The third annual induction of new honorees to the New Jersey Packaging Executives Club Hall of Fame was held on May 19 at The Manor in West Orange, NJ. More than two hundred packaging industry executives gathered to congratulate the six 2005 inductees: Joe Norton of O. Berk Company for purchasing; Gary Korba of Estée Lauder Companies and MG New York for package development; Holly Young of Hirschhorn & Young for entrepreneur; Peter DeGaetano of Topline Products Company for sales; and for lifetime achievement both Bruce Doll and Paul McDonald.

The NJPEC is committed to help build the packaging industry of the future by supporting education through scholarships. “Vince Brady of Brad-Pak, one of the 2004 inductees into the Hall of Fame, committed to a $5,000 per year scholarship in honor of his daughter, Kathleen Zito, who passed away suddenly two years ago,” commented Ron Cataldo, former president and trustee of the NJPEC. “We have been approached by two other individuals, who have begun discussions to provide similar funding. And, we want to encourage everyone with an interest in education and the packaging industry to consider pledging an annual gift to our general scholarship fund,” Cataldo stressed.

This year’s Hall of Fame event raised $1400 for the organization’s scholarship fund. Over the past 20 years, the NJPEC’s Hall of Fame dinner, The Golf Outing, and other business and social events have raised an incredible $500,000 in scholarships. “Our goal is to match that over the next seven years,” promised Cataldo.

A Purchasing Career Started by Chance

Joseph Norton

Honored for his achievements in purchasing by NJPEC, Joseph Norton’s journey to the packaging industry happened quite by accident. A business management graduate from Seton Hall University, he first held positions with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United Parcel Services.

Norton stumbled upon the packaging industry in 1967 when Glamorene Products Corporation hired him as traffic manager. “Truthfully, I was looking for a job. In those days, you went to employment agencies and that’s how I landed at Glamorene,” he said.

Even though he had no prior experience with packaging, his trucking background with UPS suited the position well. A household cleaning products company, Glamorene introduced Norton to the world of packaging. Norton went on to become purchasing director and then director of materials management at Glamorene.

From Glamorene, Norton went to O.BERK, his home base for the last 27 years. He was hired as director of purchasing and became operations manager in 1985. Norton is now the vice president of operations, a position he’s held since 1990. His current responsibilities include handling purchasing, inventory control, warehousing, distribution and trucking.

In his 27 years at O.BERK, Norton counts as his biggest accomplishment the successful integration of four acquired companies over the last 25 years: J. Rabinowitz & Sons, Feldman Glass, Great Age Container and Greenfield Packaging. The main challenge for Norton was integrating inventories, suppliers and vendors, he said.

Consolidation has made the biggest difference over his career, according to Norton. “The biggest change in the industry is the number of vendors and manufacturers. The manufacturing base has shrunk in plastic and glass. There’s been a lot of mergers,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve seen in the last five or ten years, occurring very slowly.”

Starting Over on the Other Side

Marlyse and Gary Korba

Gary Korba was welcomed into the NJPEC Hall of Fame for his package development achievements earned during a 30-plus year career in beauty packaging. This spring, Korba could have retired from the Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), where he most recently served as vice president of Creative Global Packaging for BeautyBank, Stila, Rodan/Fields and Corporate Innovations, but slowing down isn’t part of his plans. Instead, Korba is choosing to start over on the other side of the desk as a supplier to the beauty business by taking on a new challenge with his wife, Marlyse Gros-Korba. Together, they are the principals of MG New York. “We met through the industry and were married in May 2004,” he said. “Marlyse is from the supply side and I am from the marketer side. We make a great team with complimentary strengths.”

He certainly has the experience. Starting in 1971 at Hazel Bishop in packaging/purchasing and materials management, where he worked for two years, Korba has always valued relationships with suppliers. In 1973, he moved to Revlon, where mentors John Bosworth and Marty Fox continued his packaging education. He remained with Revlon for six years, eventually moving into New York City and becoming responsible for all the company’s secondary packaging.

Seeking a position with a broader scope, Korba joined ELC in 1979 as packaging manager for the Aramis brand, with responsibility for all packaging components-primary and secondary. “I used the same entrepreneurial approach I had in the past. I used the expertise of the supply base to find out what was possible. From there, I found a lot of great opportunities.”

