A-Plus Printing & Graphic Center printed and distributed full-color memorial and prayer cards in memory of the victims of the Feb. 14, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.
Thomas Horne calls a print job his company executed this past Valentine’s Day “the hardest day for me as a printer.”
It wasn’t the technical aspect of the job that challenged the employees of A-Plus Printing & Graphic Center, located in Plantation, Fla. It was the emotional aspect. On that day, 17 students and teachers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., were killed in a mass shooting.
Upon hearing the news, Horne waited to hear from his two brothers, both of whom are police officers and are among the first responders. “The rule in our family is to text everyone and let them know that they’re safe,” Horne says of major local crime events.
(From left) Pressman Manny Ruiz and Thomas Horne stand with the memorial and prayer cards.
Assured of his brothers’ safety, Horne’s next action was to memorialize the deceased through a quick-turnaround print job of memorial and prayer cards for each student and staff member who perished.
“I’ve been through losses in my family and know how hard it is. This was a terrible tragedy,” notes Horne, whose father was also a law enforcement officer.
Within a day of the shooting, A-Plus Printing & Graphic Center employees came in at 6 a.m. to work on the job, spending hours trying to source the best photos and information about each of the deceased individuals in an effort led by Horne, business partner Rick Erens, and a company graphic designer.
The employees ran the full-color, 12-pt. memorial and prayer cards with UV lamination on the shop’s KBA sheetfed offset presses. After the project was completed, Horne and Sergeant Ana Murillo from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office traveled to the doorsteps of each of the impacted families to deliver the cards for their use.
The company also printed up an additional 5,000 cards for the city of Parkland to distribute throughout the local community. There were some inherent challenges. Horne was operating on scant information and had to reprint some of the cards to correct some religious information. Horne says the day of the mass school shooting was his hardest day because of seeing the reactions of his staff.
“We’re a large family business and never had to do a print job for so many people that had passed,” points out Horne, adding that everyone who touched the job – staff members like the graphic designer and the printing press and cutter operators – found it to be a gut-wrenching experience.
Horne’s advice to other printing operations that might find themselves in a similar position is for management to “be strong for your employees” at a time like that. “Employees are like family members,” he adds. “This becomes a team effort. That’s how we got these cards printed, boxed and delivered.”
Ultimately, the company’s work and efforts garnered accolades.
“I got a lot of phone calls from the families thanking me and our team members,” notes Horne, saying that it was “pretty awesome” to see the positive responses of various family members who he was able to greet at their doorsteps as he offered them the cards and his condolences.
Horne didn’t take a dime for the work.
“It was the right thing to do,” he stresses. “We were happy that we could help out.”
Preferred Direct is proud to announce the successful installation of a new Hunkeler-Horizon roll-to-fold converting machine and a new performance upgrade to their HP 250 Digital Press. Purchased from Standard Finishing Systems, the addition of the Hunkeler Roll to Cut to Horizon AFV-566/T564 Folder System marks a pivotal step for Preferred Direct’s production capabilities. This advanced technology streamlines the process of converting large rolls of paper into neatly folded, ready-to-mail products. The machine’s precision and speed will provide a seamless transition from printing to finishing processes, reducing turnaround times, and increasing overall efficiency. Furthermore, Preferred Direct has invested in a performance upgrade for their existing HP 250 Digital Press. The upgrade now allows the company to achieve an impressive speed of 800 feet per minute (fpm) for monochrome print and mail jobs. This upgrade will accelerate production while maintaining exceptional print quality for Preferred Direct’s transactional and informational print clients.
Net sales in the first quarter were $1.31 billion, up $138.8 million or 11.8% from the first quarter of 2021. While first quarter net sales decreased nearly $3 million due to changes in foreign exchange, the majority of the increase relates to higher client demand for most of the Company’s products and services, and price increases to partially offset inflationary cost increases. The Company experienced significant growth in Supply Chain Management, Commercial Print and Labels products. Organic net sales increased 12.0%. Loss from operations was $25.5 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to income from operations of $25.1 million in the first quarter of 2021. The first quarter of 2022 included $64 million of expenses related to the merger, and net restructuring, impairment and other charges of $18.9 million which increased $13.1 million from the prior year period. Net loss from continuing operations of $58.4 in the first quarter of 2022 compared to $1.7 reported in the first quarter of 2021. The 2022 net loss from continuing operations reflects the increased loss from operations, higher income taxes and loss on debt extinguishment, slightly offset by lower interest expense.
The Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP), the leading certification authority in sustainable printing, announced today the support of EFI in its sustainability mission as a gold SGP Patron. EFI joins other patrons, SGP certified facilities, brands, academic institutions, NGOs and associations in the SGP Community. “EFI is proud to support the very important work SGP does in our industry,” said Ken Hanulec, vice president of worldwide marketing, EFI. “With our portfolio of solutions and programs, from digital front end and integrated workflows that significantly reduce material waste to carbon offset reforestation solutions included with single-pass inkjet printers to UV LED superwide-format innovations that significantly reduce energy usage, EFI is a firm believer in SGP’s mission to promote and advance the sustainability of print.”
