A Capital Job in Harrisburg

As director of the Bureau of Publications for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of General Services, Audrey Marrocco is both a devoted public servant and a dynamic publishing master. In her 22-year tenure with the Keystone State, Marrocco developed one of the government’s first Intranet sites, as well as its first Web-to-print application. She is currently seeking to centralize the majority of its printing and publishing services within a newly upgraded in-plant.

Marrocco grew up near Harrisburg, the state capital. After high school, with no opportunity to attend college, she began her career in 1986 as an entry-level clerk typist for the Commonwealth. She served well in various capacities at several agencies before getting her “big break” in 1996 with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). There, Marrocco was tapped to develop an internal Web site for the 3,500-person agency.

“At the end of a three-day planning session, my boss announced to everyone that ‘Audrey will have [the Intranet] up and running by Christmas,’ which was eight weeks away,” she recalls, noting that she had no experience in site development. Still, she taught herself HTML and developed “IntraDEP” by the deadline.

In 1999, Marrocco moved into a position overseeing print and graphic design, while also communicating policy and procedures, for the agency. At that time, the operation was printing documents and sending them straight to the warehouse, where they were pulled as needed. Inventorying and information tracking were lacking.

“Nobody could judge what would be in high demand and what would just sit there and rot,” she remembers.

So, in 2001, Marrocco created a Web-to-print application for the agency’s use. Called the Environmental Print Shop, it remains functional and serves as an on-demand printing solution, which allows online ordering of documents from a repository and from a desktop.

“We handle the prepress and then publish to the Web,” she explains. “Agency staff can then log into the site, locate a document and either submit an online order to the print shop or print the job locally. Another version of the site exists on Internet, so that the public can view JPEG files and print out PDF versions of the documents.”

In June 2004, Marrocco became the Commonwealth print administrator in charge of the government’s main printing operation for the executive branch. She had her work cut out for her.

“When I took over, the in-plant was under consideration for closure,” she reveals.

Why take on such a risky project? “I like challenges,” Marrocco understates. First, she brought in InfoTrends to ascertain whether or not to keep the in-plant operational.

“They determined that, not only were we cost effective, but that our government could save considerably by centralizing,” she details.

So, Marrocco has been working toward making her in-plant the executive branch’s primary production, publishing and distribution facility.

“One agency agreed to migrate its operation to our organization earlier this summer and we are in discussions with several others,” she reveals.

The in-plant recently relocated into a 40,000-square-foot location designed to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. The facility boasts new output hardware—a Presstek 52 DI, a Xerox DocuTech 155 HLC and a DocuColor 260—as well as a refreshed bindery. Other upgrades include EFI Logic print management software and a Presstek computer-to-plate device.

Marrocco counts on a number of key printing, prepress, design and production people to handle day-to-day operations.

“I have a fantastic staff,” she states. “They’re really on board with our mission.”

Since Marrocco has taken over leadership of the organization, its revenues have increased by about 55 percent annually.

“My operation is here to stay, and we’re growing,” she declares. The in-plant is a self-supporting, break-even entity with its funding based entirely on revenue generation.

Outside of work, Marrocco serves as board president of the National Government Publishing Association (NGPA), which meets next month in Seattle. ( http://fortress.wa.gov/prt/web/ngpa2008 ) The mother of four children, she also found time to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Penn State in December 2007. Marrocco gardens and paints for relaxation.

“I handle stress pretty well, but I am very passionate about what I do, so it’s hard not to over-commit sometimes,” she acknowledges. “And, as corny as it might sound, I have found it very fulfilling to be a public servant.”