At the recent Annual Meeting of the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI) held in San Antonio, TX, Jeff Dunphy, president and CEO of Design Label Manufacturing, was named TLMI Converter of the Year. The Converter of the Year Award honors and recognizes a member of the converting industry who has made an extensive contribution to the North American narrow web marketplace and who has additionally demonstrated an unwavering commitment to TLMI.

Jeff grew up in the label printing industry. In 1977 his father left his job at IBM to purchase a small printing company in southern Connecticut when Jeff was eight years old. At the age of 10 Jeff started doing odd jobs around the company and in the years following spent summers working in the pressroom. After college and a brief stint on Wall Street in the commodities exchange, Jeff joined Design Label as a sales representative in 1991 and was promoted to sales manager in 1995. In 1999 he became the company’s president. In 2002, Jeff and his sister structured a deal to buy the company from their father.

Today, Design Label Manufacturing operates out of two facilities and is a premier vendor of labels and paperboard printing. The company serves a diverse range of markets including the household chemical, food, beverage, personal care, durable goods and neutraceutical end-use sectors.

Jeff has served on the TLMI Board of Directors since 2004 and as the chairman of the Scholarship Committee for the past five years. He is the current TLMI Chairman Elect. According to fellow label converter Scott Pillsbury, president of Rose City Label and the 2012 Converter of the Year, “TLMI is another area where Jeff shines. He has carried the torch for the scholarship program for many years and as a Board member provides guidance and leadership with wisdom and insight.”