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Heritage Signs & Displays at Graph Expo 16

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Post date September 12, 2016
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Graph Expo 16 is the most innovating and exciting exhibition of Digital, Inkjet, Offset, Flexo, Gravure and Hybrid technologies, products and services for the Commercial, Transactional, Converting and Package Printing, Publishing, Mailing, In-Plant, Photo Imaging, Marketing and Industrial Printing industries in 2016!

Monday, Sept 26 at the Orange County Convention Center – North | Orlando, Florida Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays President Joe Gass will be a feature seminar presenter.

Titled: “How We Profitably Grew Our Commercial Printing Business
By Adding Wide Format Printing & Finishing Capabilities”

There is a whole new world out there for those who want to grow their business and become more valuable to their customers. With an array of wide and grand format printing and custom contour cutting technology available, there is ample opportunity for those who can think outside the box to offer creative solutions for their client’s event and venue signage, storefront and visual communications display.

What will you learn?

How wide format printing capabilities could successfully transform your commercial printing environment.
How wide format can make you much more valuable to your existing clients.
How wide format will make you much more attractive to potential clients.
Common pitfalls of entering the wide format marketplace and how to avoid them.
How to create a work environment that attracts great, new employees & customers.

At last year’s Graph Expo in Chicago, Joe’s seminar was among the Top 10 of the most attended seminars. He elaborated on his printing experience, print technology and how Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays expanded commercial printing to additionally offer wide format printing of signs, banners and custom made event displays.

A “snippet” of Joes’ presentation:

Introduction

During my years as the president and co-owner of Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays, I have experienced a lot of things that have changed the way I live my life and lead our business. I have navigated our business through the highs and lows of the economy and have been party to events that have greatly shaped how I view life and make decisions today. I have seen amazing changes in technology and communication that have revolutionized how we run and grow our business.

Expanding the Business

In 2008 I was also beginning to see that life in the printing industry was about to change again, and that my new home town of Charlotte, NC, would be a place for us to extend the reach of our business and possibly add new production capabilities to our offerings. Through a variety of new relationships, I became exposed to the wide-format printing industry and the world of event signage. At first it was extremely alien to me; the process and methods were different, the competitors were different, and the type of employees and their skill sets were very different.

Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays Charlotte

We opened the doors to our first wide format production facility in Charlotte, NC, in November of 2009. The early days of this new venture were both exciting and terrifying, I was learning something new by the hour. It was like starting all over again, after so many years of being the guy with all of the answers, I was now the one with all of the questions.

I watched our team in Charlotte go from being highly skeptical about the investments I was making in wide format technology in Charlotte, to embracing it as a valuable tool in meeting our customers’ marketing and communication needs. In 2014, wide and grand format production represented more than 40% of our business revenue and exceeded 50% in 2015.

Marketing Change

Our wide format and commercial printing initiatives would have been largely fruitless if had we not embraced the amazing attributes of Internet marketing. We began aggressively marketing our company on the Internet via search engine optimization and social media campaigns beginning in the spring of 2008 with the launch of the Charlotte sales office and our www.HeritagePrintingCharlotte.com website.

Internet marketing has also totally changed the way we pursue new account acquisition. By the end of 2013, sales staff and long timelines to develop new clients were abandoned to deploy trained project coordinators that respond to calls, emails, and live chat sessions generated from our internet presence.

Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays can be found in the top three of more than 200 different Google searches for targeted phrases that we track the markets we serve, as well as, in some cases, regional, national, and international front-page exposure. We currently attract more than 400 new prospects to our two websites each business day!

Today

In August of 2016. Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays expanded again with the opening of 2 new locations under the brand Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays. We recognize that customers’ needs are ever-changing, and adapting to them in a timely manner is critical to customer satisfaction. Our process has a maximum response time of 30 minutes, M – F, 8:00AM – 7:00PM, with most quotes in 15 minutes or less.

#GraphExpo

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News

Independence Day 2016

With the refurbishing of a blockbuster 1996 movie, the phrase “Independence Day” may temporarily replace “The 4th” as the descriptive term we use for celebrating separation from Great Britain and the American Revolution.

