IADD NEWS
Bylaws Revisions Available for Review2008-2009 Election Results
Natalie Pepper Receives Presidential Award
Joe Adkison Selected for IADD Peak Award
Holliday receives IADD Lifetime Achievement Award
IADD Launches Marketplace Website
IADD Seeks Input on Best Practices
PROPOSED BYLAWS REVISIONS AVAILABLE FOR 30-DAY REVIEW
By unanimous motion, the IADD Board of Directors is proposing revisions to the bylaws of the association. Pursuant to Article XV, the changes—which are outlined in red in a downloadable PDF file [click on the link below]—have been emailed to all voting members at least 30 days prior to calling for a vote on these changes.
Many of the revisions are simply to clarify current practices and properly reflect existing membership categories. Several substantive revisions reflect the current environment in our industry and the association's changing needs. For example:
Article IV, Section 6: Relation of Members
Article VIII, Section 4: Election and Term of Service of Board of Directors
Article IX, Section 1: Officers
Article X, Section 3: Executive Committee
In light of the increase in mergers, acquisitions, alliances and other partnerships, the Board felt the need to better define the limit of control any one company or group of companies might have over the association's governance.
Article IX, Section 5: President
Members tend to work in our industry for many years, beginning at an early age, and in many different capacities. A person may now be elected to serve as president for more than one (non-consecutive) term.
Article IX, Section 7: Secretary/Treasurer
As has always been the practice, this position may now only be held by one person.
Article IX, Section 8: Vice Presidents
Reflecting the association's needs, these positions may now represent functional areas or other purposes in addition to representing geographic regions.
If you have any questions about these changes, please refer them to CEO Cindy Crouse at cccrouse@iadd.org.
IADD Voting Members will receive a ballot to vote on these bylaws on or after Friday, August 22, 2008.
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Click here to download complete bylaws with revisions |
IADD 2008-2009 Election Results
Following is the list of Officers and Directors who will serve as your IADD Board beginning September 21, 2008:
| Joe Adkison - President | Greg Zimmer - President-Elect | Natalie Pepper - Secretary/Treasurer |
| Andrew Carey - VP Region 1 | Peter Witzig - VP Region 2 | Rick Putch - VP Region 3 |
| Rex Williams - VP Region 4 | Kevin Carey - VP Region 5 | Eric Anderson - VP Region 6 |
| Derrick Ames - Director | Jim Cincinello - Director | Steve Gore - Director |
| Tim Gray - Director | Darrel Griffin - Director | Keven Koelsch - Director |
| Simon Lile - Director | Kim Morovec - Director | David Reynolds - Director |
| Kenneth Smott - Director | Mauro Tomelleri - Director | Sam Vial - Director |
| Dan Johnson - Immediate Past President |
Natalie Pepper receives 2008 IADD Presidential Award
Each year the IADD President is afforded the opportunity to present a deserving candidate with a special award. Calling it “an honor and a privilege,” IADD President Joe Adkison of Adko, Inc., Fort Smith, AR, USA thought long and hard about the criteria he would use to choose a deserving candidate to receive the 2008 Presidential Award.
His search for a person “whose actions and deeds set them on a high plateau, apart from the mainstream and above the others” led him to Natalie Pepper of Pace Punches, Irvine, CA, USA. She received the award in front of an appreciative crowd at the IADD Midyear Leadership Conference in Clearwater Beach, FL.
Adkison explains that while the IADD is fortunate to have many hard working and supportive members, once he fine-tuned the criteria, his choice was made easy. His ideal candidate was “someone who has been active in our Association, demonstrating a sustained willingness to learn, share, and lead. One who accepts a project and turns it into a shared event, teaching others with an obvious passion. Someone whose name is synonymous with personality, energy, friendliness, helpfulness, determination, and dependability. That someone is Natalie Pepper.
To understand how she came to possess all of these traits, it is important to “look to the tree.” Natalie is the youngest of four siblings born to Madeline and Ed Pepper, well-known leaders who helped build our industry. Adkison says, “Their company has participated in IADD functions for longer than I can remember. From over 25 years ago when I joined the IADD, I have called on them many times. Natalie learned how to become dependable from her strong, dependable family.”
