DiTrolio Flexographic Institute closes

Vince DiTrolio started the vocational school in August 1999, as a way to provide the industry with a pipeline to skilled flexographic press operators. The closing comes at a time when those in the industry need it most. An oft-cited 'pain point' among label converters is the lack of skilled labor. In fact, TLMI chose to address this problem in its latest strategic plan.

‘We couldn’t have done it without the support we received from the industry,’ DiTrolio said Friday from the Illinois-based institute where he was clearing his office. ‘We could not have impacted so many lives positively like we have. We’ve taken people off unemployment, we’ve taken people off public aid, we’ve given them careers.’

As much as the industry supported the DiTrolio Flexographic Institute, the funding dried up. Money for the vocational school came from a combination of government grants, donations and tuition. The greater majority of funding – about 95 percent, DiTrolio estimated – came from government grants from the state of Illinois. Illinois consistently ranks as one of the worst-run states in the nation, with high debt ratio, high unemployment and a backlog of unpaid bills.

DiTrolio Flexographic Institute received state payments late, if at all. Overall, that burden became too much to bear, he said.

DiTrolio had advice for those in the industry: ‘Support the schools that are left.’

‘Unfortunately the things we’ve learned is that training is the first thing people complain about and the last thing they want to pay for.’