Mark Hischar, President and CEO of Dallas, Texas-based Koenig & Bauer North America, becomes the Chairman of NPES, The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies. The group helps organize the annual Graph Expo fall tradeshow in Chicago.

Three new directors have also been elected to the NPES Board for a three-year term expiring in 2020, including: Kelly Mandarano, Director, WW Marketing & Communications and VP, Print Systems Division, Eastman Kodak Company; Doug Schardt, Director of Product Management, Komori USA; and Kevin Abergel, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, MGI. Brent Moncrief, VP, Strategic Marketing & Brand Management, Fujifilm North America, was also named a new director of the NPES board for a two-year term.

Fred DeBolt, ‎Vice President Marketing Excellence, North American Operation, Xerox, and Felix Mueller, ‎Senior Vice President Equipment,‎ Heidelberg USA, have also joined the NPES board for a one-year term.

Other directors re-elected to the Board with terms expiring in 2018 are: Mal Baboyian, EVP, Canon Solutions America (Immediate Past President); D.J. Burgess, President & CEO, Burgess Industries; Marc Olin, CFO, EFI; Ronald Rose, President, Nova Pressroom Products; and Nick Bruno, President, Harris & Bruno International.

NPES board member newly elected to the NPES Executive Committee to serve as Treasurer is Deirdre Ryder, CEO & President, VITS International.

Mimaki USA, a manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutters, has appointed Naoya Kawagoshi to the position of President, effective immediately. He was previously Vice President, Sales for Mimaki USA covering the United States and Canada.

Kawagoshi came to Mimaki USA in 2012 from Mimaki Engineering (Nagano), where he was the Director of the Japan Sales Promotion department responsible for all sales promotion and marketing activity in Japan. Prior to that, he held progressive sales and management positions at the Mimaki Fukuoka and Tokyo branch offices. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Doshisha University.

Kawagoshi remains a member of the Mimaki USA Business Planning Division and retains his office in the company’s Western Region facility, located just outside of Los Angeles.

Yasuhiro Haba who previously served as President of Mimaki USA returns to Japan to lead new sales initiatives for the Americas, Asia/Oceana, and China.

KBA has appointed Aleks Lajtman as its new Regional Sales Manager for the press maker’s sheetfed division. He will be managing Canada’s six eastern provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. He will be based in Ontario and will report to Alex Stepanian, KBA’s Sales Director.

“We welcome Aleks to the KBA family and are extremely excited that he will be an integral part of our sales team in Canada,” said Stepanian. “There are tremendous opportunities for our customers in eastern Canada and with Aleks’ vast experience, we look forward to serving these commercial and packaging markets.”

Lajtman is a seasoned print industry manager who previously spent more than 18 years with Heidelberg Canada in various roles. This included positions as press demonstrator, showroom manager, product manager and most recently as account manager.

“I am excited to use my in-depth knowledge of the Canadian printing industry and business development background to form one-on-one partnerships with KBA’s Canadian customers and find solutions with KBA’s excellent sheetfed press line for their printing production,” said Lajtman. “Throughout my career I have always personally demonstrated a customer-centric attitude and this is complimented perfectly with KBA’s core philosophy.”

Lajtman is a graduate of George Brown College in Toronto with a degree in printing technology.

Hide Tsukada becomes President and CEO of Mitsubishi Imaging Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Paper Mills. Prior to his role as Executive Vice President of Mitsubishi Imaging, Inc. he served as Group Leader, Mitsubishi Paper Mills Digital Imaging Sales.

In addition to the appointment of Tsukada, Mitsubishi Imaging announces the formation of two new business divisions to best align with corporate strategies and new product development.

Jillian Acord has been appointed as Senior Vice President, Operations and Corporate Planning, which include Corporate Communications and Public Relations. Acord has held several leadership roles at Mitsubishi Imaging that include responsibility for business performance in Marketing, Operations, General Administration, Human Resources and Information Technologies.

Chris Hung will be Vice President, Sales and Product Planning across all product lines. Hung has a long leadership tenor with Mitsubishi Imaging and has been instrumental in bringing new innovative products to market and forging long standing strategic business partnerships with industry leaders.

Peter and Parry Nitchos, on Monday, June 26, both joined Toronto-based C.J. Graphics Inc., a member of The C.J. Group of Companies, led by President and CEO Jay Mandarino.

With more than 40 years of sales leadership and expertise in the printing industry, Peter Nitchos will take over as Director of Sales for C.J. Graphics Inc., as well as its 30 divisions under the C.J. Group umbrella. Parry Nitchos is joining C.J. Graphics as a Senior Account Manager.

“It is great to have Peter now part of our amazing team,” said Mandarino, noting C.J. Graphics has often competed in the Toronto region against the company’s new Director of Sales.

In July, C.J. Graphics is scheduled to move into its massive new facility in Mississauga.

The Toronto Global Mayors’ and Chairs’ Strategy Council announced a team of passionate and prominent business leaders from across the Toronto Region to serve as the Toronto Global Board of Directors.  The Board will provide both strategic oversight to the management of Toronto Global, steering the agency’s efforts to enhance the reputation of the Toronto Region as a premiere global business destination.

