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Sewickley, PA., October 9 2009—Printing Industries of America, along with its Ben Franklin Honor Society, is pleased to announce the 2009 Naomi Berber Memorial Award recipient, Marcia Bonsell, vice president of production at Communicorp, Inc, Columbus, Georgia

Ms. Bonsell started her printing career in 1968 working as an entry-level bindery worker. After earning her stripes on the bindery equipment, she ventured to all other plant equipment and departments to gain an understanding of each area. This quest for knowledge was her first step in being prepared for her exciting career in the printing industry.

In 1977, Ms. Bonsell, along with her two children, relocated to Florida from upstate New York. Once in Florida, she starting working as a folder operator and soon learned that she was the first woman folder operator in all of Florida. Her mother’s words of encouragement followed her: “she could become anything she wanted to be by just applying herself.”

When the opportunity to become purchasing agent arose, Ms. Bonsell took the opportunity and ran with it. She moved into scheduling, estimating, customer service, and job planning, quickly learning all facets of production. She continued to grow in her field, and soon plant superintendent was her next position.

In 2000, Ms. Bonsell was contacted to apply for the position of plant operations manager at Communicorp, a subsidiary of Aflac, in Columbus, Georgia. She took the position. At Communicorp, she instituted a system of training and testing in all production areas. A new set of written procedures was developed, and workers soon saw the benefits of these procedures and accepted them. In less than a year after joining Communicorp, job delivery rate went from a negative to over an 85% on-time delivery rate (since then the number has improved into the high nineties). Regular documented programs were instituted due to the lack of equipment maintenance, and vendor qualification programs were also installed by Ms. Bonsell. In 2005, she was promoted to vice president of production. That same year she earned her BBA in management.

Established in 1976, the Berber Award recognizes the contributions of women to the graphic communications industry. To date, it remains the industry’s only award that specifically honors women’s achievements.