In recent months, Adventist leaders have weighed the
benefits of basing the North American Division’s publishing operations at
Pacific Press (PPPA) in Nampa, Idaho, or at Review and Herald (RHPA) in
Hagerstown, Maryland.
The North American Division leadership has carefully weighed
multiple factors in its decision to recommend consolidating print operations
within its territory at one location.
The discussions did not disparage any employees, whom the
leaders have held up as dedicated, God-loving people. Instead they focused on
what inherent strengths would give the publishing ministry its best chance at
success.
From longer lists, as submitted by each publishing house’s
leadership, here are five strengths that they considered about each site:
Location. RHPA is located less than 1,000 miles
(1,600 kilometers) from a majority of the Adventists living in the North
American Division: the 603,660 church members in the Columbia, Atlantic, Lake,
and Southern unions. PPPA is located less than 1,000 miles from 322,550
Adventists.The
RHPA office also is an easy drive from the offices of the General Conference
and the North American Division, as well as the cities of Washington D.C.,
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Shipping
and logistics. RHPA is
located near two main highways, providing fewer transportation fees and faster
delivery times for incoming raw materials and outgoing products. Distribution
centers for FedEx, UPS, and a trucking company are less than a mile away. For
international shipments, the Port of Baltimore is 70 miles (110 kilometers)
away, while PPPA is 490 miles (780 kilometers) from the port in Seattle and 825
miles (1,330 kilometers) from the port in Los Angeles.
Raw
materials. Most U.S.
paper mills are located east of the Mississippi River, and foreign paper mills
mainly use four U.S. ports on the East Coast, decreasing shipping costs and
providing quicker transit times for paper shipments to RHPA. A railroad spur
near RHPA generates additional savings in shipping.
Fiber
optics. RHPA has access to 12 strands of
fiber directly connected to the backbone of one of the world’s largest fiber
providers, allowing it to potentially offer bandwidth to church entities and
businesses, send HDTV video, set up multiple studios with video feeds, and
create a data recovery center for church entities and businesses.
Plant
and facilities. RHPA is
situated on 83 acres of land and is housed in a
facility of 280,000 square feet, allowing it to handle
both PPPA and RHPA workloads with its current equipment. The equipment has been
well maintained and is useable for the next 10 to 12 years, after which it
could be rebuilt without hindering production.
Competent
and effective management team. PPPA
has a strong, experienced, cohesive and collaborative management team that has
developed a spirit of teamwork. It would be a mistake to assume that the
leadership team, as an intact unit, could relocate elsewhere.
Sound
and stable financial position.
PPPA has maintained an unbroken history of positive financial performance under
various leadership teams over the past 20 years. With an all-time high of $25
million in cash and investments on hand, it continues to enjoy sound financial
health and has the capacity to address future needs.
Positive
company culture. PPPA has
highly motivated employees who conscientiously fulfill their responsibilities
while being mindful of how their work habits, attitudes and performance affect
others in the workplace. Effective and efficient corporate culture is developed
over time and could not be automatically replicated elsewhere by the transfer
of some or even all of the employees.
Plant
and facilities. PPPA is
situated on 61 acres of land and is housed in a facility of 180,780 square feet
that was designed for efficiency in workflow. PPPA has a full line of printing
and bindery equipment, and a web press that was completely rebuilt several
years ago. The equipment line is not used to its full capacity. PPPA has
“print-on-demand” equipment for smaller orders. Over the past decade the
company has invested more than $1 million in IT infrastructure, not including
desktop computers and printers. As a result, the publishing, production and
distribution operations are highly integrated. The publishing house uses state
of the art offsite backup facilities in Boise for its intellectual property.
Location. PPPA is located in a metropolitan area that
is not congested and offers attractive amenities such as a low cost of living.
The Forbes ranking of 100 largest metros places nearby Boise, Idaho, as No. 2
in Best Cities for Raising a Family.
Source: Case studies
prepared by Review and Herald and Pacific Press on behalf of the General
Conference and North American Division.
Contact Adventist
Review news editor Andrew McChesney at [email protected].
Twitter: @ARMcChesney
