Excelsior Printing Divisions Join With Connecticut Company

Excelsior will cease printing after nearly 125 years North Adams. The company's printing and SeedPrint operations will join Integrity Graphics in Connecticut.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Excelsior Printing is shifting two of its operations to Integrity Graphics in Windsor, Conn.

Excelsior Printing and SeedPrint will be joining Integrity as of Monday, June 15, said CEO and owner David Crane.

The deal has been in the works for several weeks and employees had been notified there were changes coming. Crane, on Friday, said he was in the process of notifying customers of the new operations.

"They're kind of excited about it," he said. "[Integrity Graphics] have more capacity and they can offer different things."

Sales and services will remain in North Adams and the company's other two divisions under Excelsior Integrated — Fulfillment and the Oatmeal Studios Greeting Cards — will continue at the Valley Mill in Lee. Integrity will hold the rights to Excelsior Printing and SeedPrint, which will keep their names but operate as divisions of Integrity.

Five or six employees are expected to be affected by the agreement. Excelsior has about 40 employees, 20 each in North Adams and Lee. Outside of sales, some workers from North Adams were absorbed by Integrity, including Production Manager Mark Gebbe.

"The building's in great shape and I've talked to a couple of interests about potential uses," Crane said.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.