FM Digital Works
Welcome to
FM Digital Works
30 years of experience in the newspaper industry as a press operator Production Manager, Production Director and IT Manager. I have extensive knowledge in digital imaging and Computer to Plate systems as well as photographic reproduction. I am also a musician songwriter in the process of mastering a digital audio recording of original music for reproduction.

Joe Abandola
610 8th Street Suit #8
Fort Madison Iowa 52627
319-470-8660

Education:

Pine Bush High School Pine Bush New York (Graduate 1976)
Orange County Community College Middletown, New York 1979-1981 Music Education.
Truckee Meadow Community College Reno, Nevada 1997 Digital Technology

Experience:

Macromedia Corporation 1985-1994 (The Bergen Record)
Press Operator working on TKS double width presses with a circulation of 150,000.

Gannett 1994-2000
Reno Gazette
Tennessean
Poughkeepsie Journal
Press Operator working in multiple locations on Goss Metro and Man Roland double width presses. Prepress and digital imaging and processing. Press control systems and page imposition. Press maintenance and repair.

Juneau Empire Juneau, Alaska 2000-2003
Production Director Responsible for all aspects of production including pressroom, composing and IT departments. Scheduling of all personnel, training and evaluation. Manage transition to full digital production in composing and prepress. Purchasing of all equipment and supplies and managing a budget of approximately 900K. Development of spreadsheets for quality control and waste reports. Workflow strategies that improved efficiency and reduced waste by 6%.

The Daily Democrat Fort Madison, Iowa 2003-2006
Production Manager Responsible for all aspects of production including pressroom, composing and IT departments. Scheduling of all personnel, training and evaluation. Manage transition to full digital production in composing and prepress. Purchasing of all equipment and supplies and managing a budget of approximately 900K. Development of spreadsheets for quality control and waste reports. Workflow strategies that improved efficiency and reduced waste by 10%. Project manager during press expansion of additional DGM press units and building expansion to improve workflow of production from press to circulation. Network expansion including installation of cable and additional switches to accommodate the new office locations.

FM Digital Works 2007-Present (Self Employed)
Complete digital service including Web Design, Photographic Design, and Digital workflow consultation. Owner of multiple websites that supply information and local news about Fort Madison, Iowa. Consulted Nowater Corporation in workflow related issues within their printing facilities in Oklahoma and Missouri. Generating report with solutions to key elements of operation. Proficient on Dreamweaver, InDesign, Photoshop, QuarkXpress. Server Maintenance and repair. Audio recording and digital processing and editing.