For nearly 35 years, M&R Label has been delivering high-quality labels – and redefining what customers can expect from their label printing partner. In addition to designing and printing flexographic and digital labels, this leading Chicago-area company continues to build its reputation as a trusted collaborator throughout the lifecycle of its pressure sensitive labels. Its current owners, Steve Brownstone and Ross Samotny, bought the business in 2018, combining their varied experiences and entrepreneurial vision.

“I got into the label business in 2006 on the sales side, and I met Steve when we both worked at a local label company,” Samotny recalls. “I left the industry to start a cleaning services company, but we remained friends and kept in touch.”

In its state-of-the-art facility, located southwest of Chicago in University Park, M&R Label provides both flexographic and digital printing options. The company’s five Mark Andy presses include a Mark Andy Evolution that allows the team to push the envelope in terms of quality while drastically reducing setup time.

Soon after purchasing the company, Brownstone and Samotny also made the strategic decision to introduce digital capabilities. It was a smart move; the Epson digital press has supported much of the company’s growth.

Meanwhile, with 11 current locations, Inovar Packaging Group is creating a world-class commercial enterprise by building an innovative platform to drive sustainable growth and handle the increasingly complex demands of a diverse range of customers. In the process, it’s emerging as an acquirer-of-choice in a highly fragmented industry that’s also uniquely bifurcated, with a sea of independent regional manufacturers on one end and a few very large players on the other.

“We saw the opportunity to build a platform that could scale and address the needs of both regional and small to medium-sized customers, as well as larger specialty consumer and durable products companies that value flexibility, innovative solutions, technical support, and local service, while also offering multiple locations and production options for a diverse product offering with scale and redundancy,” he adds.

“At the same time, we envisioned a highly supportive model that offers individual business leaders all the benefits of a larger organization (i.e., procurement leverage), with certain shared services (e.g., HR, IT, finance) that are centralized while empowering them to focus on their businesses, continue to innovate, and maintain high-touch service,” says Jeff Brezek.

The award-winning converter, headquartered in Dallas, TX, produces innovative prime labels, shrink sleeves and extended content labels for many of the nation’s leading brands, and the company has built a national footprint with flexographic, digital, and emerging hybrid printing technologies dedicated to its customers’ success. 

Here are the highest-trafficked news items from the week ending on October 20:

1. Companies To Watch: M&R Label
2. Companies To Watch: Inovar Packaging Group
3. Companies To Watch: Harmonized Label Solutions
4. KDV Label names Chris Derra CFO
5. Avery Dennison addresses growth in RFID