July 19th marked the 27th anniversary with my former employer. Originally known as CSI Corporation, the company was my first full time job. When I started, I made $4.00/hour sweeping the floors and undercutting steel rolls on a small engine lathe. The shop was dirty and noisy, with cobbled together equipment. We had one used industrial CO2 laser that the owner had pieced together with some other old equipment in order to engrave holes in anilox rolls, an idea he patented along with an early doctor blade system.
Jerry had a lot of ideas so it was always interesting to see what he would come up with next. If someone said "it couldn't be done', then he set out to prove them wrong. We turned an old stake body Chevy 1 ton dually truck into a motorhome complete with bathroom facilities, kitchen and bedroom. We took a 7 1/2 foot Western snow plow onto the front of a 2 door Oldsmobile Toronado (and it plowed better than the old truck ever did). It is too bad that not all of his ideas worked out so well.
Our computer system in those days used punch cards to input data, assuming a mouse (little rodent - not the electronic type) didn't get stuck in the machine. The disk drives were as large as washing machines with disks as large as small car tires. When we upgraded equipment, the old computer system and all of its components took up the better part of a semi trailer. It is hard to imagine that my cell phone has thousands of times as much computing power as all of that equipment combined.
During my tenure, I grew from a high school student to an MBA graduate. I worked in maintenance, shipping & receiving, production, quality assurance, technical support, marketing, as well as anilox (and now also engineered coating) sales. I got married (with a silver anniversary rapidly approaching for that as well). Our children grew, the oldest of which is also married.
You might say I have developed something of a name in the flexo industry. I was thrilled to receive a Flexo Magazine Author's award and honored by receiving the FTA President's award.
My work in the industry is extremely rewarding and I am proud of my accomplishments and accalaids that have resulted.
But far beyond that, I am proud of the people I have worked with and served. Many of my best friends are colleagues, coworkers and customers. I have been very blessed these many years to have the opportunity to help other people be more successful. I know I have benefitted far beyond my ability to express from the help and support and interaction I have received along the way.
Who knows what the next 27 years will bring? Based on the last 27, all I can say is 'hold on tight. It's going to be a heck of a ride".
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