Esko has been honored with a major philanthropy award from Indiana State University, in recognition of the company’s commitment to supporting future generations of packaging industry workers.

The global developer of integrated software and hardware solutions for the packaging, label and wide format sectors has received the March On! Award, the most prestigious award presented by the leading university’s Division of University Advancement, honoring transformational philanthropy to Indiana State.

Through 2020 and over recent years, Esko has extended its no-charge donation of software licenses to Indiana State and other leading educational institutions across the US. The multi-million dollar in-kind donation, which includes its market leading structural design and production software platforms, helps support students in their packaging engineering and technology studies.

Melissa Plemen, Esko Sr. Director of Inside Sales and Marketing, said the company was proud and thrilled to have been recognized with such a prestigious honor. “Our support of schools like ISU is borne out of our belief in supporting the education of the next generation of packaging employees,” she said. “We strongly believe in investing in the future of our industry and it’s a privilege to have been able to continue that with our 2020 donation in kind. We did not expect any recognition for this, so to be presented with a March On! Award from ISU is truly an honor.”

ISU President Deborah Curtis says, “We’re grateful that an industry leader such as Esko provides generous support for ISU’s Package Engineering program. This corporate partnership truly makes a difference in the lives of our students.”

Buffy Boulet, chair of the ISU Foundation Board of Directors Development Committee, said through their generosity, Esko had demonstrated their belief in the university’s enduring success in transforming students’ lives. “This sort of philanthropic support helps put ISU on a path to continuing and growing its mission for decades to come,” she said.

Melissa Plemen explained that as technological advances lead to changes within the packaging sector, it is vitally important that the industry supports the education and training of young people. “Through this year’s donation, packaging course tutors can now use the same software that develops 9 out of 10 retail packages for major brands today, and the breadth of software available enables them to teach a wide range of skillsets,” she said. “Students can design and create packaging systems, from ideation through to virtual and physical prototypes, preparing them for future roles in what is a diverse and fast-paced industry.

“It is crucial that the workforce of tomorrow is as skilled and knowledgeable as possible before they embark on their career,” said Melissa. “We see these donations as part of our contribution to ensuring that vision becomes a reality, investing in not just the future of these young students, but also of our industry as a whole.”

To read more on the 2020 March! On Award honorees, visit www2.indstate.edu/news/news.php?newsid=5398