At the October 14 Awards Dinner at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Tag and Label Manufacturer's Institute (TLMI), the winners of the TLMI Supplier of the Year and Converter of the Year awards were announced. The Annual Meeting took place October 12-15 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Hotel in Dana Point, CA.

Michelle Garza, vice president of operations at DantexRBCor, was named the 2014 TLMI Supplier of the Year. Presented on an annual basis, the Supplier of the Year Award honors and recognizes an individual for their ongoing volunteer service and dedication to TLMI, and to the greater industry. Garza has been active in the label industry for more than 25 years. In accepting the award, she thanked her father, as it was his company, RBCor, that she started working for in 1989. Her dad required her to work in accounting and she joked with him that this was not one of her strengths, however she did it anyway and that job was the beginning of what has been an established and successful industry career. As the company added product lines, she became product manager and in the five years before the company was sold to Dantex, she was at the helm as its president.

Art Yerecic, owner and president of Yerecic Label in New Kensington, PA, was names the 2014 TLMI Converter of the Year. In accepting the award, Yerecic thanked his family, Lean Manufacturing, Michelle Garza, Nick Van Alstine, TLMI president Frank Sablone, and Yerecic close friend and past TLMI chair Dave McDowell.

The 2014 Annual Meeting also served as the "swan song" for McDowell, the outgoing chair of TLMI. In thanking the association, and referencing his friend Yerecic, McDowell said, "TLMI is the only place that can bring together a Cowboys fan and a Steelers fan."

2014 Awards Competition Winners
Also at the Awards Dinner, the winners of the 37th Annual TLMI Label Awards Competition were announced. Twenty-three different member companies won for printing excellence in various categories.

Best of Class award winners are:

Digital: Multi-Color Corporation, Collotype Division, Digital Print Department – Freakshow

Offset – Wine & Spirits: Collotype Labels, USA – Pacific Rim Mystic Blend

Flexography & Letterpress:  TVC Label – Goliad Brewing Company Redfish IPA

Multi-Process:  ASL Print FX – Sunny and Share

Flexography – Wine & Spirits:  Collotype Labels, USA – Girl & Dragon

Other (Offset):  Hammer Packaging – Drink Blocks

Collotype Labels USA won the coveted Best of Show award for its Girl & Dragon label.

To view the Best of Class winners, check out L&NW's slideshow.

For complete online coverage of all the winners, click here. - See more at: http://www.labelandnarrowweb.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2014-10-21/tlmi-honors-michelle-garza-art-yerecic/#sthash.S1vpSMjG.dpuf