September 21, 2022 (Nashville, TN): TLMI is proud to announce that the association is kicking off a new charitable giving initiative at its upcoming Annual Meeting taking place October 16-18 at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa. The initiative will involve the donation of funds to community service projects associated with the locations where TLMI meetings are held

The recipient of this year’s TLMI community service project is St. Mary’s Food Bank, an organization serving nine Arizona counties across the state. To fund the donation, TLMI has created a Tiered Donation Partnership program that allows the association’s converter and supplier members to help provide valuable resources to underserved communities by sponsoring each meeting location’s service project. TLMI will be hosting a hands-on community service project as part of the donation program at this year’s Annual Meeting where association members will have the opportunity to help assemble snack packs including a personal note in each bag after the general session on Monday afternoon

TLMI President, Linnea Keen, comments, “I am very proud to be announcing this new charitable giving initiative. With the help and support of our converter and supplier member sponsors, we will be donating funds to a local organization tied to each and every Converter and Annual Meeting locale moving forward. One of my priorities as President is to ensure that the association gives back as a collective. When I think about TLMI’s new strategic values – Community, Insight and Advocacy – this new initiative addresses two of those in a deep and lasting way. Each meeting location will have a different need and we will adapt as we explore the charitable giving options at each location. This program also gives both our converter and supplier members a chance to sponsor something that will have a profound impact on communities that so desperately need assistance. We already have several sponsors in place for this year’s Annual Meeting charitable initiative. I look forward to assembling the snack packs alongside our members at the meeting and to working together as a collective to make a real difference in the community, and in the world.”

TLMI is proud to announce that the association is releasing three new DIY workforce toolkits available to all association members. The new toolkits address job candidate positions in customer service, quality control and prepress. These newest toolkits join the two previously developed toolkits that were made available to members last year, addressing job candidate positions for conventional and digital press operational roles.

In developing the new toolkits, TLMI has worked in close conjunction with the association’s human resources partner, Affinity HR Group. Affinity facilitated the focus groups for the toolkits and TLMI converter member companies volunteered their highest-performing personnel and operators who exhibit all of the key competencies and performance indicators for the targeted roles to participate in the facilitated groups.

In addition to the conventional and digital press operator toolkits, the customer service toolkit has recently been completed and is now also available as a complimentary resource. The quality control and prepress operator toolkits will be made available to members before the end of the year. The new layout of the toolkits include an additional number of dedicated templates for any role that companies are actively recruiting including templates for job postings, interview questions, reference checks, and more.

Claudia St. John, President of Affinity HR Group, comments, “For each toolkit, we brought together knowledge experts in each of the candidate positions, so these are people who are currently in these roles. I met with each of these focus groups and asked them to tell me what they do every day. My team prioritized these tasks by similar categories and created a corresponding list of accountabilities. We then asked our focus groups to rank each task from most to least important, and to weigh each to get a feel for how much time each task requires. We do this because some of these day-to-day tasks may take up the majority of someone’s time, however they are not necessarily the most important things someone needs to be doing. If a potential employer is only looking to hire for the most important things, they could hire someone who might not have the skills to do what the job actually requires the majority of the time.”

The focus groups enabled Affinity to create comprehensive profiles for each toolkit position including the position’s key tasks and activities, a skills ranking, and a behavioral assessment. From those components, Affinity was able to create an ideal candidate profile to facilitate the hiring process for potential employers. St. John states, “The behavioral profile is critical if a company has a candidate that they are thinking of hiring. It enables them to compare the candidate’s profile against the benchmark that we’ve created to see how the candidate compares to other successful employees in the same role. The interview questions that we put into the toolkits is based on the profile of the skills that a company is looking for them to have and each job toolkit has a unique set of interview questions.”