In the 18th century, the 13 colonies of America were struggling with the governing of Great Britain, they sought complete and total freedom from “The King’s” rule, which had shadowed the colonist on their journey across the ocean.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR

The earliest recorded battles of the Revolutionary War were in April of 1775, when radical colonist hostilities grew rampant and overflowed into violence against Great Britain. The publication “Common Sense”, a best-seller by Thomas Paine, was published in January of 1776 and fueled the revolutionary fire under most Americans.

Paine repeatedly made two clear and publicly supported points:

Independence from England
To create a democratic republic

Almost 120,000 copies of “Common Sense” were in circulation within 4 months! Paine chose to write in layman’s terms and often quoted the Bible to intensify his message of freedom, the Bible was something most Americans knew extensively. It had the ear of the community and the outcry for independence from King Georges’ taxes and brutality rang loudly in the colonies.

“Common Sense” held the attention of Americans and the desire for separation intensified. As the summer season arrived, Paine increased his attacks; asking the obvious and legitimate questions his readers were already publicly proclaiming:

How much British abuse should America take?
Why does England rule a continent vastly larger than itself?
Why would foreign countries provide support to those loyal to the king?

His attacks on the crown were irrevocable and his cries for a republic drew the ire from some of his countrymen, leaders like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson deemed Paine an extremist. Thomas Paine, albeit a newcomer to America, published “Common Sense” anonymously, most readers accredited John Adams as the author, but he adamantly denied any contribution to the periodical.

TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION

“Taxation without Representation” was the trumpet for the early Americans. Being taxed and not having a voice in the British Parliament had reached its boiling point and as strongly as their resolve was, Great Britain refused to support anything other than virtual representation, which was founded on the conviction that Members of Parliament virtually represented everyone in the British empire, which they considered America to be, thus representation from the colonies was unnecessary.

As tolerance reached its end, the colony leaders united and asked Thomas Jefferson to draft the immortal document proclaiming separation from England. The Declaration of Independence is the most honored writing created on American soil, with the United States Constitution arguably a close second.

The Continental Congress met on July 2nd, 1776 and voted in favor of independence. John Adams penned a letter to his wife Abigail; “July 2 will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival and that the celebration should include pomp and parade… games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

On July 4th, Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence and recognized that date as the day of celebration. Adams sternly stood by July 2nd as the official date and held personal celebrations annually on the 2nd and refused to participate in any activities held on the 4th.

FEDERAL HOLIDAY

The War of 1812, which pitted the United States against Great Britain once more, rejuvenated the celebratory Americans and in 1870 the United States Congress made July 4th a federal holiday. But it wasn’t until 1941 that provisions were made to expand it into a paid holiday for all federal employees.

As time passed, the political influence of the holiday waned, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 reignited the patriotic passion nationally. Today, Independence Day is celebrated with BBQ’s, family outings, vacations, fireworks, parades and a fervor much like it was in the 1800’s.

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News

2015 PICA Awards

Producing a high quality product is very fulfilling,
recognition from your industry peers is tremendous!

On April 16^th at the PICA Awards 50^th Celebration we gathered with many of our printing peers to celebrate “Accomplishments in Print” for the year 2015. Only one “Best of” may be given in each category. One or more “Special Judges Award” or “Award of Excellence” may be given in each category, limited to no more than one third of total entries per category.

A panel of out of state judges with extensive experience in printing and print production was brought in to examine the work. Each entry was judged on its own merit in a category with similar printed pieces. The judging criteria included: registration, crossovers, clarity and neatness, sharpness of halftones and line drawings, richness and tonal qualities of color, paper and ink selection, ink coverage, difficulty of printing, effective contrast or softness, finishing, bindery, and overall visual impact.

5 of our Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays team members, accompanied by 2 wives (Lisa Smith and Allison Gibson), represented Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays & Graphics at the 2015 PICA Awards. The evening event was held at the Embassy Suites, one of the poshest hotels in Concord, NC. Their enormous ballroom was filled with 750+ entries, with over 250 printing representatives in attendance.

The winning entries were an impressive array of samples from: commercial print, custom packaging, interior and exterior signage, event signs and banners, custom displays and wide-format printing. At the reception, I escorted my wife (Lisa) through the winning entries, explaining the complexities and variations of “Print”, how it’s applied, the equipment needed to produce the impressive samples and how Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays competes in the industry. She was amazed at the imagery and creativeness of the work, she commented on how expansive the “Print Industry” truly is.

