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Print shop rises to challenge of quick turnaround

Highway maintenance is a round-the-clock endeavor at ITD during winter storm events. A storm of a different nature pressed down on the department’s print shop in Boise last month, demanding long hours and a quick project turnaround.

Planners in District 2 contacted Gail Grenz, manager of ITD’s print shop, in early December to announce the impending project. It involved printing a draft environmental impact statement for the Thorne Creek to Moscow highway alignment, supporting reports and DVDs.

The print shop received the original files on Dec. 20. The four-person staff finished copying, DVD production and assembling the document Friday morning, Dec. 28. District 2 staff members traveled to Boise on consecutive days to take copies back to Lewiston and a consultant picked up the remainder of the material for processing by an outside service in Boise.

The finished product had to be distributed by Wednesday, Jan. 2.

During the week, which included a Christmas Day break, some print shop staff members reported for work at 4 a.m., while others remained until 11 p.m. The collaborative effort included 110,000 copies and about 1,500 DVDs and 16 separate technical reports, Grenz explained.

She estimated the project took about 260 work hours to complete.

“It would not have been possible without such a great staff,” she said. The staff includes Ian Adams, Ben Smith and Travis Oaks.

The yeoman effort caught the attention of Supply Operations supervisor Rod Becker who passed along his appreciation to Mike Golden, ITD’s chief administrative officer.

“I would like to thank you and the rest of the print shop staff that stayed late to work on the environmental impact report for District 2,” Becker wrote. “I know that put you in quite a bind. It had to be a long day for some of you. Please pass on my thanks! You guys make us look pretty good over here.”

Arriving early and staying late is not unusual for ITD’s print shop staff, especially during annual legislative sessions. Presentations and reports to legislative committees often require working beyond the traditional 8-to-5 day.

Improved technology enables the print shop to maintain production with four staff members rather than the five-member crew it once had. A high-speed color copier is capable of about 70 standard pages per minute; a black printer cranks out copies at a rate of 144 per minute. The print shop also can produce 11 CDs or DVDs simultaneously and include customized labels.