Allen Press, Inc. will only conduct business with vendors and suppliers who pay women and men equally, the company said.

Companies that don’t close the gender wage gap, Allen Press said, will be “phased out” starting in January 2019.

“Closing gender gaps with regard to pay and leadership positions is long overdue,” Allen Press CEO Randy Radosevich said. “If organizations can’t honestly confirm they are providing the same wages and opportunities to women as men, then that is a major problem that needs to be immediately addressed. And even though there is talk about doing it, the gender pay gap will continue to persist until someone actually does something about it.”

Allen Press said it contacted its vendors this week and asked them to sign a form stating they have closed their pay gap and will continue to operate in that manner.

The company gave organizations a Dec. 15, 2018 deadline to respond.

Some have already begun to affirm, according to Allen Press.

Pressroom chemistry and coating vendor Printers Service (Prisco), Dan Maffeo and Michael Main, were the first to return a form, per Allen Press.

Allen Press in August resigned from the Printing Industries of America and the regional PIA MidAmerica association “due to their lack of commitment to gender inequality awareness within the printing industry.”

Currently, only two of PIA’s 28 Board members are women.

“Given that leaders of our industry such as newly appointed Xerox CEO and vice chairman John Visentin  – apparently in stark contrast to Ursula Burns who was unafraid to champion these issues when she led Xerox – and even the printing industry’s largest association remain silent and are unwilling to acknowledge that gender equality issues exist, Allen Press must be the catalyst for change,” added Radosevich. “We’ve always supported diversity and embrace the insurgent mindset and this is no different.”