From Michael Makin, President/CEO PIA/GATF:

"In exciting news, I’m proud to let you know that today President Bush toured the facilities of a PIA/GATF member company. Colorcraft of Virginia in Sterling, VA. hosted the President for a tour and brief remarks on the state of the economy and the recently passed economic stimulus act. The President highlighted employees at Colorcraft who will receive individual rebates and discussed the company’s plans to take advantage of the enhanced Section 179 expensing provided by the bill.

PIA/GATF Government Affairs worked closely with Colorcraft and with the White House to facilitate this visit. Government Affairs VP Lisbeth Lyons was on hand for the tour. Watch tomorrow for a Special Edition of the Government Affairs newsletter, imPRINT, with more details about how the tour went.

As you may be aware, PIA lobbied Congress to include small business-friendly tax provisions in the stimulus package. Printers can now take advantage of increased Section 179 expensing and bonus depreciation deduction to modernize and grow their business even in this economically difficult time. If you know how your business plans on taking advantage of these provisions, please fill out our online survey.

A special thanks goes out to Jim Mayes, CEO of Colorcraft, who put together this visit with little advance notice. Jim is now more familiar with White House advance security and media operations than he thought he ever would be (or want to be)! This visit by the President underscores just how much our profile has been elevated in Washington and how positively we are viewed by the administration. Kudos to Lisbeth and her team!"

"I fully recognize that people are concerned about our economy, but they must understand that this package has yet to fully kick in yet," the president said.

He commented after a visit to ColorCraft of Virginia, Inc.

For more information visit Bush: Rebates will help economy rebound