Mar. 30, 2009— The Printing Industries Alliance of Long Island (PIA LI) held an event titled “2009 & Beyond: Surviving the Economic Crisis” on Wednesday, March 11 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Plainview. The event was one of the most well-attended the chapter has seen, with a packed room of local printers there to network and listen to the featured speakers.

Those speakers were Stuart Margolis, CPA, MargolisBecker LLC, and regular Printing News columnist; and Jed Morey, publisher, Long Island Press, and founder of the Keep it on Long Island group (KioLi). The event kicked off with remarks from Tim Freeman, president, PIA; and Rich Barbaria, president, Strategic Graphic Solutions Inc., chariman of the PIA LI, and Printing News Advisory Board member.

Barbaria noted that it has become the mission of the chapter to encourage people to print on Long Island, instead of sending the work elsewhere. “[We can] print everything from buisness cards to billboards right here,” he noted. He went on to encourage all printers to set aside their differences and come together to keep the industry vibrant. “We can go back to beating each other up once the current economic crisis has passed,” he said. But for now, he urged printers to band together for the good of all.

When Margolis took the podium, it was probably the reason for the record-breaking numbers at the event: he was there to talk about how the economy affects printers specifically, and what shops both large and small can be doing to mimimize the impact it will have on their bottom line, as well as assure they will still be around years from now.

He began with the bad news. Print overall was up even through November 2008, but now everyone in the industry is feeling the pinch as the crunch trickles down. He also noted that, in the long run, this industry will probably be more affected than the national average, since print relies so heavily on ad dollars, which are often the first things to get cut in hard times. Overall, he predicts that print will see a decrease in sales from 4-5 percent for 2009.

But then he shared the good news: Anyone can double their sales in this industry on Long Island in 2009. It won’t be easy, but he assured attendees it can be done. To do it, he said, printers have to be thinking ahead. Profit margins sit at around 3 percent on average for shops on the Island; it is a mature industry with a lot of capacity, but most printers aren’t doing anything to make themselves stand out or be above average. Those who do, he noted, will capture more market share even in this economy, and will see growth.

As for credit, Margolis urged printers to be proactive with their banks. Don’t wait for the creditors to come knocking on the door. Review your credit lines now, and conserve cash as much as possible by rethinking plans to pay off loans early, and working with vendors to set up payment schedules that are reasonable, but probably longer than they’re used to.

After Margolis, Morey took over, promoting the new KioLi initiative (kioli.org). Their mission is to encourage residents to keep not just print, but all business local, as much as possible, to help boost the local economy. He noted that dollars spent locally are more likely to be reinvested locally, rather than doing good in communities on the other side of the country. Printers, he said, have an opportunity to step in and be innovators in the communications arena with their expertise, but it requires getting educated about digital networks, which are the wave of the future.

All in all, it was a positive night, with everyone leaving with ideas they can implement in their businesses now, and a network of others in the industry interested in banding together for the good of all.