I was born in Johnson City, NY, but grew up in Clark Summit, PA, small town America. It was a great place to grow up. I was one of 5 siblings and the only boy (lots of estrogen in my house growing up)! My father traveled for a living throughout the US and Europe, so I was man of the house very early on.
I played baseball, football, and volleyball in high school and repaired cars in my spare time; there was always a job to do. I was curious about how things worked and took every opportunity to take things apart to put them back together again; I repaired our riding lawn mower at age 12.
I attended Harper Junior College in Arlington Heights, and then went to Western Illinois University, where I studied communication arts and sciences...and played more football. I was an RA (resident assistant) for 2.5 years.
I was originally interested in the broadcasting industry, until my first summer at Western IL University when I was offered a paid internship at Barrington Press in Barrington IL. That is where I fell in love with the creative intensity of the printing industry. I was fascinated, and at the end of that experience I had completed an apprenticeship in prepress and bindery operations. I was hooked.
Over the next 30 years, and a brief foray of owning my own successful business, printing was in my blood. I made it my business to learn every aspect of the printing industry and started on the shop floor from pre-press and bindery. In 1985 I moved off the shop floor into Estimating, learning the business from all perspectives, with an emphasis on the sales and marketing areas.
At one point in my career, as a customer service manager, I was assigned over 45 publishers and was plant manager for 6 years. Later, during my 17 years with Wilcox Press/Vanguard Printing I again experienced the gamut of printing industry skills.
Eventually, after helping that company come up with streamlined software, I focused myself on what I viewed as the future of printing: technology and software. Before joining Avanti, I had the opportunity to work with Hiflex NA, a German-owned designer of MIS systems. I was now at the cutting edge of where I believed was the future of printing - the synergy between technology and print-based media.
I was given a vision of what JDF technology can do for our industry. Everything I had honed within myself, my experiences, my abilities, were tested and fine-tuned. It was a rush. Hiflex, however, could not respond to customers’ demands in the US market. When I was presented with the opportunity to work for Avanti in April 2011, I saw how innovative Avanti was in so many more areas. I saw how a team of people could move forward in this demanding market, creating a product to meet (and exceed) customers’ expectations. And where I could thrive.
In my spare time, I test databases (ha ha, just kidding). I spend time with my significant other, Amy Voss Dolce. I enjoy photograpy and playing golf. I'm a fan of 60’s and 70’s classic rock, Harley Davidson motorcycles, football (go Bears!), woodworking, fishing, swimming and doing volunteer work. I love to vacation in the warm and tropical!
One thing I am most proud of is raising two talented intelligent step-kids, Zach and Taylor, both of whom are now in college. The last movie I saw was The Wolf of Wall Street, though I am a sci-fi fan and am looking forward to the holiday movie season this year. The book I am reading now is The Virgin Way: Everything I know about Leadership, by Richard Branson.
I see the printing industry as being a hybrid of traditional print practices and technology, with Digital leading in the future. However, there will always be a need for web presses, sheet fed, label, packaging, and wide format industries. And, with our industry becoming more immediate and on-demand, printing companies wishing to stay profitable need to redefine themselves and have diversified offerings to the new customers of the 21st century.
And yes, a little known fact about me is that I'm not too shabby in the kitchen. I cook a mean chili which has won multiple cook-offs.
