Printing, Packaging, and Graphic Arts Recruiter Expands

AMHERST, N.Y.—Marie Leising, president of national printing, packaging and graphic arts recruiting firm, Marie Leising & Associates, LLC, announced that her organization has undergone a major expansion with the acquisition of Newhouse Associates, one of the areas most established and respected recruitment firms.

The change is an outgrowth of an established collaborative relationship between the two recruiting companies. With his impending retirement, Jack Newhouse could think of no better transition plan than to have Leising take over his clients. “We worked well together because we have similar styles. I’ve worked with some of my clients all of my nearly 30 years in the business. I know I’m leaving them in good hands,” says Newhouse.

Marie Leising & Associates was established in 2002 by Leising, who has worked in the printing, packaging and graphic arts industry since the mid-1980s. A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Printing and Graphic Arts program, Leising worked in some of the Western New York’s top printing businesses before moving into the recruiting capacity in the 1990s. She has placed full-time positions at printing and packaging companies across the country, ranging from senior level management to mid-level management and to sales executives and hourly employees.

At a time when the commercial printing industry is, in many respects, shrinking, Leising says that her services are now more important than ever. While it is true that the use of ink-on-paper communication—once the backbone of the commercial printing industry—has declined in recent years, the printing industry is finding new life through new technologies and marketing strategies. This is particularly true in two key areas: flexible packaging and digital printing.

Packaging, overall, remains a steadfast demand item. Although an online image may have replaced the traditional brochure and other printed product literature, virtually all consumer and industrial goods are ultimately delivered in a package—a printed package. And increasingly that package is likely to be a flexible one. Products from motor oil to baby food are available in flexible containers. Cereal that once came in a cardboard box is now in a resealable bag. Beverages have moved from glass bottles, to plastic, to pouches. This sector of the print industry, says Leising, is one in which she offers particular expertise.

“It’s a relatively new field, and a growing one,” says Leising. “Candidates with the right experience and background are in demand. My job is to sort through the potential candidates and identify the top prospects for the position.”

Digital printing as well has reshaped the landscape in the graphic arts field. Entire steps in the printing process have been eliminated with the ability to lay out a document on a computer screen and send it digitally to a printing press or other type of printer. Books, manuals, catalogues, and more can be printed on-demand with minimal waste and the flexibility to tailor a document to its user’s individual needs. Even large-run web printers, such as those who produce newspapers, have embraced digital pre-press operations to improve productivity. This developing technology calls for knowledge of both the various printing processes, and the computer-to-plate technology that drives them.

The role of sales executive has taken on increased importance. Printing firms that embrace the new, variable data digital technologies and can provide personalized marketing strategies are a step ahead of their competition. Increasingly, customers consider their printer a fundamental part of their marketing effort, expected to execute the precise direct mail advertisements essential to reaching target audiences and increase mailing responses. That is why, says Leising, demand is high for sales executives who understand these technologies and how they add value, save money, and produce results.

But, amid all the leading-edge, high-tech skills that shape today’s printing industry, one time-honored role remains. Press operators, especially those able to meet the exacting demands of fine art and high end printing remain a sought-after commodity. They may use different tools than their counterparts did a generation ago, but skilled craftsmanship is unlikely to become obsolete any time soon. That, it seems, will never go out of style.