In 1978, when Natalie was 8 years old, her father Ed started Pace Punches, Inc. On weekends her brothers, sister and she would go to work with her dad and help out by putting springs in punches, filing, and trying hard not to get in dad’s hair. Natalie admits, “Hands down, my parents were—and still are—my biggest role models. At a very young age I can remember both my parents working long hours, and yet they would always make the time to attend any activities my siblings and I would have on the weekends. They taught us what a work ethic is all about and the rewards to be gained by working hard.” Eventually she left for college, but would always come home during breaks and help out with the company. She graduated in 1993 and started working full time at Pace.
“Two of the biggest challenges for me in our industry were that I started out very young and very green with no real selling experience under my belt. Also, being in a male-dominated industry meant I would have to go above and beyond in my knowledge and determination to do well.” However, Pepper soon found that listening to everyday business conversations over dinner while growing up had given her a natural edge. When called on to bring in new ideas to the company, she did just that. She found new and different lines to sell with the reasoning that if you make a sales call, why not sell several quality items in addition to your own products on the same sales call? This gave Pepper a chance to move about the industry, ask questions, learn and grow, gaining confidence and the desire to climb even higher.
She also learned a lot about service and loyalty. “Our company motto has been something my dad has instilled in us since the beginning: never forget where you came from, or the help you had along the way. He started out in a two-man shop that has grown into a successful business. If it were not for customers giving him a chance, we would not be here today. It is very important to us as a company to do whatever it takes and go the extra mile for our customers. We don’t stop working because the whistle blows at 5:00pm. If things still need to get done before the next day arrives, our employees are willing to stay and do whatever it takes without a complaint. We are very fortunate to have such dedicated employees who see the benefits of working as a team to allow our company continued success.”
Another natural for Pepper was her involvement in the IADD. She explains with a touch of humor, “My parents were involved in the IADD back when it was the National Association of Diemakers and Diecutters (NADD). From the time I was 10, I can remember them attending the national meetings, mainly because they always occurred on my birthday and I wasn’t very happy about it! They really enjoy the friendships they developed and would look forward to meeting up with everyone from around the country.”
As time passed and she began working full time with Pace Punches, she started to attend local chapter meetings. Her brother Craig was the local Chapter Secretary/Treasurer, and she would help him out with planning, marketing, and the meeting logistics. In this way she became familiar with how the Chapters were run. Soon after she began attending some of the IADD midyear and annual meetings and became friends with different people in our industry.
Not long after, when Craig moved to the IADD Board, Natalie was elected Chapter Secretary/Treasurer and ultimately Chapter Chair, where she demonstrated her leadership abilities by taking a strong chapter to even greater heights. Adkison elaborates, “Natalie is a popular leader who works tirelessly, using good judgment, excellent people skills, and a sense of humor. She built a team of Chapter officers who worked well together to break previously high attendance records and to bring quality technical education on a wide variety of creative topics.”
Following in her brother's footsteps, she become a Director on the IADD Board and currently she serves as IADD’s Secretary/Treasurer, the first woman to hold an officer position for the international association. She also chairs the Finance Committee and serves on several task forces. “Whenever I call on her to further serve our association, her answer is always ’YES, show me what you need and I’ll do my very best,” says Adkison. “She chaired our most recent Annual Meeting Task Force, putting together and mentoring a very young group of our future leaders who not only planned our program topics, but participated in very visible ways. Natalie taught them how to network, and she used her theatrical talents to capture the audience’s attention in a series of educational, but hilarious skits.” Numerous compliments on the programs at the Vancouver meeting highlighted Natalie’s ability to bring a freshness and new approach to the experience.
Pepper says, “My participation has not only helped me grow on a business level, but on a personal level as well. The IADD has given me the opportunity to challenge myself and be able to contribute my own ideas to the industry as well as learn from them. I have developed working relationships as well as personal relationships with a lot of members whom I know I can count on for advice and knowledge whenever I need it.” She continues to support the IADD by promoting membership to customers and through her attendance at international, national, and local Chapter meetings. She feels, “The more people who join and get involved in our association, the more ideas and knowledge we can bring as a whole to make our industry stronger. The exchange of ideas is what brings innovations to the table and helps make them become reality.”
In presenting the award, Adkison said simply, “I believe in Natalie. I can depend on her. I appreciate her service to the industry and to the IADD. Her positive “can do” attitude and creativity are things that we can all look forward to. I believe that she will see to that.”
Congratulations to Natalie Pepper, 2008 Presidential Award recipient.
Joe Adkison Receives IADD PEAK Award
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| PEAK Award Recipient Joe Adkison |
When Joe Adkison steps up to fill a need, he succeeds because of his ability to get people to step up with him. He encourages new leaders through tireless mentoring. He draws involvement by emphasizing its win/win return. He leads others to consensus and solutions with unflagging humor, optimism, and tenacity.
