Ken Bittner Selected Executive Of The Year

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California (PIASC) announces the selection of Ken Bittner, President of Diversified Printers, Inc. in La Mirada, CA, as its Executive of the Year and the recipient of the highly-coveted Ben Franklin Award. PIASC with over 1,300 company members is the largest affiliate of Printing Industries of America—the national trade association for the printing and graphic arts industry.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130215/LA60969)

Bittner prepped for a printing career as a student: He earned a B.S. Degree in Printing Technology and Management from California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo, and an M.S. Degree in Printing Management & Labor Relations from South Dakota State University at Brookings.

Bittner entered the workforce with Del Monte Corporation in San Francisco, where he eventually assumed the position of Plant General Manager. From there, he moved to Jeffries Banknote in Los Angeles, where, over a six year period, he held the positions of Commercial Superintendent, V.P. Manufacturing, Executive V.P., General Manager, and Chief Operating Officer.

Over the next eighteen years, Bittner sharpened his knowledge of the lithographic side of printing, holding the position as president or general manager for Frye & Smith in Costa Mesa; World Color's George Rice Division in Los Angeles; American Lithographers (Jefferson-Smurfit Corporation) facilities in Hayward and Sacramento.

In 2002, Bittner oversaw the "turn-around" of Jefferson-Smurfit's Lee-Fung Asco Group at two of its four facilities in The People's Republic of China, where he lived and worked for eighteen months while serving as Managing Director of the two facilities.

On his return from China in 2004, Bittner and a close business associate acquired Diversified Printers, Inc. of La Mirada, California, where he now serves as President and CEO. Because of its unique equipment, Diversified Printers often does trade work for other printers. Today the company has grown to fifty full-time employees with annual sales of $11 million. It is built for longer runs, such as election ballots, catalogs, manuals, directories, books, parts/price lists, and brochures -- it takes on jobs that most commercial printers don't have the equipment to produce.

The presentation of the Ben Franklin Award will take place at PIASC's annual Graphics Night/Print Excellence Awards on Saturday, March 23, 2013, at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.

SOURCE Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California