Schurz to consolidate printing operations in Kentucky

Scott Schurz Jr., president of Advocate Communications Inc., has announced that the printing operations of the four Schurz Communications properties in Kentucky will be consolidated at the Winchester (Ky.) Sun before the end of the year.

Advocate Communications Inc. also publishes The Advocate-Messenger, a daily in Danville, and two weeklies, The Interior Journal of Stanford and The Jessamine Journal of Nicholasville. The weeklies currently are printed in Danville.

The Danville press will be shut down and dismantled. The printing operations will be transferred on a date to be determined as progress is made on an upgrade to the Winchester press. The move also will result in the closure of the Danville operation's pre-distribution facility and the sale of its sheet-fed press, which is used for smaller printing jobs.

Nine full-time and two part-time positions have been eliminated at the Danville plant. Three of the people whose jobs have been eliminated have been offered full-time employment in Winchester.

"This has been a difficult decision," Schurz said. "We have dedicated and hard-working employees. Ultimately, we have chosen to make the move to a more reliable press with additional color and quality elements to benefit our customers and give our communities the best possible products."

Schurz said the goal is to produce newspapers for all the company's Central Kentucky properties that display clear and sharp color reproduction.

Schurz explained that it is no longer feasible to operate and maintain two presses, each operating just a few hours a day, and that the Winchester press produces a higher quality of printing. The Danville press also is older, more costly to maintain and replacing it would be too expensive, Schurz said.

Around the country there has been a trend for newspapers to either outsource the production of their newspapers or to consolidate the production to one location within the company, including at Schurz Communications newspapers in other states.

The Winchester press has been undergoing an upgrade in preparation for the move. Inserters and other mailroom equipment will be relocated from Danville to Winchester as well.