It all boils down to “leading by needing.” Adkison moves people forward by helping them see their role and purpose – an approach that has elevated his company, the IADD, and the diecutting/diemaking industry, to new heights. For his significant achievements, Adkison, president of ADKO Inc. and president-elect of the IADD, is honored with the 2007 IADD PEAK Award, which recognizes the most positive impact on the industry in recent times through demonstrated Passion, Excellence, Achievement, and Knowledge (PEAK). “He is a great example of how the IADD can make each of us better and how one person can make the IADD better,” says Clint Medlock, president of Stafford Cutting Dies and IADD secretary-treasurer, as well as one of Adkison’s nominators for the award.
As chairman of the highly successful 2007 FSEA IADD Odyssey trade exposition, Adkison put his leadership philosophy in action during a banquet speech at the event. Determined to demonstrate “that the Odyssey worked because everyone did what they were supposed to do,” Adkison began by thanking specific individuals and asking them to stand: his wife Dee, IADD CEO Cindy Crouse, and Odyssey committee members. With audience murmurs building, he thanked all the Odyssey program presenters, show booth workers, and attendees, and asked them to stand. As laughter crescendoed, he crowned his recognition efforts by thanking everyone else attending the banquet that evening, and asking them to stand. Seeing the entire audience on its feet, “I felt sheer joy in getting everyone to understand they were all a part of it,” Adkison relates.
The Mentoring Effect
Influential mentors and opportunities borne of enthusiasm for sharing his own knowledge have peppered Adkison’s entire career path, and were a major factor behind his progression to owner of ADKO, a Fort Smith, Ark.-based manufacturer of laser-cut steel rule cutting dies and photopolymer printing plates, opened with partner Dick Appleton 25 years ago in 1982.
Adkison’s commitment to mentoring has deepened along with his experience, driven by his desire to pay forward the many gifts of knowledge he received – and his strong belief in teaching’s significance in the overall betterment of the industry. “I hope that my easy- going nature will spread around a little and we can all live out the “get by giving” slogan,” he says. “I’m ready to share myself and my experiences . . . just as all of my predecessors have done with me in the past.”
Adkison’s mentoring zeal is most intensely directed toward newer, younger members of the IADD, particularly at the local chapter level. “He’s tirelessly committed to bringing younger people into the organization, which actually makes it harder for him,” notes Eddie Mucci Jr., general manager of National Steel Rule Co. and IADD immediate past president.
During his tenures as IADD’s vice president and incoming president-elect, Adkison immersed himself in jump-starting grassroots activity, showing newer members the ropes and cheering on their contributions. “The strength of the chapters comes from mentoring,” he states. “New guys need to know someone is with them. It gives them courage to try new ideas.” He was gratified to see his efforts rewarded with a return to more frequent chapter meetings.
Taking Action, Getting Involvement
Anyone approached by Joe Adkison with a request for involvement speaks of the experience as if they have fallen under a spell to serve Adkison’s cause.
Thinking back on Adkison’s convincing pitch to participate in a skit at IADD’s annual meeting in Mobile, Ala., Derrick Ames, president of Die Supply Guys and an IADD director, says, “Believe me, it’s not easy to get me involved … and Joe did!” Ames, who also nominated Adkison for the PEAK Award, adds, “There’s the old saying, ‘You get out of something what you put into it.’ Well, Joe makes it easier for you to put more in.” Ames credits Adkison with motivating and easing him through difficult tasks, such as public speaking, by making challenges fun.
“Joe has the ability to get people to want to do things for him,” confirms Mucci Jr. of National Steel Rule Co. He describes Adkison as “relentless, but always with a velvet glove. No one can say no to Joe!”
It may seem like magical persuasion, but Adkison’s formula for moving people to action comes down to demonstrating his own willingness to act. “I do believe that I have a knack for motivating people and leaning them my way, because I am searching for a win/win situation,” he says. “I believe [people] trust me to help them. In return I believe that they will help me or the IADD when called on.”
Tackling the Tough Stuff
In his service to the IADD, Adkison consistently conquers challenges others typically shy away from, removing barriers he encounters with steady optimism, humor and resolve.