Ted Egawa, Director President and Chief Executive Officer, Canon Canada, is one of five new business leaders to join the Board, which itself is comprised of 14 people from both business and community operations.

Launched in February 2017, Toronto Global is the product of all three levels of government coming together with a shared vision: to create an engine of growth for the Toronto Region by leveraging the multi-sector strengths of Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and the municipalities of Halton, York and Durham.

It marks the first time municipalities in the Toronto Region have come together to promote themselves to international investors as one region, under on Board, with one brand, and its work will help the region remain competitive on a global scale.

In addition to Egawa, the other new members of the board include: Mark Cohon, Executive Chairman, Georgian Bay Spirit Co and Chair of the Juno Awards; Janet Ecker, Vice-Chair President and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance; Geneviève Bonin, Director Partner, Management Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada; and Lisa de Wilde, Director Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Educational Communications Authority (TVO).

“We’ve recruited an all-star team of influencers and ambassadors to introduce the world to the investment opportunities in the Toronto Region, and to the benefits of working with our incredible range of talent and businesses,” said Mark Cohon, Chair of the Board of Toronto Global. “I know I’m not alone when I say we can’t wait to hit the ground running, and look forward to working with my fellow Board Members to show the world what we all know to be true – this is where they want to be.”

Cohon, Chair of the Board, is best known for his recent eight-year stewardship as CFL Commissioner. Vice-Chair of the Board Janet Ecker was named a Member to the Order of Canada in 2016 for her leadership in the financial industry.

 “We have a very strong leadership foundation in place and we couldn’t be more pleased with these appointments,” said John Tory, Mayor of Toronto. “Each of these individuals’ professional experience and passionate commitment to business in the Toronto Region will bring insightful perspectives to our Board.”

Presstek LLC has appointed Yuval Dubois as Chief Executive Officer. Since joining Presstek in 2013, Dubois spearheaded what the company describes as several critical initiatives in the commercial, newspaper, label and narrow web printing market segments.

Dubois played a pivotal role in the launch of the Zahara waterless plate product, leveraging his knowledge in computer-to-plate and DI plate technologies. “It’s an exciting time to be at Presstek. I look forward to working with our talented team to continue to advance Presstek across multiple market segments within the printing industry,” saod Dubois. “We have a lot of opportunity to reach new customers, while helping our large customer base grow their businesses.”

Before joining Presstek, Dubois held various management roles at VIM Technologies, which was acquired by Presstek in 2013. Dubois replaces John Becker, the interim CEO who stepped in after the sudden passing of Presstek’s former CEO Sparsh Bhargava in October 2016. Becker is a General Partner at American Industrial Partners, an investment company that acquired Presstek in 2012.

Presstek’s core product portfolio includes: 4- to 6-colour DI digital offset presses; thermal, violet, and inkjet computer-to-plate systems; and printing plates for DI presses and CTP applications (waterless, thermal, violet and inkjet).

Brett Rogers joins Komcan Inc., the Canadian dealer for Komori presses, as Technical Sales Manager. Rogers is a graduate of Ryerson University and previously held management positions within leading Canadian printing companies.

“Brett’s knowledge of the printing industry will be a great asset to printers in
Canada with his consultative approach to the sales process and experience in manufacturing,” said Steve Ranson, President Komcan, which is based in Georgetown, Ontario.

“I am incredibly excited to join and represent Komcan Inc.,” said Rogers. “Komcan and the lines we carry from Komori presses to our supplies have a remarkable reputation. I am looking very forward to representing them to the market.”

Scott Gray, after almost 30 years spent with Vancouver-based MET Fine Printers, one of Canada’s most highly recognized commercial printing operations, has joined Mitchell Press as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

“My career at MET has been a dream, the Kallas family have afforded me every opportunity to challenge the norms, push print boundaries, mess up… and become a pioneer in all things surrounding print communications, new media and digital storefronts,” wrote Gray in an email to colleagues about taking on his new role with Mitchell.  “I have been blessed to work with some of North America’s finest creative minds and have been able to learn from the best in the biz that ‘Things are only impossible until they are not’ – [a famous Star Trek quote].”

Gray continued to explain that Mitchell and MET are very complimentary to each other as family firms with great reputations.  “This [is] a great opportunity for my personal growth,” wrote Gray.

Based in Burnaby, BC, Mitchell Press is regarded as one of Canada’s leading Heat Set web publication printers. Originally founded by Howard T. Mitchell as a financial newspaper in 1928, Mitchell Press is in its third generation of family ownership.

Operating out of a 64,000-square-foot facility, Mitchell Press — a G7 qualified Master Printer — is the largest commercial heat-set web printer in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, outputting an average of more than two billion printed pages per year for a range of clients.

Brent Holmes becomes an Account Manager for Agfa Inc., focusing on western Canada. he is responsible for Agfa Graphics’ wide-format equipment product portfolio in the region.

Holmes has 20 years of experience in the graphic arts industry. Most recently, he was an Equipment Specialist with Access Imaging/Grimco, Inc. in Calgary, Alberta. He has held various positions at Hewlett Packard Canada Ltd., Unisource Canada Inc., Fuji Graphic Systems Canada and Staedtler-Mars Limited.

