Gary Judd

FOR RODNEY Vessell, Missouri State Printer, working in the printing industry was never part of his plan. A native of Farmington, Mo., a town of about 10,000 people, Vessell graduated from Farmington High School in 1980 with one thing on his mind: basketball. In fact, he attended the University of Missouri on a full basketball scholarship, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. Upon graduation in 1984, he started sending out résumés. One of them found its way into the hands of Gary Judd, the Missouri State Printer. Judd called him for an interview. “After college, I had no

When the Missouri State Printing Center throws a party, the whole state is invited. By MIKE LLEWELLYN &012;Nearly 150 representatives from agencies at every level of the Missouri state government converged on the State Printing Center recently for a long-awaited open house. State Printer Gary Judd and his staff had been planning the event for two months—and they were not disappointed in the turnout. "All together, the Department of Health brought in the most people," says Judd. "But we also got folks from the Department of Social Services, the Department of Natural Resources, several came from the executive branch, like the Secretary of

If you could have been there during the judging of In-Print 2002, you would have seen a lot of agony on the faces of our five judges. Picking winners out of so many excellent entries was no picnic. Many times the judges narrowed a category down to 10 or so finalists, but then had a terrible time selecting just five of those for prizes. Everything looked terrific. In those cases, the complexity of the jobs helped them pick the winners. (See the full list starting on page 12.) In-Print 2002 saw a big jump in entries—from 562 last year to 653 this

Twenty-four years after its first meeting, the National State Publishing Association returned to Carson City for one of its most ambitious conferences yet. The National State Publishing Association certainly has a loyal following. Not only did its recent conference in Carson City, Nev., draw 48 government in-plant representatives from 34 states, but more than a half dozen retired government printers showed up as well—from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii. Their trek to Nevada's state capital was well worth it, because Don Bailey, Nevada State Printer, together with his staff and the NSPA office staff, organized an activity-packed three-day event, blending education and

After creating Missouri's state printing operation out of several scattered shops, Gary Judd worked tirelessly to grow it into the powerhouse it is today. This article was published in September, 2000. Gary Judd passed away in November, 2002. Prior to 1980, government printing in the state of Missouri was a bit disorganized. There were 17 scattered print shops, each using outdated equipment. And then Gary Judd took charge. Under his leadership, 12 of these in-plants were consolidated into one centralized unit—and that operation has grown from $1.5 million in sales in its first year to $7.1 million in fiscal year 1999.

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