Grand Rapids Label has announced a key addition to its leadership team as part of an organization-wide strategy to pursue new growth opportunities in the durable label marketplace. Bill Bergstrom has joined the company as vice president of sales and marketing, replacing John Crosby who had held that position since 2007. Crosby has been promoted to vice president of operations.

“The printing industry has gone through a lot of changes since my family founded this business over 130 years ago,” says Bill Muir, president of Grand Rapids Label. “Our ability to adapt to changing market conditions helped us survive the industrial revolution. Embracing new, state of the art techniques and innovations, and focusing our efforts on markets with the greatest potential for growth during this new-era technology revolution, will continue to be the key to our longevity and success.”

Grand Rapids Label conducts ongoing research and development using its own lab to engineer products tailored to cope with the most extreme conditions and meet the most exacting requirements. It’s this ability to create custom solutions, particularly in the durable label category, that will be the focus for the new leadership team going forward.

“Grand Rapids Label is one of only a handful of companies in the industry that can offer customers a high caliber level of performance and customization,” says Bergstrom. “Our goal is to engineer winning solutions by thinking differently about the value our labels can provide. I’m really excited about the opportunity, and it’s an honor to be a part of such a strong brand.”

Before joining Grand Rapids Label, Bergstrom was president of ThinkWise LLC, a pure technology and data shop, where he was responsible for operations, team building and organizational strategy. During his tenure, Bergstrom championed the second-stage mission and vision of ThinkWise and helped plan the company’s marketing to ensure a more focused and profitable future – experience that will help him manage the transition taking place at Grand Rapids Label. Bergstrom also spent more than 10 years as national sales manager at Terryberry. There, he helped build and manage a high-performance sales force and developed employee recognition programs for thousands of clients, ranging from small family businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

Crosby joined Grand Rapids Label in 1995 and has served in a variety of roles during his time with the company. In his new role as vice president of operations, Crosby will be responsible for the on-time performance, quality, efficiency and safety of the company’s manufacturing operations. Crosby brings an engineering background to his new role, based on prior work with The Boeing Company, as well as an Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Michigan.

“I love a good challenge, and I believe our ability to solve what may seem like an impossible task has truly set us apart in the industry,” says Crosby. “Given our track record for delivering exceptional products and services, and the excellent team we’ve assembled, the future is extremely bright at Grand Rapids Label.”