pP's 2002 TLMI Converter of the Year
October 2002
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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 hand and says, "Lon is a two-time entrepreneur and has done a great job building LGI to serve the high-tech market.…I have walked through his plant and have seen solutions for problems that I had no idea even existed."
Now, Martin's business acumen and pension for creating innovative solutions in the label converting industry has earned him additional merit, as the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) and packagePRINTING honor Lon Martin as the TLMI 2002 Converter of the Year.
An early start in printing
Martin wasted little time in getting started in this industry. He decided in seventh grade that printing was where he wanted to make his mark. He laid out a course for vocational training through his high school years, and worked at a local newspaper developing a solid foundation in what would become his life-long trade.
A stint in the Air Force in the mid-1950s provided Martin with additional experiences that allowed him to cope with the stress of starting up and running his future businesses. He worked in weather forecasting and spent much of his time chasing tornados in the infamous 'Tornado Alley.' By the time he was ready to take on the business world, he was ready for the good times and the bad.
Upon his discharge from the Air Force, Martin started in earnest back in the printing industry. As is the case with many of his contemporaries, he started on the ground floor, running a label printing press for $1.25 an hour.
The desire to run his own business struck quickly and after just two years, he and two partners founded Cal Tape & Label in 1960. The timing of this first venture was risky as he and his wife had a first child on the way. Setting up in a warehouse that housed war-surplus equipment outside of Los Angeles, he bought a used Mark Andy three-inch, two-color press for $2,500. This press was set up on the top of a desk, and the business got its start making labels for price tags.
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 hand and says, "Lon is a two-time entrepreneur and has done a great job building LGI to serve the high-tech market.…I have walked through his plant and have seen solutions for problems that I had no idea even existed."
Now, Martin's business acumen and pension for creating innovative solutions in the label converting industry has earned him additional merit, as the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) and packagePRINTING honor Lon Martin as the TLMI 2002 Converter of the Year.
An early start in printing
Martin wasted little time in getting started in this industry. He decided in seventh grade that printing was where he wanted to make his mark. He laid out a course for vocational training through his high school years, and worked at a local newspaper developing a solid foundation in what would become his life-long trade.
A stint in the Air Force in the mid-1950s provided Martin with additional experiences that allowed him to cope with the stress of starting up and running his future businesses. He worked in weather forecasting and spent much of his time chasing tornados in the infamous 'Tornado Alley.' By the time he was ready to take on the business world, he was ready for the good times and the bad.
Upon his discharge from the Air Force, Martin started in earnest back in the printing industry. As is the case with many of his contemporaries, he started on the ground floor, running a label printing press for $1.25 an hour.
The desire to run his own business struck quickly and after just two years, he and two partners founded Cal Tape & Label in 1960. The timing of this first venture was risky as he and his wife had a first child on the way. Setting up in a warehouse that housed war-surplus equipment outside of Los Angeles, he bought a used Mark Andy three-inch, two-color press for $2,500. This press was set up on the top of a desk, and the business got its start making labels for price tags.
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