Seniority Counts

When you've been at the same in-plant as long as these folks have, you see a lot of changes.

Company loyalty may not be as prevalent as it was 30 years ago, but it's not gone yet. Around the country, scores of in-plants are being run by seasoned managers who, in many cases, started decades ago as press operators at the same shop. Like the craftsmen and women they are, they take pride in what they have built and continue to work towards making it better.

To honor some of these long-term managers, IPG conducted a nationwide search. Though we couldn't reach everyone, we still got more than we bargained for. What follows is a list of managers who have been at the same company or organization for at least 25 years. Additionally, we talked to those with 31 or more years of seniority to find out about their experiences.

IPG is pleased to honor these in-plant heroes. Their length of service testifies to the fact that they have done—and continue to do—an excellent job of serving their parent organizations.

by Chris Bauer

40 years

Ralph Sperrazza

Pitney Bowes

It was September 8, 1958 when Ralph Sperrazza started what would turn out to be a long career with Pitney Bowes, of Stamford, Conn. It has been a career that began in the mailing department and has grown into an award-winning management position.

Sperrazza, general manager of the document services division, gives the credit for his longevity to his company.

"Obviously this is a great company to keep my interest all this while," he lauds.

The top accomplishment of his career has been, "bringing forward all the new digital technology" says the 1990 IPG Manager of the Year. Especially notable was the purchase of the in-plant's Indigo E-Print 1000 digital press, which Sperrazza spearheaded.

An active IPMA member, Sperrazza has served as IPMA vice president and has been the recipient of several in-house promotional awards.

For the future at Pitney Bowes, Sperrazza sees tremendous growth, including higher volumes and better document management.

Oh, and for the ribbing he has taken about his 40 years on the job, Sperrazza has this to say: "I started when I was six years old. That's what I tell everyone who makes a comment about the 40 years."

39 years

Per Person

University of California,

Berkeley

It's been a long road that Per Person has traveled to get to where he is now with the University of California, Berkeley Printing Services—a road that began as an entry-level floor helper and has taken him all the way to the position of plant manager.

Person looks back fondly on his years with UC Berkeley, appreciating, "the quality of life it's afforded me." He has enjoyed, "the challenge of starting at the bottom and working my way up."

The in-plant has changed with the times, according to Person. The biggest change he has seen has been in the prepress area. New technology here has improved "the speed that we turn things around," says Person.

In the future, Person plans to get the in-plant more involved in the university's mailing department, bringing in more work and expanding its customer base.

38 years

Mel Zischler

Principal Financial Group

Mel Zischler has called Principal Financial Group, in Urbandale, Iowa, home for the past 38 years.

Starting out in the supply area filling orders for about two years, Zischler then moved on to the printing area, where he spent 11 years operating one- and two-color presses.

From there promotions came one after another for Zischler, until he was finally moved up to the position of manager, which he has held for the past 12 years.

Zischler enjoys the constant changes in both his company and his job. The largest change, he says, was moving from offset to digital.

And what does one of the 1995 IPG Managers of the Year see in his future? Zischler plans to move "more to digital as time goes by and as digital equipment gets faster."

37 years

Anthony Uzzardo

Argonne National Laboratory

Anthony Uzzardo started out as a pressman for the Argonne National Laboratory's Information and Publishing Division 37 years ago.

"Before I realized it, all those years went by and I was still here" recalls Uzzardo.

Uzzardo is now the supervisor of printing for the research and development company, located 20 miles west of Chicago in Argonne, Ill.

Over his years at the in-plant, numerous projects have come and gone, but according to Uzzardo, "the last one is always the best one."

Recent years have admittedly been slower for the publishing division, but things seem to be picking up this year. Uzzardo attributes this increased workload to the advancements of digital printing, which he feels his customers have more faith in.

36 years

Jim Von Eschen

University of Wisconsin

A high school fascination with Ben Franklin and the printing industry has turned into 36 years of service to the University of Wisconsin Printing Services in Madison, Wis., for Jim Von Eschen. Von Eschen began working in the pressroom in 1962, printing and setting type. This is where he learned to be a "true craftsman," he says. He later got into management and is now shop supervisor.

