Manroland Goss Americas Moves Support to New Hampshire (News & Tech)

June 15, 2020

Article by: NEWS & TECH

Manroland Goss Americas Moves Support to New Hampshire

Manroland Goss Americas, a subsidiary of web offset press manufacturer manroland Goss web systems, has relocated its bindery and post-press equipment service organization in Effingham, Illinois, to its Americas headquarters in Durham, New Hampshire. The move will benefit customers, said a release from the company. The new centralized structure will allow the Durham-based engineering and customer service teams to fully use the potential of the established manroland Goss service and support infrastructure, the release said.

The facility in Illinois was established in 1982 and served as manroland Goss’s bindery and post-press service, rebuild, and custom machining facility. “While we will dearly miss some of our teammates and our connection to the Effingham community, we are very excited about the positive impact this transition will have on our business” said Dave Soden, managing director of manroland Goss Americas.

 Alden Now Owns 13% of Lee

Alden Global Capital has bought more stock in Lee Enterprises and now owns 13% of Lee’s available shares, the Lee-owned Courier (Waterloo, Iowa) reported. Alden more than doubled its stock in the Iowa-based company last week. Alden’s MNG Enterprises bought 4,099,700 Lee shares for around $10 million, which amonts to some 7.1% of Lee. Lee has scheduled an audio webcast and conference call for June 18 at 9 a.m. central time. Lee plans to issue a news release before market open that day with preliminary results for its second fiscal quarter ending March 29. With its recent purchase of BH Media, Lee is now in 77 markets.Industry-watchers are also noting that Alden took a 32% stake in Tribune Publishing in fall and was limited from boosting its stake in Tribune Publishing to more than 33% until June 30.

 Salt Lake Tribune Launches Hybrid Subscription Model

The Salt Lake Tribune has a new hybrid subscription model that lets readers donate money and pay for access to the digital edition at the same time, says the paper. The system lets subscribers buy basic access to its online offerings for $7.99 a month or $79 for a year, then add a tax-deductible gift to support the paper, if they want. Monthly supporting subscribers can pay $15 or $25, with the $25 choice providing access to exclusive events, newsletters and other extras. People purchasing a year’s access can increase their subscription to $150, with the same extras. The basic subscription options are still offered and people can see seven articles free every month, the paper says. Since the program started, around half of the paper’s new digital subscribers have gone to the new model, said Fraser Nelson, Tribune vice president of philanthropy.

Brainerd Paper Going to Two Print Days

The Brainerd Dispatch (Minnesota) is going to a two-day-a-week print schedule, the paper announced. The paper had been producing print six days a week. Beginning July 15, the paper will print a Wednesday and Saturday weekend edition and will do e-editions on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Forum Communications owns the paper. Forum has cut print days for other papers it owns, including Fargo, North Dakota, and Duluth and Willmar, Minnesota, the Brainerd paper said.

Two Gannett Papers Closing

Gannett has shuttered The Edinburg Review (Texas) and Valley Town Crier (McAllen, Texas), the Rio Grande Guardian reported June 9. “Yesterday was our last publication. It is very sad,” Publisher Yvonne Gomez told the Rio Grande Guardian. The paper attempted to contact Gannett but were not called back by press time, the paper said.

Glasgow Daily Times Drops Print

The Glasgow Daily Times (Kentucky) has gone digital. The June 9 edition was the last print edition to be produced and sent to subscribers’ homes and newsstands, Publisher Bill Hanson wrote in a note to readers. The paper will continue to produce Barren County news on its website, glasgowdailytimes.com. “The conversion from print to digital only for the Daily Times is necessary due to major losses of advertising revenue during the COVID-19 emergency on top of burdensome print delivery costs, newsprint and ink expenses, and the production outlay required to run the presses,” Hanson’s note said. Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI) owns the paper.

Flint Group Packaging Inks Raising Prices

Flint Group Packaging Inks is raising prices for all its products sold in the U.S. and Canada. The increases will take effect July 15. The move is aimed at alleviating raw material cost increases, the company says. Supply across a number of raw material categories has tightened and costs have risen due to a more constrained market, the company said in a news release. Solvent costs, notably isopropyl alcohol, have risen to a level that mandates the company pass along a portion of the increase, says Flint. Additionally, the market has seen significant cost increases in other raw materials such as polyamides, resins and carbon black, the release said. Flint Group local sales representatives will be in contact with all customers to discuss how this price increase will impact each business.
Headquartered in Luxembourg, Flint Group employs some 8,200 people.

Northwest Offset Printing Has First Run on Pressline

Northwest Offset Printing completed its first run on its “new” pressline on June 1 as scheduled. The eight-tower Goss Magnum Press was supplied, delivered and installed by imPRESSions Worldwide. Last year, NWOP built a 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to house the 22” cut-off Magnum press and will assume the printing of The Spokesman-Review in the near future. The move to the single-wide with a heat set option will broaden the ability to provide expanded commercial printing, said a press release from imPRESSions. The new plant will provide prepress, printing, packaging, direct mail and transportation services.

The five-month installation project began in January and has remained on track. The press has the ability to run a three-section newspaper on one folder, plus quarter folded heatset jobs on the other folder. Automation includes upgraded AVT remote ink and Baldwin Vision auto register.

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