The Presentation of Sponsored Awards was precluded by the acknowledgement of the PICA Board and the 50 years of service PICA has dedicated to the printing industry and serving our peers. Numerous recognition awards were presented to present and past leaders of PICA amongst a boisterous round of appreciative applause.

The Sponsored Award Winners included:

Arzberger Stationers won 5 Best of Category Awards and 5 Special Judges Awards and also won the Athens “Most Creative Use of Paper” award
Classic won 13 Best of Category Awards, 20 Special Judges Awards and 7 Awards of Excellence and also won the KBA “Best Catalog” award
Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays won 14 Best of Category Awards and 2 Special Judges Awards and also won the FujiFilm “Best Wide Format” award
iTek Graphics won 11 Best of Category Awards, 13 Special Judges Awards and 4 Awards of Excellence and also won the Manchester Industries “Best Process Color Printing” award
Loftin & Company Printers won 4 Best of Category Awards and 3 Special Judges Awards
Mullen Publications, Inc. won2 Best of Category Awards and 2 Special Judges Awards
Print Management Group LLC won 4 Best of Category Awards, 3 Special Judges Awards and 1 Award of Excellence
ImageMark Business Services won 4 Best of Category Awards, 3 Special Judges Awards and 2 Awards of Excellence
Subtle Impressions Inc. won 1 Best of Category Award
Westmoreland Printers, Inc. won 1 Special Judges Award and 1 Award of Excellence

Our FujiFilm “Best Wide Format” award was in recognition of the project we participated in for Google’s celebration of the 25^th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We printed and installed 10 portrait murals on the stairs at 6 different historic landmarks in Washington, DC. Click this link to learn more…

Heritage Team — Heritage Signs & Displays Team

The official PICA press release announcing Heritage Signs & Displays:

PRINTING EXCELLENCE IN THE CAROLINAS RECOGNIZED

Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays Announced as
Award Winner in the 2015 PICA Awards

Charlotte, NC — The Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA) has announced that Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays, Inc. of Charlotte is an award winner in the 2015 PICA Awards Competition. The announcement was made April 16, 2016, during the 2015 PICA Awards Banquet in Concord, North Carolina, with more than 270 industry professionals in attendance.

The PICA Awards competition is celebrating its 50th season and continues to be one of the largest printing contests in the nation.

This year, the PICA Awards attracted more than 630 entries from 47 printing companies, along with more than 125 entries from 5 graphic arts high schools and 7 college graphic arts programs from across the Carolinas.

Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays won 14 Best of Category Awards and 2 Special Judges Awards. Only one “Best of” may be given in each category. One or more Special Judges Award or Award of Excellence may be given in each category, limited to no more than one third of total entries per category. Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays also won the FujiFilm “Best Wide Format” award.

A panel of out-of-state judges with extensive experience in printing and print production was brought in to examine the work. Each entry was judged on its own merit in a category with similar printed pieces. The judging criteria included: registration, crossovers, clarity and neatness, sharpness of halftones and line drawings, richness and tonal qualities of color, paper and ink selection, ink coverage, difficulty of printing, effective contrast or softness, finishing, bindery, and overall visual impact.

For more information, call Brent Thompson at
Heritage Printing, Signs & Displays at 704-551‐0700

Since 1931, The Printing Industry of the Carolinas, Inc. (PICA) has been dedicated to advancing the success of the Carolinas’ printing and imaging industry. Working together with Printing Industries of America, the world’s largest graphic arts trade association, PICA provides training, resources, and a voice of advocacy on both a state and national level.

PICA is a trade association representing the graphic communications industry in North and South Carolina. North Carolina ranks as the 18th largest state print market in the United States with $3.5 billion in sales, 1,326 total printing establishments and 21,187 employees. South Carolina ranks 32nd in the nation, with $1.2 billion in sales, 525 establishments, and 7,776 employees. PICA is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. For more information, visit www.picanet.org.

The PICA Awards Competition, owned and managed by The Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA), is an annual event established in 1966 that recognizes and rewards printing and imaging companies who combine fine craftsmanship with technology in order to produce outstanding finished products. The award‐winning companies are honored each year at the PICA Awards Banquet.

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