Each of the TLMI toolkits includes a sample employment application, a job posting sample and detailed job description, an ideal candidate profile, a recommended set of interview questions, advice on how to structure interviews, and a sample offer letter. TLMI President, Linnea Keen, comments, “We’re thrilled to be offering our members these toolkits to use for their hiring and candidate profiling purposes. We are all aware of just how challenging the workforce landscape currently is. Workforce Development is one of the five central pillars of the TLMI Strategic Plan and making these toolkits available is an important way that the association is continuing to support our members with these unprecedented challenges.”

August 31, 2022 (Nashville, TN): TLMI is proud to announce the association’s scholarship recipients for the 2022-2023 calendar year. After a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic, the association reinstated the application process this year and has dedicated new resources to the TLMI Scholarship Program. Past scholarship recipients have pursued careers in areas that have included printed packaging production, engineering, print and package design, and purchasing.
 
TLMI provides scholarships to candidates that fall within one of three categories including two-year college degree programs, four-year college degree programs and full- time employees of TLMI member companies. Scholarship selection is based on academic achievement, a demonstrated interest in the label and packaging industry, and a statement of goals. The Scholarship Program is overseen by the TLMI Workforce Committee.
 
This year’s winners include:

• Amy Blachowski Gottschalk, current TLMI member employee, Bowling Green State University (Ohio)

• Kaylea Robertson, Pittsburg State University (Kansas)

• Haliah Offutt, Illinois State University

• Jasmine Dawdy, Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada)

TLMI President, Linnea Keen, comments, “I want to personally congratulate each of our scholarship winners. The TLMI Scholarship Program has assisted hundreds of students across the United States and Canada. Following graduation, these students become valuable assets for the companies they work for and many of those companies are TLMI members. Workforce development is one of the core pillars of the TLMI Strategic Plan and an area where we are dedicating more financial and personnel resources this year. I want to thank the scholarship application judges, the rest of the members of the Workforce Committee, and committee co-chairs Kristen Shields of Graymills and Nick Spina of Luminer Converting Group for their hard work and dedication in helping us to uphold this tremendous resource for our members, and for our industry.”
 

August 4, 2022 (Milford, OH): TLMI announces that the association is partnering with Tarsus in creating an EcoStage, Powered by TLMI, at Labelexpo Americas September 13-15 in Rosemont, IL.
 
The EcoStage will be located at booth #3220 and over the course of the show’s three days, expert speakers and thought leaders will deliver presentations that discuss some of the most critical sustainability issues our industry is facing today. Sixteen speakers have committed to presenting on the EcoStage and presentations will kick off every hour, on the hour. Admission to the EcoStage is free for all show attendees.
 
Presentation highlights include several sessions led by Convergen Energy, a provider of renewable fuels for power generation facilities. Convergen helps manufacturers across industries avoid sending byproducts to landfill in addition to helping companies reduce fossil fuel usage and meet sustainability goals. Convergen’s CEO, Ted Hansen, will be giving a presentation all three days on the EcoStage, discussing converters’ non-landfill options for matrix and flexible packaging waste.
 
Other EcoStage highlights include Emily Tipaldo, Executive Director at U.S. Plastics Pact. U.S. plastics pact is a solutions-driven consortium with more than 100 diverse businesses and organizations across the plastics value chain working to rethink the way our industry designs, uses, and reuses plastics to create a path forward toward a more circular economy. The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) will also be presenting on the EcoStage, discussing the ways that labels are currently impacting recyclability and on the show’s first day, executives from Resource Label Group and Brook & Whittle will be discussing the current sustainability status of different brands and how to address label buyers’ unique sustainability goals.
 
TLMI Vice President of Sustainability, Rosalyn Bandy, comments, “The EcoStage, Powered by TLMI, will deliver three days of presentations and discussions centered around the current state of sustainability in our industry. Converters and suppliers are constantly looking for new ways they can improve their sustainability practices. They are also seeking ways they can more effectively position their sustainability goals in front of their customers and prospects. Our EcoStage presenters will offer actionable guidelines and ideas for all show attendees and further demonstrates TLMI’s unwavering commitment to sustainability in the greater printed packaging industry.”
 

