TLMI hosted a record-breaking Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO, USA, as nearly 500 attendees made their way to The Broadmoor in 2023. From October 15-17, label converters and suppliers enjoyed networking, education, strategy, and fun while nestled in the Colorado mountains.

As part of the event, TLMI secured a host of experts to provide an in-depth look at the most pressing topics in the industry. The economy, sustainability, workforce, and facility optimization were among the topics explored, with data and panel testimonials highlighting the presentations.

Plus, TLMI announced the winners of several prestigious awards, from “The Frosties” to the Converter, Supplier, and Volunteer of the Year. The Annual Meeting also prioritized a lively tabletop area for product discussions and networking between converters and suppliers. McDowell Label emerged victories throughout the competition. In addition to the IsoPept Vanilla Ice Cream label entry, McDowell Label was tabbed as the Best in Class winner in two other categories: Beverages – Non-alcoholic, and Personal Care & Cosmetics. Meanwhile, Hub Labels and Inland Packaging also received two Best in Class honors apiece. The other Best in Class winners included AWT Labels & Packaging – Anaheim, Brook + Whittle, and Multi-Color Australia.

TLMI announced several other honors, too. Robert Parker, president, Label King, has been named as the Converter of the Year, while David Ellen, divisional director, Domino Digital Printing Solutions, has received Supplier of the Year honors. Tailored Label Products’ Tracy Tenpenny has posthumously been named the Volunteer of the Year. Claire Tenpenny will accept the award, and both Claire and her daughter, Lorraine, was on-hand for the renaming of the annual Pickleball Tournament, which has been named in Tracy’s honor. 

“As an association, we’ve never done more,” stated Mark Glendenning, owner and CEO of Inland Packaging. “There are a lot of exciting things going on at TLMI. We want people to volunteer and be active in this association, networking and improving our businesses.”

TLMI has continued to emphasize the mantra of “Community. Insight. Advocacy.” Linnea Keen, TLMI president, highlighted numerous initiatives currently taking place with the association. Member benefits include, but are not limited to, events, newsletters, and reports; scholarships; webinars; TLMI Community; and the association’s committees.

“We’re trying to keep you up to date on everything going on in our industry, such as the latest data and trends,” explained Keen. “We’re giving members the tools to improve their businesses. This is all intended to provide value and maximize being together as a community.

“TLMI committees are the heart of this industry,” she added. “We have hundreds of volunteers working tirelessly for you.”

Additionally, TLMI will host printTHINK on September 9, 2024, in conjunction with AWA Alexander Watson Associates and AIPIA. Partner programs will continue to play an important role for members, with Affinity HR, SPL Consulting, Procure Analytics, and PRX among them.

With an ongoing emphasis of building the future of the label and package printing industry, TLMI will continue the momentum built with LLT (Label Leaders of Tomorrow), which is currently headed by Channeled Resources’ Ginne Gandy and Domino’s Mike Barry.

“This has been an exciting program that started as an idea and has gained incredible momentum,” noted Keen. “We will be replicating our Excursion program, once a year with different suppliers and converters to provide education who are new to the industry and new to leadership. We are inclusive for people at different places and times in their careers.”

Tim McDonough, president and CEO, Inovar’s Flexo-Graphics, added, “I see the future of this industry is in good hands.”

M&A and the economy featured prominently during the Annual Meeting. Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics delivered his annual analysis on the state of the industry – and economy as a whole. According to Beaulieu, the world is going into a mild recession that could last beyond 2024, depending on the Federal Reserve Board. Domestically, three trends are apparent: Higher interest rates are a threat; wage inflation is pressuring margins, and corporate profits are weakening.

“2024 is going to be a flat year,” stated Beaulieu. “Some will call it a recession and some won’t. It’ll feel like a recession, although it won’t technically be a recession. The economy will recover in 2025 and will go up in 2026. Through 2029, the economy will continue to expand, with the only question being the rate of speed.

“This is the perfect time to invest in your business,” Beaulieu added. “This is the time to decide what you need to do to be better at what you do: training programs, new equipment, IT, etc. If you wait until you’re busy, it’s going to be more expensive. 2024 is the year to buy. The interest rate will be higher then than it is today. If there’s something you want, buy it in 2024. If you don’t invest in your business now, you’re going to be playing catch-up for the rest of the decade.”

BMO’s Jon Ewing, Isaac Tay, Bo Brown, and Chris Dopp also provided insight on the state of M&A in the labels space.

“Only a small handful of label converters were in the hands of private equity 20 years ago,” remarked Ewing. “We have had an incredibly robust M&A market for the better part of a decade, with record high valuation levels. It was as hot an M&A market as any of us has seen. This trend is not over. There is a tremendous amount of interest from PE and that’s not expected to change.”

According to BMO, M&A activity has nearly grinded to a halt over the last 18 months. The unprecedented rise in consumer prices, supply chain volatility, and the rapid rise of interest rates have all played a role. There has also been a decline in valuation levels, as the median valuation was 10.5x in 2022 compared to 8.1x today.

In 2021, M&A was at an all-time high, and in 2022 and 2023, the activity is down 35% and 41% YoY, respectively.  There have been 21 label acquisitions thus far in 2023, and the 10-year average is 23 deals per year. There were 45 in 2021 and 50 in 2022.

“2021 was more of the outlier,” said Brown. “Things have stabilized, and early indications are heading up. We’re still on track to exceed the long-term pre-covid average.

“There are a lot of PE firms that would like to invest in labels that have not yet,” Brown added.