1999 TLMI Converter of the Year
Bruce Bell's dedication to cultivating new talent has shaped TLMI's future vision of what it wants to be.
by Jessica Millward
As founder and president of Belmark Inc., Bruce Bell has achieved success in the tag and label industry by nurturing individual talent. From day one, Belmark's reputation and performance have been a direct result of its investing in employees and challenging their abilities. At Belmark, the whole is exactly equal to the sum of its parts.
That conviction has determined the nature of Bell's personal contribution back to the industry. His considerable work for the future of his own business and the tag and label industry has earned him the praise of his peers as packagePRINTING's 1999 TLMI Converter of the Year.
Building a business
Early on, Bell learned the value of guiding personal excellence toward a team goal. After earning a business degree from Ohio's Miami University, he joined the Navy, where, he says, he learned the basics inherent to the success of any operation: "organization, teamwork, and unity."
Following his stint in the Navy, Bell worked in the building, and then the business forms industries, with roles in sales, sales management, and product management. However, the lure of starting his own business was powerful, because, as he notes, "I needed to make things happen and they didn't happen fast enough working for someone else."
Through his business dealings, Bell had become familiar with the capabilities of a high-speed digital press. Perceptively, he saw a market for pre-priced bar coding within the garment industryan opportunity, he thought, to speed product through inventory. After researching the bar code printing industry, then in its infancy, and realizing the "expensive pioneering" it would involve, Bell abandoned his original plan to digitally print labels. He opted instead to pursue conventional pressure-sensitive label printing. His new venture, Belmark, was born in November 1977, in De Pere, WI.
The Belmark organization started life with just three employees: Bell, a press operator, and an accountant. The press operator had little to do, however, as Belmark's one and only five-color press was not delivered on schedule. With debt building and no customers, Bell recalls, he quickly "learned a lot about fear."
Once the equipment was in place, Belmark's hallmark soon became apparent. As Bell states, "because we didn't have much to do, customers learned what fast turnaround was all about." His press operator used spare time effectively, painting walls or sweeping floors when there were no jobs to run. Likewise, the accountant's enthusiasm became clear when customers received invoices before shipments even arrived.
Bell's genuine interest in hiring and training the right employees to serve specific customer needs soon propelled the company to success. Twenty-two years and five expansions later, Belmark boasts a modern, 85,000 sq. ft. facility and more than 200 employees. It is ranked as the 36th largest label printer in North America, serving multiple end-user markets.
New roots
In 1991, Bruce Bell joined the TLMI to involve Belmark in the Institute's collaboration on labor issues, government regulations, and operating procedures. An active member from the start, Bruce was asked to join the Board in 1995, and assumed leadership of the Scholarship Committee the following year. Also in 1996, Belmark won its first of three consecutive Eugene Singer Awards for Management Excellence.
In 1996, the TLMI met its scholarship contribution expectations. Although the scholarship fund stood at $200,000, the committee was not satisfied with how the program doled out grants to colleges and universities. The TLMI had no direct involvement in selecting the recipients of the scholarships. As Tom Cobery, TLMI board member and former president, observes, "we didn't know how or if the money was helping anyone." Board members saw a clear need for a program of more ambition. Enter Bruce Bell.
Convinced of the link between the health of the industry and the opportunities afforded to upcoming production and management talent, he immediately capitalized on his appointment as the Scholarship Committee chairman.
Previously, scholarships of $1,000 or $1,500 were offered. Bell believed a more substantial gift was required to gain the attention of serious students. He lobbied to increase endowments to facilitate grants of $5,000 each. He has set a contribution goal of $600,000 for 2001, and hopes to hit the $1 million mark within the next several years.
Bell applied similar diligence to restructuring the logistics of the scholarship program. In conjunction with Frank Sablone, TLMI's executive director, he created an application guide outlining new procedures. A review committee of TLMI members was formed to read and evaluate students' applications. That same committee selects finalists, who are then interviewed by TLMI associates. Recipients are chosen by the committee, and the TLMI dispenses grant money directly to the school on the students' behalf.
Bell also initiated an internship program to capitalize on the response generated by the revamped scholarship proceedings. Within the next year, Bell plans to place 10 to 15 interns with TLMI member companies.
The revised scholarship guidelines took effect in 1998, bringing greater visibility to TLMI and improved opportunities for tomorrow's tag and label industry. Comments Sablone, "Bruce basically looked at the future, and decided where to go from there."
Putting ideas to work
The potential of the individual in the industry is the foundation of Bruce Bell's business philosophy. He wonders: "As we lose the entrepreneurial spirit to large consolidations, what will happen to the incredible creativity prevalent in the old days'?"
Creating label design and construction solutions for customers requires the ability to think critically, and Bell has valued that ability from his first days in business. Belmark has flourished, in large part, due to Bell's practice of hiring good people, developing them, and "turning them loose." It is fitting he should serve the TLMI and the tag and label industry by enabling that process for the next generation of members. After all, in looking at the future of the industry, Bell asserts, "those young interns and scholarship recipients are going to be the ones to watch."
While improving the quantity and quality of scholarships, Bell also initiated an internship program to capitalize on the response generated by the revamped scholarship proceedings.
Bruce Bell asks, "As we lose the entrepreneurial spirit to large consolidations, what will happen to the incredible creativity prevalent in the old days'?"
- People:
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- Jessica Millward