“Brent’s experience gives him unique insight to our target market, making him an invaluable resource for our customers,” said Ruben Silva, Vice President, Sales and Managing Director of Agfa Inc. Canada. “For more than twenty years Brent has proven to be a resourceful and motivated sales professional and has demonstrated the ability build and maintain customer relationships.”

Tom Dack is to lead Huge Paper Inc.’s expansion into southwestern Ontario, which is to service the area from Kitchener west along the highway 401 corridor to Windsor, and north to Sarnia.

“Growing demand from that part of the province warrants a Huge presence on the ground to provide our digital printing products locally and deliver our legendary customer service,” said Jeff Tapping, President of Huge.

Based in Bayfield, Ontario, Dack has more than 30 years of experience in printing industry, primarily in the province’s southwestern region.

Huge provides specialty substrate solutions for offset, digital and wide format printing. Products include papers, synthetics, and magnetics exclusively engineered for Xerox, Ricoh, HP Indigo and other digital presses.

The Supervisory Board of Koenig & Bauer AG has appointed Ralf Sammeck (age 54) and Christoph Müller (age 56) to the Executive Board with effect from 1 June 2017.

Ralf Sammeck currently leads Koenig & Bauer AG’s (KBA) Sheetfed division, while Christoph Müller leads the company’s Digital & Web division. Both group management members will represent their segments on the Executive Board.

With a goal of expanding new equipment sales, Sammeck has additionally taken over the coordination of global equipment sales. In order to push global service, Christoph Müller has also taken responsibility for coordinating services initiatives.

The planned increase in the revenue share generated by Services to 30 percent by 2021, according to the company, is set to achieve greater profit stability. The appointment of Sammeck and Müller to the Executive Board aims to support the implementation of the medium-term company targets announced on February 20, 2017.

By 2021, the target is to reach an annual organic growth rate of around four percent and an EBIT margin of between four percent and nine percen across the Group. Of the targeted €70 million increase in earnings, approximately €20 million in either case is to be generated through service growth and the optimization of the security printing business.   

In order to quickly optimize the security printing business, explains KBA, the Supervisory Board has delegated Dr. Andreas Pleßke, a member of the Supervisory Board, to the Executive Board for a period of one year from 1 June 2017. During the period of his delegation, he will not undertake any duties as a member of the Supervisory Board.

Xeikon, a division of Flint Group, has named Benoit Chatelard as President & CEO of Digital Solutions effective May 8 and will be proposed as CEO of Xeikon (to be confirmed at the shareholders meeting).

Chatelard’s digital production printing career began in 2002 when he led the IBM Printing Systems Division for France, Belgium and Luxembourg. He was then appointed Vice President & General Manager for the InfoPrint Solutions Company Joint Venture between Ricoh and IBM in 2007. Most recently, Chatelard was Vice President, Production Printing Business Group, for Ricoh Europe.

Chatelard replaces Wim Maes as President & CEO.

“I am looking forward to taking on this new role,” Chatelard says. “It is an exciting time in the industry, both for Xeikon and its customers. Under Wim’s leadership, the company was set on a solid path to the future, and I will be taking up the reins to continue his work, building even greater levels of customer intimacy, working to understand and address emerging customer needs in an ever-changing marketplace.”

Drytac, an international manufacturer of adhesive-coated products, has added a new Technical Sales Manager in Toronto and a new Territory Sales Manager for Western Canada.

The company appointed Payam Baroudi as Technical Sales Manager for its Canadian office. He is responsible for expanding Drytac’s custom and contract adhesive coating business in the packaging, construction, medical, automotive, label and industrial markets.

With manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe, Drytac specializes in adhesive coating, laminating, top coating, and converting of flexible substrates such as PVC, PET, paper (synthetic), fabric, and metallized film. Baroudi will be influential in promoting and selling Drytac’s offerings, which include ultra removable and re-positionable adhesives, easy-to-apply, bubble-free adhesives, ultra strong, high-tack adhesives, and patterned adhesive coatings.

Baroudi holds a Master’s degree in chemical engineering and previously worked for companies like BASF and Henkel, where he was involved in selling chemicals, additives, resins, fillers, pigments, sealants, inks, adhesives, and paints. Over the course of his career, he has worked in Iran, Turkey, Switzerland, and Germany. He now resides in Toronto, Ontario.

Drytac also announced that Peter Bourgeois has joined its Canadian team in the role of Territory Sales Manager, Western Canada. Bourgeois attended the University of King’s College and holds a degree in photography from Nova Scotia Community College. His primary focus will be expanding Drytac’s wide-format graphics business across Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

“Peter has more than 20 years of experience in the wide-format graphic industry. His ability to establish profitable sales channels through effective strategies is why we feel he can bring value to the Drytac brand,” said Darren Speizer, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Drytac.

Prior to joining Drytac, Bourgeois worked as an account manager for Agfa, where he managed and sold its product portfolio through distribution partners and direct sales. Prior to that, he served as Western North American customer business manager for Unisource Canada.