"I see to it that we can accomplish our goals, keep the customers happy and that the work is in on time," he says.

The largest advance in printing to come along according to Von Eschen has been electronic printing and scanning. Looking towards the future, Von Eschen is awaiting the day that digital printing is cheap enough to go against offset. But till then, Von Eschen sees the two going "hand in hand."

36 years

Glenn Traub

City of Elgin, Ill.

Glenn Traub has helped serve the City of Elgin, Ill., with its printing needs for the past 36 years. Beginning as a duplicating machine operator, Traub worked his way up through the ranks and now holds the position of central services coordinator.

Traub says that he has enjoyed the changes in his job over the years, the biggest being the introduction of digital copiers. This has brought speed and versatility into his shop, which has improved customer service. Traub is proud of his "ability to help people" and names this as the most important part of his job.

Among the honors he has received, Traub has been presented with a bronze metal from the International Graphics Arts Association.

35 years

Art Kapp

Weber Marking Systems

Weber Marking Systems, of Arlington Heights, Ill., has been been a place Art Kapp has enjoyed working for 35 years. The family-owned company, which does primarily labeling work, is where Kapp has strived to meet the challenges printing has given him over the years. And even after more than three decades at the same in-plant, Kapp says he still, "looks forward to Monday mornings."

Kapp started out as a print shop helper and has been promoted over the years into the position of supervisor at his in-plant. Prepress work is now done digitally at Weber, but the in-plant still does press work "the old-fashioned way," according to Kapp.

Though he is the winner of over 30 industry awards, one award stands out as the most special in Kapp's mind. It is an award that his 5-year-old son made for him in Sunday school. It includes a picture of Kapp with the caption, "my dad's the best."

34 years

Paul Molfino

University of California-

Santa Cruz

He started it all for the The University of California-Santa Cruz's print shop. Paul Molfino began at the university in February of 1965, before the first students arrived in September, building the shop from the ground up.

Almost 34 years later he hasn't left. Molfino relates it to his hobby of building hot rods.

"It was something I was building" he says. "I hate to get rid of something that I create."

Growth, freedom and providing a better product are all part of the job for Molfino, the director of Imaging/ Printing/ Mail/Temporary Support Services for the school. Molfino is now working on getting his customers to be more in touch with current and future technologies. His goal is to get his customers to go digital, a process that he provides training for.

34 years

Ruth Myhre

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Thirty-four years ago Ruth Myhre was working as a mimeograph and ditto machine operator for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. But for the past six years, Myhre has been the manager of the Printing and Design Department at the University.

"Starting as a high school graduate, knowing nothing of printing, and working my way up to manager," she says, has been an accomplishment of which she is justifiably proud.

Myhre says she likes the variety of duties the position demands and the ever-changing technology in the industry. An IPMA member, Myhre has received exceptional performance awards from the University. In the future she hopes to expand the department and bring more work in-house.

34 years

Kenneth Baker

City of Colorado Springs, Colo.

A lot has changed since January of 1964 when Kenneth Baker began working for the City of Colorado Springs, Colo., in the position of records technician. Back then, Baker did most of his work on mimeograph machines. Today, the office services manager for the city has gone high-tech, computerizing many of the forms used by the city and the utility companies, and even putting some on a Web site.

Baker's printing, mail processing, and records department now has the capability to scan images, store them and print on demand. He would like to see even more of the city's work go digital in the future, and bring more technology into his shop.

33 years

Fred Kelley

Cal Poly State University

Fred Kelley began his career working as a duplicating machine operator at Cal Poly State University, located in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in May of 1962. Two years later, he left Cal Poly, called to serve in the military. But Kelley returned to campus in 1967, and by October of 1975 was promoted to the rank of supervisor.

Thinking back, Kelley recalls that his time at Cal Poly "hasn't been stagnant. [We had] four mimeograph machines when I started and a Davidson duplicator. Now we have four offset, two 5090s and a digital platemaker."

Kelley is now the manager of the mail and reprographics center, a position he has held since July of 1993. In the future, Kelley sees an increase in short-run color work and hopes to make his department more accessible to the whole campus community.