“The projects Joe has worked on are not those that you work on for a few minutes and put away,” says Medlock of Stafford Cutting Dies. One example he recalls is Adkison’s daunting job as chair of a task force charged with rewriting IADD’s Trade Practices. “The Board of Directors was a tough audience,” Medlock relates. “It would chew up his latest revision and spit it right back at him. But Joe never gave up, and got it where it needed to be.” It was this inspiring level of commitment that prompted Medlock to honor Adkison with the IADD President’s Award in 2003.
As the IADD’s next president, Adkison assumes yet another set of significant service responsibilities that will require sacrifices on the personal and business fronts. True to his “leading by needing” approach, Adkison sat down with his partner, Dick Appleton, and Lee J. Hardcastle, ADKO’s plant manager, to explain the commitment inherent to the president’s role, including potential impact on the business, and ensure that he had their buy-in to proceed.
And so, as Adkison again steps up to lead, his colleagues will step up with him. “They told me, ‘Go for it. We’re behind you,’” Adkison says. These words are by now a familiar response to this accomplished, gentle motivator’s call to continually better the industry.
Holliday receives IADD Lifetime Achievement Award
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| Ken Holliday |
Tonight it is my privilege to present the 2007 IADD Lifetime Achievement Award to Ken Holliday, Chairman of Atlas Die LLC.
It has recently become a tradition to present our most prestigious award here at Odyssey. But this year has special meaning to not just our membership, but to all of you as well. Let me tell you why. Most of you know that Odyssey was a dream of one of our past IADD presidents Clint Medlock. Clint shared with me that when he first discussed the idea of Odyssey with Kenny, Ken was very excited about it and encouraged him to take it to the board of directors. When the board asked Clint to run with it, he knew it would only be possible with Kenny’s leadership. In Clint’s words “Kenny made the first Odyssey a reality. I was just his helper wanting to support my greatest mentor”.
Kens career started in 1964 at Carolina Steel Rule Die. His brother Larry was employed there and mentioned to Ken that they were looking for someone to go into sales but they didn’t know if they could afford it. So they agreed to try it for 1 month. Ken went on to work in sales there for 12 years. His starting wage was $80.00 per week, plus draw. When Ken started new dies were .15 cents per inch and reknifes were .10 cents per inch. Ken would at times put on 400-500 miles a day. He would do what he called milk runs on the weekends. Ken enjoyed the excitement of picking it up / getting it done / and then delivering it. Ken brought growth to Carolina Steel Rule, which was evident with a new building and the purchasing of the latest equipment.
In 1975 George Dooley, owner of Carolina Steel Rule Die, signed Ken up as an associate member of the IADD and allowed him to go to an annual meeting, and the rest is history. Ken said the networking was great; everyone was there to help make things better. Ken was excited to be there and participated in as much as he could while having fun doing it. He shared with me one of the phrases his good friend Rex Williams always said, “If we can’t have fun doing this we should just go home” During Herb Welch’s presidency he saw how much Herb enjoyed that leadership position, and when asked by Ron Ballard to serve on the board; it never entered his mind that he would someday serve as president which he did from 1999-2001.
Ken enjoyed setting goals for the association, as well as seeing that they were achieved, but reminded me that many of the association’s achievements can be attributed to Cindy Crouse; she is an excellent leader. Ken was also instrumental in starting the IADD Chapter of the South and has been a frequent author and presenter as well. As stated by one of his nominators, “Ken Holliday is a most remarkable person who embodies the essence of what the IADD is all about.”
Introducing IADD Marketplace ... THE place to buy and sell used or surplus converting equipment and supplies
Want to turn your used equipment into cash? Need to clear out surplus supplies? Looking for bargains on used machinery, materials and supplies? Visit the IADD Marketplace, an industry-specific, online warehouse featuring diemaking and diecutting presses, equipment and supplies.
IADD members place ads which can be viewed 24/7 by the entire industry. Ads include descriptions, price, seller contact, shipping information and payment details. All ads are searchable by keyword, and can be listed by category, seller, most recent or most viewed.
Potential buyers contact sellers directly to complete the transaction. It’s quick, easy and cost effective. To visit the Marketplace website, Click HERE.
IADD Seeks Your Input on Best Practices
One goal of the IADD is to develop specifications, standards and best practices which encourage quality and accuracy in all phases of the diecutting and diemaking processes. On April 3, 2003, the IADD Board of Directors adopted Best Practices as a guide to be used throughout the industry. (Click HERE to read/print the Best Practices in a new browser window.)
If you have suggestions for future revisions to this document, please direct your comments, concerns or suggestions to Cindy Crouse or fax to 1-815-455-7510.