PrintingNews.com

Ask anyone who can read a license plate, and they will tell you that Minnesota has 10,000 lakes. Of course, that is just a round number. No one really seems to know how many lakes are in the state, primarily because no one seems to be able to decide how big a body of water must be to qualify as a lake. If the bar is set at 10 acres or more, Minnesota has 11,842 lakes, but when smaller bodies of water are included, the number soars past 15,000. Having so many lakes causes problems, too. Minnesotans long ago ran out of names for their lakes, and as a result they have at least 91 named Long Lake. The total shoreline of Minnesota lakes exceeds 90,000 miles—more than the oceanfront expanses of California, Hawaii, and Florida combined.

With a land area of 79,610 sq. mi., Minnesota comprises only 2.25 percent of the total United States. With an estimated 2006 population of only 5,167,101, the state is home to only 1.7 percent of U.S. people. However, in addition to the grain they are widely known for, Minnesotans produce printing far beyond what one would predict statistically. Just how printing got its start in the Gopher state is not clear, but credit is usually given to a Presbyterian mission near Pine River, some 65 miles north of present-day Minneapolis. Missionaries used an early press to print religious literature in the Ojibwa language, long before Minnesota became the 32nd state admitted to the Union, in 1858.

Today, Switchboard.com counts 1,250 printers in the state, and the printing industry is one of the state's major employers. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development recently singled out Deluxe Corp. in St. Paul, Imagine! Print Solutions in Shakopee, and Japs-Olson Co. in St. Louis Park, as among the fastest-growing printers in the state. Minnesota also is home to some of the largest printers in North America. Besides the three above, major printers headquartered among the 10,000 lakes include American Spirit Graphics (Minneapolis), Brown Printing (Waseca), Diversified Graphics (Minneapolis), Holden Communications (Minneapolis), IWCO Direct (Chanhassen), The John Roberts Co. (Minneapolis), Smyth Cos. (St. Paul), and Taylor Corp. (West Mankato). Together these companies generate sales of more than $3.8 billion in the land of lakes.

According to state statistics, the dominant type of printing done in Minnesota is commercial printing (all processes), which accounts for more than 40 percent of printing employment in the state. In late 2003, Minnesota printing industry employment totaled 56,397—25,934 in publishing and 30,463 in printing. From 1994 to 2005, software publishing grew by 91.3 percent in Minnesota, while in the United States overall software publishing growth amounted to only 70.4 percent.

Among the 50 states, Minnesota printing industry employment recently ranked first in commercial flexographic printing, second in blank book and looseleaf binder work, third in book publishing, fifth in prepress services, and ninth in both trade binding and quick printing—not bad for a state that in 2006 ranked 30th among the 50 states in state gross domestic product.

Minnesota printers have taken a giant leap forward, as well, in the area of environmental responsibility. Printing Industry of Minnesota—the local Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) affiliate—has taken the lead in the Great Printers Project—which is a collaboration of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, the Environmental Defense Fund, and PIA/GATF.

The Great Printers Project focuses on the fact that a full one-third of U.S. printing is done in the eight Great Lakes states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The environmental policy recommendations made by the Great Printers Project were endorsed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and make pollution prevention a top priority of Great Lakes printers in meeting their environmental responsibilities.

Participation in the Great Printer initiative is entirely voluntary, but more than 35 Minnesota printers have already pledged to comply with all applicable environmental, health, and safety requirements, and to go beyond mere compliance by minimizing waste, reusing or recycling materials, and maximizing energy efficiency. These printers also pledge to pursue continuous environmental, health, and safety improvements in their plants.