Business News
Gray Graphics Corporation Prints Official Joint Congressional Committee Invitation Package for the Fifty-Sixth Presidential Inauguration Ceremonies
Thursday 22. January 2009 - 110,000 packages containing black and gold engraved invitation cards, inauguration ceremony program booklets and photographs of the President and Vice President were printed and delivered under short lead time
On December 20th, 2008 Government Printing Office (GPO) awarded the printing of the prestigious official invitation package to Gray Graphics Corporation for the fifty-sixth presidential inauguration ceremonies to be held at the US Capitol on January 20th, 2009. This marks the ceremonies for Barack H. Obama, the nation’s 44th President. The historic nature of this particular inauguration called for meticulous care in all phases of production and for attention to every level of detail. Gray Graphics is extremely proud to have been able to participate in such an official way to this historic event.
The official invitation package contained a beautiful gold and black engraved four-page invitation card with the Seal of the State, 8-page program booklets with an article commemorating the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, a list of the members of the Joint Congressional Committee and the program of events for the swearing in ceremony, complete with golden silk tassel, signed photographs of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden duly protected with translucent sheets all inserted into a natural white linen envelope. To meet the deadline, owners Amal and Saber Helal, and their 55 employees worked tirelessly for 20 hours a day in two shifts everyday until the job was delivered on time on January 6th and January 8th. “This is what President Obama means by asking each of us to work together, pull ourselves up, and dust ourselves off, in order to meet tough challenges,” Helal comments.
The entire staff was dedicated to making sure the job was completed on time with perfection. The complexity and size of the project was a challenge to ensuring timely completion. Apart from regular printing and binding over 300 hours of handwork were involved to complete the project. This hard work reached the finish line when on January 7th at 8 pm the last piece of the invite was packed and everybody in the plant jumped in joy to celebrate the completion of such an enormous undertaking with a tight deadline, for such a momentous occasion.
Gray Graphics is comprised of a very diverse staff. Regardless of race, culture, religion, or political affiliation, every staff member took pride in having had a hand in making history and the hope that it represents for all people of the world, not just in the United States. The story rings truest for the owners of Gray Graphics who 40 years ago immigrated to the United States from Egypt with very little in their pockets but with a very big dream in their heart: the American dream of hard work, sacrifice, and total and utter determination against all odds – to the culmination of such a moment where their work would take on such a significant meaning for so many in that these invitations will be tucked away in treasured places; to be brought out in remembrance of the moment when history was made.