Hallmark to transfer printing work from Georgia to Lawrence

Hallmark Cards has announced that it will shutter its Litho-Krome plant in Midland, Ga., which employs 50 people.

Ten of the employees will be given the opportunity to relocate to Hallmark’s Greetings Production Center in Lawrence, said Julie Elliott, a Hallmark spokeswoman.

The Lawrence production center employs more than 700 people, she said.

Work that is currently performed at the Litho-Krome plant, a printing subsidiary of Hallmark that produces greeting cards and Crayola packaging, will be integrated into the Kansas City company’s supply chain sometime after July.

The 40 employees who are not offered relocation packages will be provided severance benefits and outplacement assistance, a Hallmark press release said.

“Litho-Krome has been an important part of our supply chain and any action that impacts employees is taken only after a thorough evaluation and careful consideration,” Pete Burney, Hallmark senior vice president, said in a statement. “This decision allows us to further improve our capabilities, speed and cost structure so we can remain competitive in today’s marketplace.”

Hallmark acquired the company in 1979. Litho-Krome was founded by lithography innovator J. Tom Morgan in 1933.

“We have offered assistance (to Hallmark) to provide any resources or information to people who are relocating here,” said Brady Pollington, vice president of the Economic Development Corporation of Lawrence and Douglas County.

The Lawrence company has been growing in recent years. In 2012, Hallmark closed its 70-year-old Topeka plant, moving its production lines to Lawrence.