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The GPO Awarded Nearly Half a Billion in Contracts in 2024 

In December 2024, the US Government Publishing Office (GPO) announced that it had awarded $469.2 million in print procurement program contracts with private-sector printing companies in its fiscal year 2024, which runs (as do those of other Federal agencies) from October 1st of the previous year to September 30th. The stated goal of these contracts

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Workplace Retirement on computer with sticky notes

Dear David: Can we have a mandatory retirement age? 

Question: Can we have a mandatory retirement age? Answer: With a few exceptions, no, you can’t have a mandatory retirement age. Forcing an employee age 40 or older to retire at a certain age would likely violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. You could, however, offer voluntary retirement plans or various post-retirement benefits for

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Dear David: How should employee files be organized?

Question: How should employee files be organized?   Answer: We recommend having five separate files for each employee, as outlined below:  These files should be kept in a secure location that is only accessible to those in the HR function or with a legitimate need to review the information—for instance, in locked cabinets inside a locked

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Dear David: Protection from Retaliation Claims 

Question: When is an employer’s action considered to be retaliation?    Answer: Retaliation remains one of the most common employment claims across the U.S. One of the biggest risks for employers is not what action is taken, but when it is taken. Courts and agencies often look at the timing between an employee’s protected activity, such

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Beautiful leaves showing colors in nature.

Describing Color in Nature and Print 

Introduction  In 1821, a Scottish painter named Patrick Syme published a book of color samples called “Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours: Adapted to Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Minerology, Anatomy, and the Arts.” Syme’s book was based on a classification system devised by the German mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner in the late 18th Century, and a book Werner

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Data Suggests Regional Printing Association Members Outperform Non-Members: What Association Benefits Help Their Success?

By Dr. Ralph Williams Jr., Associate Professor of Management, Jones College of Business, Middle Tennessee State University Dr. Greg Nagel, Professor of Finance, Jones College of Business, Middle Tennessee State University Our recent financial benchmarking surveys suggest that regional printing association members produce higher Earnings-before-interest-taxes-depreciation-and-amortization (EBITDA) than national industry averages (see our appendix). Indeed, our

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The World Cup of Printing History 

By Jim Hamilton You may not be familiar with the name Rubén Fontana, but he is the most recent winner of the World Cup of Printing History. Fontana, an Argentinian graphic designer, type designer, and teacher, was chosen to represent Argentina by the Museum of Printing in Haverhill, Massachusetts, the sponsor of the World Cup

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Use Financial Benchmarks to Improve Your Business

By Dr. Ralph William Jr.   About eight years into my first printing business, things were going well. We were growing at about 25% a year, adding new equipment and quality members to our team, and we had just moved into a great building. Our profits were good, but they could have been better. Our “good”

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Dear David: Talking Politics at Work

Question: We usually don’t mind employees chit-chatting while they work, but some recent politics-related conversations have gotten rather loud and heated. Can we tell employees not to discuss politics at work?    Answer: You can limit political speech and associated conduct that are not work-related—provided you don’t infringe on protected Section 7 rights or applicable state

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Digital Embellishments: Present and Future

Introduction Production digital printing delivers many advantages such as on-demand printing, 1:1 personalization, and just-in-time manufacturing. One of the lesser-promoted advantages has been, for a certain subset of devices, the ability to add colors or special effects beyond the process colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). These digital embellishment effects, sometimes called CMYK+

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