Reflecting on a Retirement

When Regis Delmontagne steps down December 31 as president of three high-profile national associations in the graphic arts, he will close a chapter in an active, productive and well-traveled career spanning three decades of remarkable, historical change affecting printing in the U.S. and around the world.

This is a noteworthy event for someone I've respected for many years.

While Delmontagne is not so recognizable outside the vendor community, the fact is that many of the initiatives he championed there are now mainstream assets to the U.S. printing industry. Those assets range from funding for scholarships, education and research to machinery standards and product safety, international trade, government affairs, market research and data, economic studies, conferences and, of course, the national Graph Expo & Converting Expo shows and the international PRINT expositions.

Very early, Delmontagne became active on the international stage as president of what is now NPES, the Assn. for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies, Reston, VA.

In 1979, he negotiated a place for American exhibitors at the massive 14-day Drupa expositions held in Düsseldorf, Germany; three years later, he took the first NPES mission to China, later helping to set up the U.S.-Sino Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies Training Center in Shanghai. Dialogue with the Soviet Union began in 1988.

It was at the Drupa show in 1982, the year I was appointed editor in chief of GAM, that Regis and I began spending serious time together, discussing the trade deficit, short-term social shifts in Europe and long-term manufacturing potential in Asia.

He recognized that his members' primary businesses—the manufacturing and marketing of machinery or consumables—are ultimately international in nature and that, while most printing may be a local business, it is subject to global standards, forces, threats and opportunities.

By the way, for each international initiative to provide education and technology, standards and market research, he sought out appropriate government funding for such trade development and made sure that the importance of the American role in the project was clear to all.

A great hallmark of Delmontagne's career is his talent for recognizing the need to combine disparate, often competing activities into a single, stronger effort that benefits all participants.

Example: In the early '80s, he spearheaded the drive to combine equipment shows—at that time sponsored by different printers' associations each year—into a single, stronger expo owned equally by NAPL (then known as the National Association of Printers & Lithographers), the Printing Industries of America (now consolidated with the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) and NPES.

From this was born the Graphic Arts Show Co., which he heads to this day.

With his eye on the industry's future, he helped create the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation in 1983 to channel revenues from GASC events into meaningful projects. A total of $4.5 million were used to support about 125 projects at 45 institutions.

Delmontagne the “front” man also worked behind the scenes—brokering meetings, making introductions, sparking spirited conversations. To his credit, he never comes down on both sides of an issue and is never apologetic about his beliefs, opinions or decisions. During his tenure, NPES grew from just 37 companies to more than 400 members today.

While technology is fundamental to printing, Delmontagne never wanted or needed to be an expert there; instead, he focused on helping the industry by helping his vendor members, working hard not to make their lives easier but to make life better for them, which in turn makes life better for American printing companies.

Regis, I can't think of a better legacy to pass on, atop all the benefits to the industry of your many achievements, than that kind of generous outlook.

Editor's note: NPES announced Delmontagne's successor on Aug. 22: Ralph Nappi, president of the American Machine Tools Distributors' Assn., becomes president-elect on Oct. 8. Nappi officially takes over the reins at NPES, GASC and GAERF on Jan. 1, 2006.