Graphic Media Alliance

Thank you for your membership this past year and for your continuing support of Graphic Media Alliance, GMA, in this very difficult year of COVID 19.

 

Printing Industries of America (PIA) and Specialty Graphics Imaging Association (SGIA) merged in May 2020 to form PRINTING United Alliance (PrUA). Since then there have been significant changes on the national level. Last month our Executive Committee participated in a presentation with PrUA President Ford Bowers. Bowers laid out the future direction of PrUA. Contrary to the PIA-Affiliate relationship of the past, PrUA wants to be more directly in control of the day-to-day operation and direction of all of the Affiliates, including GMA. PrUA believes in a generic national approach that is more virtual than ours, and features the same services, brand identity, etc., at all Affiliates across the country. The demands would also require ceding our decision-making capability, revenue, and investments to PrUA for use on general industry projects. This approach would very quickly eliminate the local services and face-to-face networking on a statewide basis that has created our members’ bond and loyalty to GMA and between GMA members. Bowers’ proposal could lower dues for some current members, however PrUA would also charge for all of their speakers, programs and services, in addition to dues.

 

While we believe in the concept of a united industry, the GMA Board unanimously determined that the proposed structure presented by PrUA is not in the best interest of our members in Ohio, Michigan, and Northern Kentucky. This article is to inform you of our GMA Board’s unanimous decision to separate from our national affiliation with PrUA.

 

As a separately incorporated association, GMA will continue our century-long partnership with the 15-20 former Affiliates of PIA across the country, all of whom have also decided to terminate their relationship with PrUA. In addition to continuing our affiliation with our sister associations, we have recently initiated a membership with the National Association of Manufacturing, NAM.

 

GMA has been in existence for over 100 years and our members’ commitment to our Association has been and continues to be excellent. A good example of this was when a number of members in the industry struggled throughout this past year from the impact of COVID. Those members continuously turned to us for guidance and pandemic-related information when online reports and data were inconsistent or incredibly difficult to comprehend. If we had not previously developed the professional and personal relationships with our members, many would have been left attempting to navigate this incredibly difficult situation on their own. This is one of the strengths of GMA and our Affiliate structure and is not possible within a primarily virtual or online structure as Bowers proposed. An even more significant strength of GMA comes from the leadership of our board and regional councils. These industry leaders help identify and lead the development of relevant programs and services for our GMA members. The PrUA proposed structure virtually eliminates the value of our board and regional councils as well.

 

Our internal and external teams have been specifically organized to respond to your needs on a timely basis. As a result of this local strength, we do not rely on the services of a national organization. While we do not find this proposal beneficial for our members, we expressed our openness to consider working together with PrUA under the right circumstances.

 

While PrUA does provide several benefits to our members, more than 80% of all services members utilize are local, and many like the HR listserv and Wage + Benefits reports are in combination with our fellow Affiliates. Direct Partners like BASYS, Fisher & Phillips, Federated Insurance, Printers 401K, KOREnergy, UPS, ITU AbsorbTech, Print Access, Teladoc, Upshift, MTMIC, CareWorks/Sedgwick, Canon, Konica Minolta, and DPS are just some of our direct partners providing products and services, as well as discounts for GMA members. With the addition of new health insurance options and cyber insurance through NAM, the addition of PerkPlans, and our newest agreement with thINK to provide pertinent monthly industry webinars, GMA’s programs and services will only continue to get better and meet the needs of our local members, especially when combined with the national benefits of our new partners.

 

NAM will provide many educational opportunities, white papers and legislative initiatives. In addition to thINK, GMA will continue to present regular webinars and educational opportunities through our regional meetings and conferences. Networking is always rated as the top benefit of any association and GMA’s Print Week events, Leadership Conference and Golf will not change. Deborah Corn, Mark Potter and Bill Farquharson are already scheduled to present this year.

 

While we will miss working with PrUA, we have always had alternatives for the services they inherited from PIA. Our Board has determined that because of GMA’s self-sufficiency, we can better use the dues we would pay PrUA to further support our members. We will continue to improve and create new programs and services as we have done for years.

 

Bowers did say that PrUA will compete with GMA and all of the Affiliates for your membership and we expect them to reach out to you directly in the next several months. Please feel free to contact Jim Cunningham, your BDD or your local Board Representative, for additional information and/or to clear up any miscommunication.

 

Again, thank you for your role in making GMA the best local Association in the industry.