Associations Take Next Steps to Consolidation
GATF and PIA, with a membership base of 14,000 firms, will overlap board membership.
Staff -- graphic arts online, 5/1/2001
Two years into their consolidation plan, the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF), Sewickley, Pa., and the Printing Industries of America (PIA), Alexandria, Va., have announced a further step in the unification of the two groups and their memberships, and an increase of 8% by GATF in operating revenue over the previous year.
Last month, GATF and PIA leaders agreed to overlap membership of their respective boards of directors, which is to take effect January 1, 2002.
"Common membership on the PIA and GATF boards will allow our associations to move more quickly toward a shared vision for the future," says Randy Camp, PIA chairman and president of Walton Graphic Media, Monroe, Ga. "This is obviously not the first step or our consolidation, or will it be the last, but it will enable us to coordinate the planning and program direction to better serve the interests of our members."
Adds GATF chairman Jerry Williamson, the chief executive of Williamson Printing Corporation, Dallas, "This is a move that makes perfect sense for everyone involved with these two organizations and the graphic arts industry as a whole. Restructuring the boards is an important milestone in completing this consolidation." Williamson served as PIA chairman in 1999.
GATF president George Ryan and PIA president Ray Roper agree that common board membership "is a major step in unifying the governance of the partnered organizations."
Consolidating the groups' memberships, undertaken to create a single source for solutions, created a membership base of more than 14,000 member companies.
In another example of continuing consolidation, GATF and PIA have now assembled their extensive libraries of publications in a 52-page catalog detailing more than 350 titles. Last year, GATF published 15 new titles and sold more than 43,000 books.
Regarding GATF revenue, Ryan says, "In 1999, GATF had a significant planned loss in membership revenue due to consolidating the membership with PIA. We concentrated on absorbing this loss through improved efficiencies in administration and without reducing services."
Last year, he adds, GATF reduced its reliance on membership income by introducing new programs; installing a full-size web press for training and research; beefing up its publications and consulting services; and cutting overall expenses by 5%.