TLMI announces that registration has officially opened for the association’s upcoming Annual Meeting to be held October 16-18 at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix, AZ. All presentations, panels and networking opportunities at the two-and-a-half-day event will be centered around TLMI’s core values of Community, Insight and Advocacy. 
 
The agenda features presentations by industry leaders and expert speakers, executive panel discussions, a supplier showcase and award receptions. Program details are as follows:  

• Day one will kick off with the TLMI Business Meeting directly followed by a Supply Chain Update and Panel Discussion. This will be followed by another panel of industry experts sharing concrete actions to recycle release liner and landfill avoidance. Other guest presenters will give us insights into likely outcomes for this election year, pending legislature, and the impact it will have on our industry. Monday’s session will close with a discussion on Sustainability by an industry leading brand owner.

• Monday evening will feature the Products and Services Showcase, giving attending converters the opportunity to connect with and meet their suppliers. During the Showcase, the association will be unveiling the winners of the Sustainability Leadership Awards and the TLMI Print Awards followed directly by an awards ‘after party’ where members can celebrate the evening’s honorees and spend time networking in a fun and festive atmosphere.

• Day two will open with one of TLMI’s most popular speakers, Alan Beaulieu, Economist and Principal at ITR Economics. Directly following, a panel of industry CEOs and CFOs will take the stage to discuss their thoughts on the market’s outlook and how to prepare for a potential economic downturn. The day’s general session will close with a presentation from Marilyn Sherman, a motivational keynote speaker who specializes in working with organizations to improve their employee’s morale, teamwork and communication skills and ultimately achieve more profitable results. The day will close with a reception and awards evening honoring the Converter of the Year, Supplier of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year recipients.

TLMI President, Linnea Keen, comments, “We will truly see TLMI’s core values in action at this year’s Annual Meeting. If this meeting has a central theme, it’s this: We listened. For the past two years we have been extensively surveying our members, asking what types of programming and networking opportunities they wanted to have at future events. The agenda for this year’s Annual Meeting is a result of this feedback and I know that each and every attendee will find tremendous value in what we’ve been hard at work putting together.” 

The full agenda and registration details are available here.

October 16 – 18 Arizona Grand Resort & Spa Phoenix, Arizona

Nearly nine decades ago, TLMI was founded by a small group of printers who had a vision. They wanted to create an association that could assist its member companies by functioning as a collaborative entity with the central goal of positioning and branding the print application solutions of its members and to provide networking and peer-learning opportunities. Over the past 89 years, TLMI’s Strategic Plan has had many iterations however the association’s core values today are much like they were during the time of its founding: Community, Insight and Advocacy.

At the 2022 TLMI Annual Meeting taking place October 16-18 at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix AZ, you’ll see these core values in action. If this meeting has a central theme, it’s this: We listened. For the past two years we have been steadily surveying members, asking what types of programming and networking opportunities they wanted to have at future events. The agenda for this year’s Annual Meeting is a result of this feedback and the desires of our members. We heard you.

• The Annual Meeting Golf Tournament will be held on Sunday, October 16th and that evening we’ll have an informal dinner and reception to allow people to arrive at any time and to reconnect with friends and to meet our newest members.

• Monday morning will feature an extended breakfast and the meeting’s General Session will kick off with the TLMI Business Meeting directly followed by a Supply Chain Update and Panel Discussion. Other guest presenters will give us insights into likely outcomes for this election year, pending legislature, and the impact it will have on our industry. Monday’s session will close with a discussion on Sustainability by an industry leading brand owner.

• Monday evening will feature the Products and Services Showcase, giving attending converters the opportunity to connect with and meet with their suppliers. During the Showcase, we will be unveiling the winners of the Sustainability Leadership Awards and the TLMI Print Awards followed directly by an awards ‘after party’ where we can celebrate the evening’s honorees and spend time networking in a fun and festive atmosphere.

