In conversation with Yerecic Label

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We caught up with Elizabeth Yerecic, EVP of Sales & Sustainability, and Co-owner of US-based family-run label converter Yerecic Label, who is taking part as a panelist at the Labelexpo Americas converter leadership lunch. Ahead of her session, she gives us an insight into what it will be covering….

Hi Elizabeth, great to catch up, what’s new at Yerecic Label since the last Labelexpo Americas, which you also spoke at, back in 2022?

Hello! Thank you for the opportunity. Back in 2022 when I last spoke at Labelexpo Americas, we had just started printing at our Phoenix, Arizona facility. That facility is now humming with 3 shifts, providing the same excellent quality and service to our West coast customers.

The other significant change is we executed a Succession transition to the third generation of Yerecic family ownership in October 2023. My siblings, Josh Yerecic, Kristin Yerecic Scott and myself have joined my father, Art Yerecic, as co-owners of Yerecic Label.

It’s great to have you join us on the converter leadership power panel at the fringe networking lunch event! Tell us a bit about what you expect the discussion to cover….

I expect the discussion will cover topics that stay top of mind in our day to day operations. That includes automation, sustainability and workforce development. These three areas are key value drivers for our company and the industry, at large.

One of the talking points is set to cover the ways in which leading converter companies are addressing key trends. Can you briefly outline what those are and the opportunities they have presented for Yerecic Label?

On the buy side, automation is a key trend of interest. We are strict in our processes and our endeavor towards continuous improvement, and the opportunity to improve throughput and decrease waste are clear advantages presented by automation. On the Sell side, sustainability is not going away. In fact, its presence continues to grow in every part of our industry. The opportunity to collaborate with customers and vendors who are looking to be in the forefront of sustainable innovation has become a key to our success.

What do you see are the biggest sustainability challenges facing the label industry right now?

There are two crucial areas, beginning of life and end of life, for a PS label. At end of life, overcoming challenges associated with release liner recycling programs is vital. Our suppliers are doing great work creating partnership solutions for converters to offer as a value to their customers. Downstream, our customers struggle to make these work in practice. If we can’t find a way to build a realistic, scalable solution, we may see a future where our customers are forced to consider alternate packaging solutions to eliminate this waste stream and meet their sustainability commitments.

At the beginning of life, education surrounding Design for Recyclability continues to be an up-hill battle. Even if the stream doesn’t yet exist for the product, designing labels to be recycle ready is integral to building supply for demand to pull from. As an industry, we need to take responsibility for our part in that design education surrounding recycling friendly label constructions.   

Yerecic Label marked 55 years this year. How do you think being a family-run business has helped the company tackle current challenges and maintain its longevity?

Creativity and agility are two values that have supported our longevity and growth. Being family-run allows us the ability to make decisions in a way that lets these values shine, and that’s important because they are integral to the type of partnership that our customers are looking for.

What single piece of advice would you give to other women working in the industry who may be seeking to move up the corporate ladder into senior leadership roles?

Say yes. Yes leads to opportunities that you may have no sense of now, but will become clear along the way. I find that some women, young women especially, are critical of themselves in a way that men aren’t. This inner critic causes them to not say yes until they feel they are completely prepared for every possible outcome that yes could bring. So say yes, even if you aren’t sure, you’re bound to learn from it and ultimately, grow from it. 

What are you most looking forward to seeing at Labelexpo Americas 2024?

I’m truly excited to see all of it. As we grow Yerecic Label, Labelexpo continues to be the show that significantly impacts our future capital investments and knowledge of what is coming within the industry.  

Hear from Elizabeth and her fellow panelists at “Converter leadership panel discussion and Q&A” from 12.45-1.30pm on Tuesday 10 September 2024. For the full speaker program, visit https://www.labelexpo-americas.com/networking-events-schedule