TLMI gathers for converter meeting

At TLMI’s annual Converter Meeting, representatives from nearly 50 North American label converters descended upon the ‘Pink Palace’. a historically significant and bright pink hotel along the Gulf of Mexico in St Pete Beach, Florida, for a three-day networking and educational event.

The meeting, open only to label converters and TLMI supplier board members, featured motivational speakers, as well as a panel discussion on succession planning and a talk on health care and tax reform. The event was hosted by meeting chairman, Dwane Wall of Creative Labels of Vermont, and took place from March 5-8.

Capping off the event, was an awards banquet, which honored the six TLMI members who were awarded in the 2016 World Label Awards. Those honored were: Multi-Color North American Wine and Spirits for ‘Girl & Dragon Malbec’; McDowell Label & Screen Printing for ‘Get Real’; Digital Label Solutions for ‘Tell Us About Your Kia’; and Multi-Color Sonoma for ‘Precision’.

In addition, TLMI members receiving honorable mentions were Label Impressions for ‘GT’s Synergy Black Chia’ and Inovar Packaging for ‘Aloe H2O’.

TLMI also honored companies which demonstrated excellence in business management as calculated as part of TLMI’s annual Management Ratio Study. The Eugene Singer Awards for Management were awarded to: Columbine Label Company, Centennial, Colorado, small company; Electronic Imaging Materials, Keene, New Hampshire, mid-range company; The Label Printers, Aurora, Illinois, medium company; and Consolidated Label, Sanford, Florida, large company.

Motivational speakers

Former Sports Illustrated journalist Don Yaeger started the first day of the meeting with a discussion that centered on greatness. Yaeger has interviewed countless sports legends, and even beat Michael Jordan in a game of basketball. He bragged about that win: ‘just because I can.’

In his interviews, Yaeger always asked what separates the great athletes from the rest of us, and eventually a theme emerged: ‘You have to learn to hate losing more than you love winning,’ he said.

In a nod to the TLMI gathering taking place before him, Yaeger discussed the importance of surrounding yourself with those who push you to greatness. ‘You will never outperform your inner circle. If you want to achieve at a higher level, always improve your inner circle,’ he said. ‘That’s why meetings like this are important, that’s why organizations come together. To give you the platform to improve that circle so when you’re leaving, you’re better than when you arrive.’

Motivational speaker Seth Mattison also discussed changes in workforce culture, particularly in the digital age, when it’s much easier to share information than to withhold it.

Mattison said: ‘The individuals, the brands that are the most powerful, the most influential, what do they do with their information? They share it. They give it away. Power comes from sharing, not from hoarding.’

Succession planning

Attendees also heard from fellow converter members during a panel on succession planning.

Panel moderator John McDowell of McDowell Label said: ‘The single most common denominator of why business transitions fail – whether it’s a family business or otherwise – from one group of leadership to another: lack of planning.’

The panel consisted of those who made their way in a family business: Thomas Dahbura of Hub Labels, Todd Kennedy of The Kennedy Group, and William Muir of Grand Rapids Label Company.

Also on the panel was Kathy Alaimo of Syracuse Label, who took an unusual path in an industry known for family succession. She became president after purchasing the company through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) from her former boss. The company has been 100 percent employee-owned for 10 years.

‘An ESOP operates no differently than a regular business,’ she said. ‘Even though they are 100 percent employee owners, it still runs very traditionally. We just went five years accident-free. And one of the things that we find is that if someone is doing something that’s not safe or not following our process, the employees step in. It’s squelched right at the floor level. An ESOP is a very powerful tool.’

The panelists were candid in discussing the challenges and triumphs of their own succession planning, especially when it comes to managing family dynamics. Todd Kennedy, who runs the company with his brothers, said that family loyalty comes above all else. ‘The number one rule is: we’re brothers first, business is second. If you can’t make it work, go find a job somewhere else.’

Muir operates the 133-year-old company and is a fourth-generation president. ‘We look at ourselves as stewards of the organization to take it from the fourth generation to the fifth generation,’ he said.

Though he was raised in the business, Dahbura said many of the leadership decisions were left to him: ‘My dad had a chance to influence. But my father wasn’t a teacher. I kind of had to figure things out on my own. I don’t have a board. My dad looked at finances once a month and if it was good, it was good; if not he said to buckle up.’

A legislative panel also discussed the implications surrounding potential changes in healthcare legislation (which at the time was dominating headlines, but ultimately failed in the US House of Repre­sentatives) and trade reform in a Trump administration.