• Tuesday morning’s session will kick off with one of TLMI’s most popular speakers, Alan Beaulieu, Principal at ITR Economics. Directly following Alan’s presentation, a panel of industry CEOs and CFOs will discuss their thoughts on the market outlook and how to prepare our businesses for a potential economic downturn. The morning will close with a presentation from Marilyn Sherman, a go-to motivational keynote speaker who specializes in working with organizations that want to improve morale, teamwork and communication skills and ultimately achieve more results.

• The meeting will close on Tuesday with a reception and awards dinner which will be held poolside under the stars. The Converter of the Year, Supplier of the Year and Volunteer of the Year honors will be announced, and members will have extended time for conversation and networking throughout our final evening together.

We hope you’ll join us in Phoenix in October. Our members have stressed that their highest priorities at TLMI meetings are to network and build community. This meeting was designed with more opportunities than ever to do just that, and we very much look forward to seeing you this fall under the warm desert sun.

Sincerely,

TLMI announces that the 2022 Print Awards competition is now open for submissions. This year marks the association’s 45th Print Awards Competition and winners will be announced and celebrated at the TLMI Annual Meeting taking place October 16-18 at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix, AZ.

Every year, TLMI converters from across the globe submit hundreds of entries to be considered for the coveted Best in Class and Best in Show honors. The TLMI Print Awards honors the industry’s finest package printing across a range of print process categories including flexography, letterpress, offset, multi-process printing and digital. Non-pressure sensitive categories including unsupported roll labels and cut & stack are also represented. The submission deadline for entries is August, 1 2022.

In addition to being honored at the Annual Meeting in October, the Best of Show and Best in Class winners will have professional videos made featuring their submissions and the print journey of each winning application.

“For 45 years, TLMI has been honoring and celebrating the best-of-print among our converter members. I strongly encourage all of our converter members to submit at least one entry for consideration. There are 65 categories so there is an award category for most applications that our converter members print,” TLMI President, Linnea Keen, comments. “Due to the outstanding response that we received for the video featuring the Best in Show judging process from last year’s competition, we’re excited to announce that videos will be professionally produced for this year’s winning Best in Class submissions in addition to Best in Show. As past winners can all attest, winning a TLMI Print Award is a great way for converters to differentiate themselves in today’s competitive marketplace and we look forward to seeing all of the new submissions for this year’s competition.”

For more information and to submit applications: https://tlmi.wufoo.com/forms/2022-print-awards-competition/

As highlighted in a recent TLMI Community Sustainability Post, an Oregon task force charged with implementing recommendations resulting from Senate Bill 582, the state’s EPR law, recently issued product labeling recommendations. The label guidance to the legislature is focused on recyclability and similar environmental claims.

Some manner of labeling clarity is included in the majority of considered or approved EPR legislation. The goal is generally two-fold – the first is to reduce consumer confusion as to what is considered recyclable, and the second is to reduce contamination at the sorting facilities, where packaging must be separated for end market purchase.

The task force recommended that recyclability claims be approved for packaging and items included in the forthcoming statewide and local government recycling collection list, should instructions be followed if included for a particular package type. Beverage containers covered in the state’s deposit program, as well as items collected in separate manner (i.e. drop-off), should also follow and include on-package instructions, if directed.

Recycling and environmental claims include also govern the future permissible use of the “chasing arrow” symbol, frequently found on plastics packaging. The task force also increased the pace of potential QR-code adoption for claims, from 10 years out to 5. Current paper and similar labeling that includes package ingredients, nutrition information were not considered as part of the recommendations.

As highlighted in previous membership updates, the association continues to follow Proposition (PROP) 65 rulemaking, via the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA).

The Office recently paused final implementation for major warning, text and font  updates applicable to covered products. The announcement of the delay itself was due to statutory deadlines missed by the OEHHA (there is a 1-year timeframe to implement rules from their announcement). The mandated pause does not signal their intent to withdraw the forthcoming label requirements.

In addition to font sizes, permissible symbols and placement, the changes scheduled will require the listing of at least one chemical on the product’s label that triggered the warning requirement.

The most recent amended language may be read here. The association will keep all members apprised when OEHHA resumes the rulemaking process, and issues new timelines for industry compliance.