Packaging
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER ANNOUNCED
Monday 30. June 2008 - Meeting at the FINAT World Congress in Paris on 17 June, the international judging panel for the Label Industry Global Awards 2008 selected the winner of the R Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award. Neil McDonough, President of FLEXcon Company Inc., is the overall winner who came top from the submitted online votes against the Awards criteria.
The President of FLEXcon Company, a global polymeric coater and provider of pressure-sensitive films and adhesive products, Neil McDonough has dedicated a quarter of a century to the label industry and has always been a force of inspiration to his colleagues and peers. Before becoming President of FLEXcon in 1990 Mr McDonough held a variety of positions in manufacturing, sales, and management, including Director of Marketing.
Among the innovations he fostered as President was the no-label look for glass bottle labeling with Clearly Canadian in the 1990s ? a concept that is now a staple of the labeling industry.
In recent years, Mr McDonough has led the initiative to provide more choices to label converters and other customers through the development of FLEXcons Value-Better-Supreme (VBS) product offering, which features the industry’s widest selection of proven, readily available products for the most popular labeling applications. Today FLEXcon supplies an almost limitless variety of film, adhesive, topcoat and liner combinations for customized applications.
Mr McDonoughs continuous contribution to the labeling industry is reflected in the companys distinctive focus, which is to work closely with customers to develop unique customized pressure-sensitive solutions. This approach has helped inspire longstanding relationships between FLEXcon and the labeling customers it serves.
Neil McDonough’s industry involvement also includes participation in numerous Labelexpo shows, conferences and seminars, in the TLMI (for which he chairs a committee) and in other organizations.
In his private life Neil has a passion for skiing (which he considers the most fun outside of work), as well as cycling, golf and reading. Each year he takes a heli-ski trip and says he is hoping that someday he will be able to undertake a heli-ski trip with TLMI members.
Neil and his wife Lisa have six children: Caitlin (24), Shaun (22), Ryan (22), Kelsey (20), Darcy (17), and Dylan (12). Neil makes a point to take at least one of his children on many of his business trips, so that they can see FLEXcon facilities and observe customers operations first-hand. This helps to familiarize them with the real world of manufacturing within the pressure-sensitive film and label converting businesses, while also giving them insights into what their father is so excited about. It is also a continuation of a tradition begun by Neils father, Myles, who founded the company and brought Neil at a young age into the operations of the business, which successfully formed the foundation of his long career.
On being notified of the award, Neil McDonough said: “I am thrilled and humbled to learn that I have been selected by the judging panel of the Label Industry Global Awards as the recipient of the R Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award 2008. I am delighted to confirm my acceptance of this great honor.”
Chairman of the judging panel, Mike Fairley, commented: “Choosing the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award was a very difficult choice this year, particularly because the judges were evaluating the profiles of nominees against a range of criteria. However, although all were worthy candidates, it was felt that Neil McDonough best exemplified the innovative, industry focused and global approach that has characterized the growth of pressure-sensitive labels over many years. I would certainly like to congratulate him on this achievement.”
Roger Pellow, Labels Group Managing Director, said: “On behalf of Labelexpo and Labels & Labeling I would like to congratulate Neil McDonough on winning the Lifetime Achievement Award. It is a wonderful achievement to have worked and contributed to the labeling industry for a quarter of a century. I would also like to congratulate the nominees and finalists of the other awards. The awards are a very important event in our industrys calendar, as they recognize people and companies accomplishments throughout the global labeling world. I look very much forward to seeing our guests at the Gala dinner where the other awards winners will be announced.”
Winners of the other Label Industry Global Awards 2008 will be announced at the Gala Dinner and Awards Evening at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on the evening of 9 September – the opening day of Labelexpo Americas. The final shortlist for each award is as follows:
Continuous Innovation Award
3M Corporation
ExxonMobil Chemical
CCL
New Innovation Award
EFI Jetrion
PunchGraphix/ Xeikon
Sustainability/Environmental Responsibility Award
Overnight Label
Metro Label Group
Judges for this years awards under the chairmanship of Mike Fairley were Jan Frederik Vink, President of FINAT; John Hickey, TLMI Chairman; Andy Thomas, Group Managing Editor, Labels & Labeling; Tony White, Editor Narrowebtech and John Penhallow, European Correspondent of Label & Narrow Web.