TLMI hosted its Committee Summit from December 4-6, 2023, in Nashville, TN, USA. Association members gathered to discuss the many issues facing the industry and establish goals for the upcoming year.

After an update on the association, the five committees – Membership, Regulatory Affairs, Sustainability, Technical, and Workforce – transitioned into breakout sessions. TLMI is actively working to promote the health of the greater label industry, as well as its members. TLMI is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2023, as well.

“This is my favorite meeting of the year,” said Linnea Keen, TLMI president. “We’ve renewed TLMI’s strategy to bring value to all of our members and leverage valuable supply chain knowledge. We have a tremendous amount of knowledge in our supply chain all around labels, so we’re challenging ourselves to move things forward for the industry and expand our reach.

“Our goal is to help TLMI thrive for the next 90 years,” she added.

According to Keen, TLMI has established several pillars and values that shape the association’s actions. Sustainability, workforce recruiting and development, a high performing financial and operational model, creating a meaningful member experience, and providing label leadership are all instrumental to the association’s operations. Plus, community, insight, and advocacy are valued in strategic decision-making.

TLMI enjoyed numerous accomplishments in 2023. The association is set to unveil its new website, and it has redesigned and promoted several newsletters to help its membership. Plus, TLMI will have a strong presence at Labelexpo Americas in 2024, alongside co-hosting printTHINK with AWA. TLMI GURUS has also been launched alongside a new quarterly market study, TLMI Market Insights Quarterly.

From sustainability to workforce, TLMI has added numerous resources to help members. According to Rosalyn Bandy, VP of sustainability, TLMI, the goal is to create a sustainability blueprint and structured support for all members. As a sustainability leader, TLMI has also publicly made available maps for non-landfill matrix disposal and liner recycling. This endeavor is not just for members but for the entire industry. TLMI is also a member and consultant to APR (Association of Plastic Recyclers), and a founding member of CELAB North America.

In addition, TLMI is one of 129 signatories of the US Plastics Pact. It supports the use of label materials that, per APR Design Guide for Recyclability, are not detrimental to plastic recycling nor will render a plastic container non-recyclable.

Meanwhile, the Workforce Committee, chaired by Nick Spina and Kristen Shields, reviewed successes and challenges throughout 2023 and charted a path forward.

“We’re here to set the stage for the rest of the year,” explained Spina. “We have monthly calls and take those ideas and fine-tune them. We’re not going to solve all the world’s workforce problems today, but we’d like to see what we worked on last year, what worked well, and what we should put our time and effort into going forward. If we move in that direction, I consider what we do a success.”

One of the Committee’s biggest successes centered on scholarships. TLMI saw applications grow from eight in 2022 to 40 in 2023. The association has also started an outreach program at numerous colleges, and the intent is to continue reach out to middle schools and high schools. Plus, TLMI distributed five Member Employee Scholarships, which target retention and the furthering education of current employees.

“We want to explore how we get our industry out in front of people, letting them know that there are good paying careers available that aren’t in an office setting,” says Shields.

“There are good wages out there,” added John Borelli, COO, Luminer Converting Group. “Maybe we need to lean more education that way, into middle schools and high schools. There are great opportunities, and not everyone is cut out for college.”

The Workforce Committee is also adding on to its hiring toolkits, with the help of The Workplace Advisors (formerly Affinity HR). The firm helps TLMI members with the interview process and personality traits to look for with prospective employees.

“We’ve got to grow on the converter side, and if we’re going to see large growth it’s going to come with smaller converters,” explained Mark Glendenning, owner and CEO, Inland. “It’s not just about the converters we have today, but converters we can attract.”

The Workforce Committee also wants to change the myth surrounding label printing. The messaging to younger generations has to improve, along with their parents, who think print is a dying industry. The Committee is striving to promote the technology associated with the modern print industry, focusing on the automation, digital capabilities, and software that now exist.