Written by Jenna Tarabelsi, Membership & Events Manager for PINE
Running a print business today means navigating constant change. Workforce challenges, evolving customer expectations, new technology, operational pressures, succession planning, and the need to remain competitive are just some of the issues keeping industry leaders focused on what comes next.
The 2026 PINE Leadership Conference, taking place September 17-18 at the York Harbor Inn in York, Maine, is designed to bring print industry leaders together to explore those challenges and, more importantly, the solutions that can help their businesses move forward.
For more than 40 years, PINE’s annual conference has created an opportunity for industry professionals to step away from the day-to-day demands of running their businesses and focus on learning, professional development, and peer networking. Topics traditionally span strategic management, best business practices, human resources, environmental health and safety, sales, and other areas critical to operating a successful print business.
Solutions You Can Take Back to Your Business
The goal of the Leadership Conference isn’t simply to provide information. It’s to provide ideas, strategies, and solutions attendees can take home and put into play.
These tangible solutions may be a new strategy for developing employees, an idea for improving a business process, a resource that addresses an ongoing challenge, or a best practice that can be adapted within your own company.
But some of the most valuable solutions aren’t something you can write down on a checklist.
The conference also provides intangible solutions through conversations and connections. Sitting across the table from another print leader who has faced the same challenge can provide perspective that is difficult to find anywhere else. A conversation over breakfast, a question asked during a session, or an idea shared between peers may lead to a new approach, a valuable relationship, or simply the reassurance that you don’t have to solve every business challenge alone.
Learning From People Who Understand Your Business
PINE is built around the idea that our industry is stronger when we work together. As a member-centric community serving New England’s print industry, PINE connects members with business resources, education, solutions, and a network of professionals who understand the realities of the industry.
That sense of community is at the heart of the Leadership Conference.
Attendees have the opportunity to learn from professional speakers and industry experts while also learning from one another. Peer networking and collaborative discussions allow leaders to exchange experiences, talk openly about what’s working and what isn’t, and discover how other companies are approaching many of the same challenges.
Sometimes the solution you need isn’t found on a presentation slide. It comes from the person sitting next to you.
Step Away to Move Your Business Forward
Taking time away from the business can be difficult, especially when there is always another deadline, customer request, production challenge, or staffing issue demanding attention. But investing time in leadership development can create opportunities to return to the business with renewed perspective and a clearer path forward.
The 2026 PINE Leadership Conference is an opportunity to spend two days thinking beyond today’s challenges and focusing on the future of your business.
Come for the content. Come for the solutions. Come for the conversations and connections you can’t replicate from behind your desk. Most importantly, come ready to take what you learn back to your company and put it into play.
Join us September 17-18 at the York Harbor Inn in York, Maine, and be part of the conversations helping shape the future of print. Click HERE to see the full lineup of speakers, as well as hotel and registration information.
