Mother Nature —Polischuk
The Tag and Label Manufacturer’s Institute (TLMI) held its annual meeting last month in the picturesque setting of The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. The annual meeting is always a highlight affair, mixing excellent presentations with a tabletop reception, business meetings, and a formal banquet.
TLMI Chairman John Hickey of Smyth -Companies and Meeting Chair Dan O’Connell of UPM -Raflatac worked the presentations around the theme, -“Celebrating Our Legacy and Meeting the Challenges of Our Future.” Sustainability and the environment were the focus of several of the sessions including, “A Contract With Our Future” by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and “Forever Green” by Chuck Leavell.
Kennedy provided an engrossing 90-minute talk beginning with his early involvement in Riverkeeper, an environmental advocacy group that monitors the Hudson River ecosystem. As a long-time environmental activist, his passion for the topic was evident as he covered a wide range of topics including politics, economics, energy policy, journalism, and even religion as they each relate to the environment and the responsibility of businesses to sustain it.
Kennedy’s message was wrapped around what he said is his firm belief in free-market capitalism. What needs to occur is that businesses should bear the true costs of their overall production. When government policy subsidizes industries or allows industries to transfer environmental costs to the public sector, then competition and the development of new technologies suffer.
Leavell provided an uplifting ending to the four-day meeting with his presentation on conservation and forest management. He is a conservationist and author of Forever Green: The History and Hope of the American -Forest.
Leavell is better known for his keyboard/piano music and his association with The Rolling Stones. In his presentation, he provided a first-hand view of the personalities and talents of each of The Rolling Stones. In each case, he emphasized the talents and passion that each had for music. Leavell ended each personal view with the acknowledgment that each member of The -Rolling Stones could have been highly successful as a single performer on his own stage, but each had a synergistic commitment to the group that has made The Rolling Stones the premier rock group it will always be. His message was clear: there is tremendous opportunity for long-term success when industry works together with its raw materials suppliers for mutual benefit.
Tom Polischuk, Editor-in-Chief
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