Ulterior Motives

Private sector printers have been bad-mouthing in-plants since time immemorial. Hungry for business, they have long tried to shame governments/universities/companies into privatizing their printing, with claims of their own superior prices, quality and service.

So it's no surprise that the Washington State Department of Printing (PRT) has been enduring an onslaught of challenges, mudslinging and ridicule in recent years from the folks who want to print the state's work. Their bellyaching got the attention of a few politicians, who have called for the closure of the award-winning in-plant. But as in life, where the loudest are often the least informed, the data shows a different reality than those printers and senators were trying to portray.