Innovation Vaults Veterans to the Forefront

BFL&S' 1999 inductees breathe life into the industry

By Jamie Heckleman

In terms of the size of the companies they run, this year's Business Forms, Labels & Systems Hall of Fame inductees represent the industry spectrum: from a total of three employees to nearly 100. All three men, however, share similar vision, leadership skills and innovation.

Rather than struggling with a maturing industry, these men have risen to the top of their field by offering value-added services, superior customer service and technological expertise.

This year's inductees, nominated by existing Hall of Fame members based on the merit of contributions to the business forms industry, respect of his or her peers and focus on quality or innovation, are Geoff Nichols, president of PSE Data Products in Hayward, Calif.; Peter Mattson, president of MHC Companies in Burnsville, Minn.; and Alastair Currie, owner of Abbey Business Products in Etobicoke, Ontario.

Moving With the Times

What motivates Alastair Currie, owner of Abbey Business Products in Etobicoke, Ontario, to continue to invest his time and resources in what has been labeled a ‘maturing industry'? The answer is simple.

Currie, a Certified Sales Professional, knows that one doesn't invest his professional life into an industry, just to drop it like a hot potato when it begins to change. Instead, he believes in building a successful career by embracing those changes, and making them work for him rather than against him.

"You have to embrace industry changes rather than put your head in the sand," said Currie. "As customers' needs change, you must change with them."

Success Through Strategic Decisions

"I don't believe we are in a dying industry," said Geoff Nichols, president of PSE Data Products in Hayward, Calif., "but those who don't evolve, expand and change with the industry will die."

For Nichols, who heads an operation of 42 employees, success is the result of two, long-term, strategic decisions: embrace print and communications technology and diversify the company's emphasis away from products and toward services.