Korba’s role expanded with the addition of promotions and skincare packaging for the Estée Lauder brand, as well as merchandising. He said, “Then, we launched Origins in 1990 and its packaging development responsibility was added. It was fun creating something from start-up.”

During the next ten years, Korba’s packaging responsibilities grew to include: the Estée Lauder brand as well as Aramis, Clinique, Prescriptives and Origins; all packaging development on a global basis (established packaging teams in Japan and France; and packaging for the “rule-breaking brands” of Bobbi Brown, Aveda, M•A•C and Stila).

In 2000, Korba was named vice president of Creative Global Packaging for Innovation, and charged with developing innovative packaging for all 22 ELC brands. In 2004, he added the launch of the BeautyBank brands: American Beauty, Goodskin, Flirt and Grassroots to his responsibilities. Until the time Korba left ELC on April 29, he also retained responsibility for the package development in Japan, and the brands Rodan/Fields, BeautyBank and Stila.

Korba dove into MG New York, based in New York City, on May 1. The new business offers bags, cases, accessories, and fabric and metal compacts-all high quality items-that marry well with high fashion. He’s excited and optimistic about MG New York, saying, “Small companies can serve a particular niche with emphasis on service, quality and responsiveness without the red tape of larger firms. You must choose controlled growth and know your strengths. You need to build relationships with supply sources that can provide the highest quality products and services.”

Korba stated that he believes in the Four P’s-people, passion, packaging and partners. It’s certain that his latest endeavor includes all four.

From ‘Gal Friday’ to CEO, the Old Fashioned Way

Holly Young

Recognized for achievement as an entrepreneur, Holly Young started her career in the packaging industry in 1970 with a short stay at a small studio that worked with Avon on comps for packaging. Next came a position at Roy Horton Studio, where Young started as “Gal Friday,” and learned to make mechanicals the “old fashioned way” with a t-square, ink and a drawing pen. Over the next few years, she became a board artist and typesetter, also learning hot stamping and air brushing for comps. Within six years, she was running the studio, where she worked a total of eight years.

A period of freelancing followed during which, Young met Beverly Hirschhorn, who was running a small, one-woman studio where the packaging clients included Clinique, Aramis, Prescriptives and Helena Rubenstein.

Young joined Hirschhorn and worked there for three years before taking a seven-year sabbatical to raise a family. When she returned in 1989, it was as studio manager. The staff increased from three to seven and the company made its first move to larger quarters, while the computer began the takeover that would revolutionize typesetting and package design.

Due to health problems, Hirschhorn transferred more responsibilities to Young, and she was soon named partner in the studio. The company became Hirschhorn & Young (H&Y).

Young also worked with David Steinberg to write, publish and sell an OTC Handbook for Labeling of cosmetic-drug products based on the new labeling monograph for OTC drugs in 1999. She also held seminars and classes on the topic from 2000 to 2003.

H&Y continued to grow and now occupies two floors with a staff of more than 70 dedicated professionals. Young’s role in the company has evolved from “actually doing the artwork and talking directly to clients daily,” to the position of president and chief executive. Her favorite part of the job is “solving our clients’ packaging issues,” she said. “And the best part of THAT is working with my staff, who are brilliant and care so much about the best ways to help our clients.”

Young is proudest of the growth of H&Y, both in size and stature. “I love watching my staff change, grow, learn and better themselves and the studio through their caring, ideas and energy.”

Managing the ebb and flow of the packaging industry is the greatest challenge, according to Young. “The ability to grow without over-expanding and managing to be ready to handle whatever our clients need is a critical balancing strategy,” she explained.

Young added that the biggest changes involve the overall time to market expectation. Computerization and advanced communications have cut the time everything takes to “a mere fraction of what it used to be when we did the production art by hand.” And, the demand for a “global” package, which fits all markets, is a huge change that was not even conceivable ten years ago.

Packaging Is a Family Tradition

Peter DeGaetano

Beauty packaging is in Peter DeGaetano’s blood. His parents-Arthur and Nancy-met at Chanel 65 years ago. His younger brother Arthur has held positions with various brand marketers and now owns a package development company. So for Peter DeGaetano, who has been in the packaging industry for 33 years and was inducted into the NJPEC Hall of Fame for sales achievement, this career was a natural fit.

