Former CEO of WS Packaging named TLMI Converter of the Year

At the recent annual meeting of the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) held in Scottsdale, Arizona, Ken Kidd, recently retired co-CEO of WS Packaging, was named TLMI Converter of the Year.

The Converter of the Year Award honors and recognizes a member of the converting industry who has made an extensive contribution to the North American narrow web marketplace and who has additionally demonstrated an unwavering commitment to TLMI.

Soon after graduating from high school, Kidd worked for a small, Midwestern label company. It was here that he began his education in the narrow web label printing industry, laying the foundation for a long and industrious career founding and managing some of the most prominent companies in the North American narrow web marketplace. In 1970 Kidd co-founded Superior Tape & Label, installing a narrow web press in a 1,200 square foot garage. Within six years, Superior Tape & Label was operating out of an 11,000 square foot facility serving the dairy, juice and food sectors throughout the Midwestern region. By the end of the 1990s, Superior Label Systems had annual sales of around $50 million and more than 350 employees working at a total of four locations.

In 2000 Superior Label Systems merged with Wisconsin Label Corporation, together forming WS Packaging Group. WS Packaging currently has 18 manufacturing plants and supplies pressure sensitive, in-mold, shrink, extended text and glue applied labels to nearly every end-use sector. The company additionally has a label application, flexible packaging, folding carton and signage division.

Frank Gerace, recipient of the Converter of the Year award in 2008 and past TLMI Chairman, commented: ‘The combination of Superior Label and Wisconsin Label to form WS Packaging marked a milestone for the North American label industry. It demonstrated the potential and capacity of the label industry to accommodate very large multi-regional converters. Ken was instrumental regarding the growth and success of WS Packaging. He is a leader in industry consolidation and innovation, and built one of the premier label companies in the United States.’

Kidd joined TLMI in 1989 and credits the association with providing much of the learning that he applied for his company’s success. He said: ‘I learned about Lean and Six Sigma and saw that we had to change what we were doing to drive cost reductions. I got a great education about business and this industry through networking and rubbing elbows with industry leaders. Joining TLMI was the smartest thing I ever did and I’ve made many wonderful friends.’

During his tenure with TLMI, Kidd served on the association’s environmental and membership committees in addition to serving a term on the TLMI board of directors.

Pictured l-r: Tom Polischuk, editor, packagePrinting; Ken Kidd; Art Yerecic, TLMI chairman and president of Yerecic Label

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