of Massachusetts appointed Gibson to the Massachusetts Apprenticeship Council in 1995. In that year, he also became a board member for the Boston Urban Youth Foundation. He still serves on that board today.

Gibson is also on the board of the Boston Litho & Craftsmen’s Club, the Printing & Publishing Council of New England, the Graphic Communications Program at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, and a similar program at Minuteman Regional High School.

With the Ben Franklin Award, the printing industry of New England is publicly acknowledging and rewarding the various achievements of Reg Gibson over his 50-year career.

About the Printing & Publishing Council of New England
In addition to awarding the annual Ben Franklin prize, PPCNE oversees a scholarship fund that grants scholarships to New England students majoring in graphic arts in recognized colleges. Each year, it awards nearly $100,000 in scholarship money to students throughout New England – making it one of the largest scholarship programs of its type anywhere in the country.

For more information on the Council and its programs, visit www.ppcne.org.

The Gallery of Superb Printing
For information about attending the awards gala on Tuesday, May 6, contact Larry Crichton at 978-975-6139. Tickets are $70 per person or $700 for a table of 10. The Marriott Burlington is located at I-95/Routes 128 and 3A.