David Savastano, Editor07.18.22
Tony Ameo’s journey in the printing ink industry started with a dinner meeting with a pair of Sun Chemical icons, and he quickly learned a few important lessons that stuck with him through his career.
“My first job was as a process engineer at Princeton Packaging in Hazleton, PA (formerly St. Regis),” said Ameo, who is president and CEO of ECKART America Corp. “That position was responsible to oversee the in-plant ink operation, which at that time was being run by GPI (Sun Chemical). I paid attention, ran my tests, did my reporting, etc. - but, being fresh out of school and knowing little about the business - I generally kept a low profile and tried to absorb as much as I could.”
“But, because Princeton was such an important customer, I still got some exposure to Lou Gaspari,” Ameo continued. “A couple of years later, I got a call from GPI’s Bill Hamburger, telling me that I had made a good impression on Mr. Gaspari, and that he and Massie Odiotti wanted to meet me for dinner and talk with me about joining Sun. I’m still not sure what I did to make any impression at all, but I was thrilled with the opportunity.
“A funny story on how this went: I was to meet Mr. Gaspari and Mr. Odiotti at Jerry’s in East Rutherford,” Ameo added. “Even then, these guys were already two of the true icons in the ink industry, while I was twenty-something and, as you’d imagine, extremely nervous. I arrived over ½ hour early, and headed directly to the men’s room to check myself in the mirror, straighten my tie, and just calm down a bit. The moment after I walked in, Mr. Gaspari came barging through the door: “Anthony – we’re at the table in the corner, let’s get started.” I was 30 minutes early - and he chased me down in the men’s room!! So much for calming down – but, in that moment, Mr. Gaspari made an impression that I’ll never forget: We’ve got things to do….there is no time to waste….let’s go!!”
That story illustrates Ameo’s approach to his career: the need to get things done, and the importance of relationships. “The true highlights in my career are all about relationships,” said Ameo. “I’ve been fortunate to have had so many outstanding mentors, teammates and colleagues everywhere I’ve been – many of whom have transcended business and become personal friends.”
Ameo added that he has been influenced by so many people in the industry. “I learned from everyone: batch makers and machine operators just as much as executives and business leaders,” he said. “If I start to list names, I will surely miss many – so I’ll only call out two: I already mentioned Mr. Gaspari – I learned a ton from him – but the two things that stand out most are (1) the importance of getting things done (Now!) and (2) what it means to be truly customer-focused.
“The other key influence was Mr. Tom O’Brien, another mentor from Sun, who gave me two great opportunities: first, he got me off an engineering/operations path and into sales and, eventually, general management. Later, after he joined Sensient Technologies, he hired me into an international, ‘executive’ role that accelerated my learning and my career, and ultimately prepared me for my role at ECKART,” Ameo noted.
Ameo has seen the ink industry from a few dimensions – printer, ink manufacturer and, now, a supplier to the manufacturers, and he has seen how the industry has evolved.
“There has been a lot of change – probably the most significant being the consolidation/capacity rationalization resulting from the structural changes in the printing industry over the years,” Ameo said. “What hasn’t changed is that our industry is still full of passionate, committed and caring people.”
Outside of work, Ameo enjoys family time as well as a few hobbies. “Besides spending as much time as possible with my family, I enjoy golf, cooking, fitness and have recently restarted playing guitar (after a short break of a few decades),” he added.
Ameo said he was surprised and humbled at receiving the Pioneer Award.
“It is a great honor to receive the same award as so many of the past and present giants of our industry,” Ameo concluded. “That said, my belief is that most individual awards are really manifestations of team achievements. Mine surely is – and I proudly share it with so many great colleagues I’ve worked alongside – from my start at Princeton Packaging through today at ECKART America.”
“My first job was as a process engineer at Princeton Packaging in Hazleton, PA (formerly St. Regis),” said Ameo, who is president and CEO of ECKART America Corp. “That position was responsible to oversee the in-plant ink operation, which at that time was being run by GPI (Sun Chemical). I paid attention, ran my tests, did my reporting, etc. - but, being fresh out of school and knowing little about the business - I generally kept a low profile and tried to absorb as much as I could.”
“But, because Princeton was such an important customer, I still got some exposure to Lou Gaspari,” Ameo continued. “A couple of years later, I got a call from GPI’s Bill Hamburger, telling me that I had made a good impression on Mr. Gaspari, and that he and Massie Odiotti wanted to meet me for dinner and talk with me about joining Sun. I’m still not sure what I did to make any impression at all, but I was thrilled with the opportunity.
“A funny story on how this went: I was to meet Mr. Gaspari and Mr. Odiotti at Jerry’s in East Rutherford,” Ameo added. “Even then, these guys were already two of the true icons in the ink industry, while I was twenty-something and, as you’d imagine, extremely nervous. I arrived over ½ hour early, and headed directly to the men’s room to check myself in the mirror, straighten my tie, and just calm down a bit. The moment after I walked in, Mr. Gaspari came barging through the door: “Anthony – we’re at the table in the corner, let’s get started.” I was 30 minutes early - and he chased me down in the men’s room!! So much for calming down – but, in that moment, Mr. Gaspari made an impression that I’ll never forget: We’ve got things to do….there is no time to waste….let’s go!!”
That story illustrates Ameo’s approach to his career: the need to get things done, and the importance of relationships. “The true highlights in my career are all about relationships,” said Ameo. “I’ve been fortunate to have had so many outstanding mentors, teammates and colleagues everywhere I’ve been – many of whom have transcended business and become personal friends.”
Ameo added that he has been influenced by so many people in the industry. “I learned from everyone: batch makers and machine operators just as much as executives and business leaders,” he said. “If I start to list names, I will surely miss many – so I’ll only call out two: I already mentioned Mr. Gaspari – I learned a ton from him – but the two things that stand out most are (1) the importance of getting things done (Now!) and (2) what it means to be truly customer-focused.
“The other key influence was Mr. Tom O’Brien, another mentor from Sun, who gave me two great opportunities: first, he got me off an engineering/operations path and into sales and, eventually, general management. Later, after he joined Sensient Technologies, he hired me into an international, ‘executive’ role that accelerated my learning and my career, and ultimately prepared me for my role at ECKART,” Ameo noted.
Ameo has seen the ink industry from a few dimensions – printer, ink manufacturer and, now, a supplier to the manufacturers, and he has seen how the industry has evolved.
“There has been a lot of change – probably the most significant being the consolidation/capacity rationalization resulting from the structural changes in the printing industry over the years,” Ameo said. “What hasn’t changed is that our industry is still full of passionate, committed and caring people.”
Outside of work, Ameo enjoys family time as well as a few hobbies. “Besides spending as much time as possible with my family, I enjoy golf, cooking, fitness and have recently restarted playing guitar (after a short break of a few decades),” he added.
Ameo said he was surprised and humbled at receiving the Pioneer Award.
“It is a great honor to receive the same award as so many of the past and present giants of our industry,” Ameo concluded. “That said, my belief is that most individual awards are really manifestations of team achievements. Mine surely is – and I proudly share it with so many great colleagues I’ve worked alongside – from my start at Princeton Packaging through today at ECKART America.”