The Specialty Graphic Imaging Association’s (SGIA) board of directors recently formed the Specialty Graphic Imaging Foundation (SGIF), a 501c(3) organization that the association says is dedicated to supporting education efforts important to all in the SGIA community. SGIF’s official date of creation is July 21, 2006.

“Increasingly, SGIA members are using multiple printing and imaging technologies to meet the growing demands of their customers. SGIF was created to better position SGIA to provide educational resources and research that supports a wide range of additional imaging technologies, including digital imaging,” says Michael Robertson, SGIA’s president and CEO.

The Screen Printing Technical Foundation (SPTF) will work in conjunction with SGIF, but will also remain a self-contained entity completely devoted to screen printing. Robertson notes that the SPTF endowment fund and other funds designated for SPTF use will continue to be used exclusively for SPTF activities.

SGIF will operate Digital Lab workshops, including Intro to Digital, Color Management for Specialty Imaging, and Direct to Garment. SGIA’s incoming chairman, Scott McLean, says, “SGIF adds to the association’s ability to serve the dynamic, changing needs of our industry. By creating SGIF, we’re building on our foundation for the future; we’re supporting all the technologies our members rely on.”