Springdale Scorched by Burnside

The name Elliott Burnside has crept up in association with a Springdale business once again, and once again it’s was associated with bad news.

Burnside was an official at Master Graphics in Memphis when that company shut down regular operations at the former Phillips Litho in Springdale. Master Graphics purchased Phillips Litho in 1998, but filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000 and no longer does large printing projects for customers. Instead, the few remaining employees at the once thriving business have been outsourcing work for clients to other area printing companies.

We were told by an employee at Sutherland Company — the official name now for the former Phillips Litho — that Burnside was no longer at Master Graphics. We’ll take her word for it because we only got recordings at Master Graphics, now called Premier Print Holdings, and no one returned our numerous calls.

If the name Burnside rings a bell, for some it may sound more like a death knell.

Burnside was the last CEO of Sun Co.’s Springdale location — the former Jones Truck Lines Inc., when it folded under Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 9, 1991. Sun Co. purchased JTL in 1980 for $56 million. At that time, JTL had annual revenue of $80 million. But Sun Co. had to close its doors.

Now, it appears Burnside has moved on from Master Graphics. Fortunately, for Springdale, we don’t believe it’s with another company in town.