DeGaetano received a bachelor’s in economics and finance in 1968 from Sienna College, Albany, NY. At the age of 25, he was hired as sales manager of Corona Plastics in Denville, NJ. DeGaetano was later promoted to vice president of sales and marketing before leaving for LIR Henlopen.

“The reason I left Corona Plastics was because LIR Henlopen gave me greater exposure to the domestic as well as the international market. I was hired as senior vice president of sales and marketing and was there for seven years.”

DeGaetano landed next at Risdon, where the company had opened a new facility in Somerset, NJ. He spent seven years as vice president of sales and marketing before moving on to Cultech in Edison, NJ. The move to Cultech enabled DeGaetano to learn about a different packaging segment. “This was the first time in my career that I went away from plastics and metal to board. It was strictly folding cartons, but the clientele was the same,” said DeGaetano.

As he had done in the past, DeGaetano was instrumental in growing the business at Cultech during his tenure. He remained there until about a year ago, when he was approached by plastic components manufacturer Topline Products Co. DeGaetano is now responsible for sales, marketing and some operations work at Topline.

DeGaetano counts his work history as an asset to the success he’s seen during his career. “The real key to success for anybody is (that) you have to work for good companies. I have been very fortunate in my career to work for good companies that have the talent to back me up and the creativity to do what we’ve done. We’ve put a lot of interesting, unique packages on the marketplace,” he said.

A Lifetime of Service

Bruce Doll

Inducted into the Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement, Bruce Doll was 79 years old when he retired last year. After serving as a Merchant Marine upon high school graduation, Doll went on to serve the packaging industry for 55 years.

Doll’s packaging career began in 1949, when he took a job as a clerk for corrugated box company William Fitzugh in Brooklyn, NY. Doll eventually became a salesperson and was with that organization until 1978. He saw the company change to New Haven Board and Carton, and then change again to Simkins. He also continued with the organization when it relocated from Brooklyn to West Hempstead, NY in 1954.

In 1978, Doll left what was then known as Simkins to pursue his career as a broker. Corrugated boxes remained his specialty and he worked with the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Some of his larger clients were Pfizer and Coty.

Doll counts his expertise about corrugated boxes as his biggest career accomplishment. “I was very knowledgeable about the product I sold. I knew more about the boxes than my competition,” stated Doll. “When people saw how much I knew about boxes, they didn’t have to worry about anything. They said you make it and we’ll ship it.”

He offers similar advice to salespersons that are just starting out in the packaging industry. “Know the product you are selling. Get to know it intimately and completely-what it can do, what it can’t do, how it can benefit the people that you are selling to.”

Hard Work and Loyalty Serves Well Anywhere

Paul McDonald

Paul McDonald, a packaging executive who spent time on both sides of the desk during his 34-year career, was recognized in the Lifetime Achievement category.

McDonald began his packaging life in 1962 after serving in the U.S. Navy, when he joined Chemway Corp. (a company longer in existence), as a packaging buyer for its personal care and pharmaceutical products businesses.

Yardley of London was next, as McDonald took a position there as a buyer in 1969 and expanded his area to include point-of-purchase displays as well as folding cartons and labels. He moved on quickly to the MEM Company in 1970, starting as assistant manager of purchasing. By the time he left the company in 1985, he was the director of package development, responsible for the development and sourcing for all packaging.

In 1985, McDonald was offered a position in sales by Hamden Papers, Holyoke, MA. His 18-years of buying experience for brand marketer companies served McDonald well as he moved to the supplier side of the business. When he retired in 1996, he was regional sales manager for Hampden, and passed that position on to Greg Olah, who remains a close friend along with Bob Fitzgerald, who is the vice president of sales for Hampden. McDonald reminisced, “I’ve known Bob a long time, since I helped him get an appointment with Fabrege. We’ve been friends ever since and he taught me a lot. So did Greg and he’s younger than I am.”

For his favorite aspect of packaging, McDonald answered, “The cosmetic industry is full of great people. I enjoyed meeting new people and working with them on new lines. It was very exciting to pull projects together and fun to take customers on plant tours.”

Today’s cosmetic packaging industry has a much faster pace and much more pressure, according to McDonald. “Today, there’s not enough time to build relationships and get to really know your customers.”

McDonald’s advice for those starting out in packaging is good counsel for anyone. “Buckle down, work hard, be honest and be loyal,” he stressed. “Most of all, be loyal.”