Vital record paper ordering instructions and contract information

The Minnesota Department of Administration recently awarded a one-year renewable contract to Ameritech Inc. to supply the State of Minnesota with vital records security paper. Ameritech works in partnership with Northstar to produce vital record paper in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Staff from the Office of Vital Records (OVR) and Northstar reviewed the contract specifications and formalized a process for issuance offices to place orders for certificate paper, report problems, and address customer service needs. County issuance offices can now place orders for paper.

Northstar requires that all offices complete a customer application to set up purchasing and billing information. Once the customer application is approved by Northstar, your office can order paper. Please use the Northstar form to place an order via email. The customer application and the order form are attached to this email and will soon be available on the Office of Vital Records website under Information for Local Issuance Offices.

The state contract allows all vital records offices to place orders and purchase paper from a single source to maximize volume pricing and to assure that Minnesota birth and death certificates are uniform. About 500,000 certificates are issued annually from the 110 vital records offices statewide. Northstar will follow the contract specifications for consistent pricing, packaging paper bundles, delivery notification, and printing time. Northstar is ready to accept orders and will begin shipping orders at the end of the month.

Please read the following information about the paper contract and Northstar’s commitment to serving Minnesota. Northstar will:

• Offer simple and uniform pricing for every office ($0.158 per sheet) regardless of the number of certificates the office orders.
• Charge no hidden fees—numbering, delivery and set up are included in the uniform pricing statewide.
• Allow you to order large and small quantities of paper—your office can place orders to meet your needs. Order as frequently as you need and in quantities of 200 sheets. Minimum order is one bundle of 200 sheets.
• Allow you to place an order directly and pay directly through purchase order later.
• Keep a healthy reserve of Minnesota paper on hand to fulfill your order as quickly as possible.
• Number your paper with the appropriate prefix and document control range.
• Package orders in shrink-wrapped bundles of 200 sheets.
• Label bundles and exterior packaging with the document control start and end numbers.
• Ship all orders securely by United Parcel Service (UPS) Ground Service. Because all shipping destinations are in-state, most paper order shipments will be delivered from Northstar to the issuance office the next business day.
• Send information about your order to the Office of Vital Records for security tracking purposes.
• Handle questions and solve problems directly and swiftly with the office making the purchase.

Under the new contract, Minnesota’s vital record paper will look and feel different. Although Northstar will use the same weight paper, Northstar prints certificate paper using an off-set printing method which produces an authentic, but smooth document. Intaglio printing, which had been used for more than a decade in Minnesota, produced an engraved, raised border and state seal. Nearly half of the vital records offices in the United States use off-set printing for their documents.

Northstar will incorporate a new single overt security thread visible as a line that will run from the top to the bottom of the paper as required by the contract. This thread is imbedded in the paper manufacturing process similar to U.S. currency such as the $20 bill.

In addition, Northstar will incorporate other best-practice security features such as a true watermark, toner retention, void copy pantograph, cycloid letters in the upper corners, a custom Minnesota border, the Minnesota state seal and the Minnesota state image in the lower corners, micro line printing, fluorescent fibers, prismatic under tint, custom inks, and sensitized paper that reacts if the document is altered. (See the MN Vital Record Sell Sheet.PDF attached.)

Northstar will number certificates when fulfilling issuance office orders. Each certificate will be numbered with the issuance office prefix and the nine-digit document control number. Northstar will print the numbers and corresponding bar code in black ink. With the new contract, OVR eliminated the duplicative document control number that was printed with red ink.

Please know that the new paper will feel different and have an updated design. Help OVR build awareness of the change within your region. Share information within your county so that staff in other programs such as driver’s license and passport issuance know what to expect and are prepared to serve customers who present certificates printed on the new paper.

Northstar has been working closely with OVR to fulfill pre-contract orders for emergency supplies, create the new design, and to prepare for the new ordering process.

Northstar in its partnership with AmeriTech Inc. supplies vital records paper to many jurisdictions including New York City, Louisiana, and North Carolina.

 

• mn+order+form.pdf
• northstar_brooklyn_park_customer_application_pack.pdf