Public Printer gets me out of Blogger’s Block

Writing is a funny business. Sometimes I go into a block, and need to get my muse back. I lost my muse for a while, but then found it again last week during International Printing Week (which is a registered trademark by the way). We had the Hon. Bob Tapella, Public Printer of the United States, as our speaker at Cal Poly’s annual IPW™ events. He is a good fellow, a good speaker, and (most importantly) a graduate of Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department.

The Hon. Robert C. Tapella, Public Printer of the United States, at his presentation in San Luis Obispo last week. He is the 25th Public Printer, a presidential appointment. The first Public Printer was the Hon. Benjamin Franklin. Perhaps one day Mr. Tapella’s image will be on the $100 laser-note.
Mr. Tapella spoke about the massive job of the Government Printing Office, over which he presides. He manages printing and depository offices in many of the 50 states, is responsible for printing 30 million passports every year, the Congressional Record every day, and thousands of other government printing projects. His agency does not print currency or stamps – that’s the job of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The GPO has the task of printing, and making available to the public, copies of nearly every Federal document. That is a massive task, and Tapella is the right guy to be doing it.

Bob Tapella sits in the corner office (I presume) of a 1.5 million square foot facility in Washington D.C. where a lot of the printing and other work is done. It’s conveniently located near the Capital, and within shouting distance of every other branch of the Federal government. He oversees thousands of employees (and thousands fewer than the GPO used to employ) and a budget of nearly a billion dollars a year.

I got the CD version of the annual report (saves lots of trees!) and read it from cover to cover. Unlike so many bleeding agencies of our Government, the GPO is in the black! They seem to be able to manage not only the country’s printing, but the agency’s money effectively. When you read the auditor’s report, they are only critical of small things – no scandal. Overall, it looks like Mr. Tapella is off to a good start, and his ambitious plans for the GPO in the coming years are impressive. He’s a credit to our industry, and I am impressed by his work so far.