32 years

Charles Mannino

Fashion Institute of

Technology

Since starting out as a part-time press operator in 1966, Charles Mannino has seen many changes at New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology print shop. Mannino, who has been supervisor since 1977, recalls that when he started at FIT the in-plant had "primarily mimeograph machines, a duplicator, a big old Xerox drum copier, and a Multigraphics 1250 that did all the offset work. For the finishing we used a hand clamp cutter, a semi-automatic collator, student aids, and during exams, temporary help," recalls Mannino.

FIT now operates with four two- color offset presses, an Océ high-speed copier and a digital duplicator.

This advance in technology has brought increased business to Mannino's shop. He has seen volume increase by 77 percent in the last two years alone, and he attributes the growth to the addition of the high-speed copier.

Mannino admits that he only expected a "gradual" increase in business after getting his new copier, and now is looking for funding for an additional employee to help with the workload.

31 years

Ronnie Hooks

Lockheed Martin Energy

Systems

IPG's 1998 Manager of the Year also has served his in-plant for over three decades. Ronnie Hooks began his career as a press operator back in 1967. He is now printing facilities manager for Lockheed Martin Energy Systems in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which is contracted by the Department of Energy to operate its national lab and weapons plant.

Hooks says he enjoys the challenges of his job, one of which was the task of getting a single contract for the company's 900 on-site copiers. "The copier contract—that's saved a lot of money annually," explains Hooks.

Getting his operation up to date with new technologies is also a priority for Hooks, who prides himself in what he calls his "ability to obtain equipment with little capital."

Looking towards the future, Hooks feels the in-plant must "continue on the path towards digital equipment and give instant service."

31 years

Boyce Dillingham

Marsh Supermarkets

Boyce Dillingham began his career at Marsh Supermarkets in Indianapolis, Ind., in January of 1967, working in the print shop and the mailroom. Back then the in-plant had five employees. Eighteen employees now work on two shifts for the supermarket in-plant, producing approximately two million copies per month.

Today, Dillingham is manager of office services and supplies, which includes all printing, mailing and office supply demands. He says the constant changes in his duties have kept things interesting over the years. This has been most true about changes in technology.

"It's been a constant struggle from the day I started to keep up with technology," notes Dillingham.

Under his command, the in-plant began moving from offset to digital in July of 1997, and Dillingham plans to keep on moving ahead with new technology in the future.

Not Old...Just Experienced

Each of these in-plant managers boasts at least 25 years of service to the same organization. Now that's a lot of experience.

Manager Organization Years

Ralph Sperrazza* Pitney Bowes 40

Per Person Univerity of California-Berkeley 39

Mel Zischler* Principal Financial Group 38

Anthony Uzzardo Argonne National Laboratory 37

Glenn Traub City of Elgin, Ill. 36

Jim Von Eschen University of Wisconsin 36

Art Kapp Weber Marking Systems 35

Kenneth Baker City of Colorado Springs 34

Paul Molfino University of California-Santa Cruz 34

Ruth Myhre University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 34

Fred Kelley Cal Poly State University 33

Larry Lutz University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 32

Charles Mannino Fashion Institute of Technology 32

Ronnie Hooks* Lockheed Martin Energy Systems 31

Boyce Dillingham Marsh Supermarkets 31

West Barton* Brigham Young University 30

Dennis K. Daniels Mississippi State University 30

Frank Gennusa St.Tammany (La.) School Board 30

Bud Mundier University at Buffalo 30

Harry Smithson City of Virginia Beach, Va. 30

Bill Reem Anne Arundel (Md.) Community College 29

George Shaw Oregon State University 28

John Kleamis American Institute of Aeronautics 27

Roger Brownlee The Citadel 26

David Barrera University of Texas Health Science Center 25

Frank Davis University of Washington 25

Warren Fraser University of Alaska-Fairbanks 25

Harvey Hollier Louisiana State University 25

George Madsen University of Puget Sound 25

John Richards University of Utah 25

Jack Steinberg Lander University 25

* Former IPG Manager of the Year