Mike Dowling

Strong, low-key leadership at CL&D Graphics and TLMI has earned Mike Dowling packagePRINTING's TLMI 2004 Converter of the Year Award. TLMI IS A strong association, thriving on the active involvement of a wide range of industry leaders that in many ways represent its past, present, and future. It is made up of both supplier and converter companies that run the gamut from small entrepreneurial start-ups to large established companies. Keeping the association on a solid financial foundation, while meeting the needs of such a diverse membership is no easy task. It requires farsighted leadership that focuses on the needs of all its members—large

LGInternational's Lon Martin can add packagePRINTING's TLMI 2002 Converter of the Year Award to a long list of accomplishments. FOUNDING ONE SUCCESSFUL company is difficult enough, but starting all over and building a second company from scratch might be more than one person could handle. Not so for Lon Martin, LGInternational's founder and CEO. He has two business successes included in his long resume in the label printing industry and would be a good case study for the risk/reward equation—the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Mike Dowling, TLMI president and president of CL & D Graphics has seen Martin's success story first

In an uncertain economy, package printers should stay in aggressive pursuit of profit-generating capabilities and growth markets. NEWS FROM THE NPES 2002 Print Outlook® conference was predictably somber. Printing Industries Association (PIA) Chief Economist Ron Davis related before the terrorist attacks of September 11, projections forecast print industry sales to grow to $169 billion in the following year, a meager 3 percent annual gain. Post-September 11 predictions for 2002 were scaled back to $166 billion. NPES Consulting Economist Michael Evans also had dismal tidings for equipment manufacturers: total printing equipment shipments had dropped approximately 18 percent from last year's levels in both the

Label Technology President John Bankson can savor individual and collective accomplishments as his company turns 15. by Kate Tomlinson, Assistant Editor Congratulations are in order for Label Technology on several counts. As the company marks 15 years in the business, and revels in the installation of its latest printing press, the personality and personal touch of president and co-founder John Bankson deserve particular acclaim. Bankson's entrepreneurial spirit; positive "can do" attitude; and dedication to delivering consistent high quality and service in printed labels and packaging films have led Label Technology to outgrow two previous manufacturing facilities; skyrocket both its sales and employee base; and