By: E&P Staff The first copies of The Bellingham (Wash.) Herald rolled off the presses of a commercial printer and hit the streets Monday morning.
Skagit Valley Publishing now prints The McClatchy Co.-owned paper under an arrangement that was first announced in June 2008.
Of the 21 pressroom employees idled by the outsourcing, "no one took up opportunities at Skagit, but several have undertaken retraining or have other jobs in the works," Executive Editor Julie Shirley wrote in a note to readers Sunday. "They've getting the same severance as those who have been laid off during this recession, so they have time to consider what's next. It speaks to their professionalism that most remained with us to the end -- making sure your paper was printed and packaged correctly."
Shirley said the outsourcing will improve the production quality of the paper.
"Our 1980 Goss Urbanite press, which now includes 10 press units, doesn't provide as much color capacity as our advertisers want and our readership expects," she wrote. "Our aging packaging equipment isn't able to meet our advertisers' needs. And the packaging process here is more manual than need be. To expand the press and install modern packaging equipment would have required the paper to move out of its downtown location."
Instead, the paper sold its downtown office building and is leasing space there.
Skagit prints the Herald on a 16-unit Dauphin Graphics 440 press. "Their new, automated packaging equipment will allow us to deliver advertising to targeted areas," Shirley added. "Their new, direct-to-plate production system is better for the environment as it requires fewer chemicals and should speed production."
The Herald's press is for sale and expected to be dismantled at some point in 2010.
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