Foundation for Packaging Education

The Board of Directors of AICC, The Independent Packaging Association, has created its second nonprofit, 501 (c)(3), the Foundation for Packaging Education. This educational endowment will support the development and distribution of employee education and training resources for the workforce in the corrugated, folding carton, rigid box, and related supply chain industries.

Workforce development is critical to the success of the industry. Dick Troll, AICC’s first Executive Director, once famously remarked that “You have people running a million-dollar flexo who you wouldn’t let drive your car!” Education and training were his passion. He always said that every worker deserves a chance to better themselves, and not just for their job performance. Their dignity and self-respect mattered more. Dick’s passion led AICC into the forefront of industry training and education for all levels of employees.

The Foundation for Packaging Education will serve as a complement to AICC’s other education foundation, the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation, which focuses on bringing talent to the industry from 2 and 4 year collegiate level programs.

Joseph M. Palmeri, President, Corrugated Packaging, Jamestown Container Companies, and Vice-Chair of The Foundation for Packaging Education, said, “The Foundation for Packaging Education fills the funding void regarding the ongoing training and education for employees already in the industry. As a founding member of AICC, Jamestown Container has always supported and will continue to support the work AICC does for independents in the corrugated, folding carton, and rigid box industries. What better way to do it than by investing in the education and training of our employees. It’s a win/win for everyone.”

High utilization of AICC’s free online Packaging School, webinars, and seminars by its members underscores the fact that thousands of industry employees require training daily. Training assures not just proficiency in a discipline but also the opportunity for advancement as the employee learns more.

This level of education requires a broad-based, transparent, educational eleemosynary organization.

“The creation of the Foundation for Packaging Education by AICC members is a ringing endorsement of the success that AICC’s education programming, particularly AICC’s Packaging School online, has achieved. Members want to ensure and sustain growth in curricula for industry employees by providing a reliable, enduring financial basis. Thus the Foundation for Packaging Education was born,” said Michael D’Angelo, AICC President.