TLMI Presents Awards at Annual Meeting

GLOUCESTER, Mass.—At the association’s recent Annual Meeting held in Scottsdale, Ariz., Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) honored Gary Smith, vice president, sales for RotoMetrics, as its Supplier of the Year and Dave McDowell, chairman of McDowell Label and Screen Printing, as its Converter of the Year. TLMI also presented Environmental Leadership Awards to 3M and Spear.

Presented on an annual basis, the Supplier of the Year Award recognizes an individual for his or her ongoing volunteer service and dedication to TLMI and to the industry as a whole. Smith has been serving the narrow-web industry for 35 years, starting his career in 1973 as a sales representative for Avery Label Company. In 1979 he was promoted to regional sales manager at Avery and was extensively involved with pioneering the sales of ultra-clear pharmaceutical labels, battery labels, four-color process, and multilayered promotional labels—all applications that have been an intrinsic component of this industry’s growth and diversification.

In 1990 Smith joined RotoMetrics as national sales manager and was later promoted to vice president of sales, directing sales and marketing efforts domestically and in key international markets. His leadership role in the company, and his rapport with its customers throughout the world, has been instrumental in maintaining RotoMetrics’ position as one of the world’s leading rotary tooling suppliers.

Smith has recently served a term on the TLMI’s Board of Directors and in the past was involved with the association’s Membership Committee.

McDowell began his career in the industry by spending a decade working for Avery Label, learning about the narrow-web tag and label sector and creating an ideal foundation for starting his own company. In 1981 he founded McDowell Label and Screen Printing and for 13 years the company served as a label brokerage supplying organizations like the Dallas Cowboys and Apple Computer.