2019 Annual Report

November 22, 2019

AICC’s 2019 fiscal year (FY 2019) ended June 30. AICC grew its success in penetrating deeper into member companies at all levels with relevant and accessible programs that drove big numbers in terms of member utilization. Online education content continued to expand, spurred by the growth of Education Investor-driven course content along with multiple soft-skills courses. Member participation in all AICC education programming exploded with online logins at all-time highs and course completions approaching 2,000 as the fiscal year ended. AICC’s Digital Xperience held in Charlotte, N.C., in February needed to expand its space five times in order to accommodate what ultimately were more than 220 attendees.

Studies show that investing in employees is one of the keys to retaining employees and that employees consider training to be a critical investment in their growth in the organization. Beyond retention, AICC added an important program to assist members with their other big challenge, finding qualified people for their manufacturing operations. AICC partnered with JobPath, a unique online platform created by veterans for veterans and their family members seeking jobs in manufacturing. AICC members can post jobs and find candidates at no cost to them. JobPath takes military résumés and puts them into “civilian speak” and, conversely, takes job postings and puts them into military parlance to allow both sides to understand expectations and talents.

Membership

Consolidation of the industry continues, yet AICC welcomed 17 new general members into the Association and 23 new Associate members. Dues revenues totaled $1,574,502 in FY 2019, up from $1,516,087 the prior year. The Association’s membership retention rate was 92% and continues to be at the top of manufacturing trade association retention standards, according to the Council of Manufacturing Associations’ recent membership study. The total number of AICC member corporate entities, national and international, general and associate members, is 496. General members are boxmaking members. Associate members are suppliers of machinery, materials, ancillary equipment, and services to boxmakers.

Education and Training

AICC’s industry-specific education and training programs brought in $462,256 in revenue in FY 2019. This was driven in large part by the success of several seminars during the year, particularly the Digital Xperience. AICC Education Investors deserve mention again here, as volunteers from these companies worked closely with AICC’s partner The Packaging School to finalize several courses. That list of companies includes Fosber America, BCM Inks, SUN Automation Group, JB Machinery, Pamarco, Absolute Engineering, Printron, EFI, Kruger, Bobst, and HP. Through their financial support and in providing technical content, these companies support AICC’s growing catalog of online education and training programs.

Members’ increasing utilization of AICC’s online education justifies the decision made by AICC’s board of directors in 2017 to make access to the courses for all AICC member company employees included with membership. As FY 2019 closed, AICC signed a new contract with The Packaging School, a leading online educational platform for the material handling, packaging, and processing industry based in Greenville, S.C., to continue the relationship. At the end of FY 2019, The Packaging School and AICC partnership provided members with 64 online courses at no additional cost in disciplines covering production, sales, design, and general leadership and management topics. As of June 30, AICC online course completions exceeded 1,800. AICC’s board of directors, at the last strategic planning meeting, agreed to accelerate the program of Spanish translation for online content. At the close of the fiscal year, 10 of the 64 courses had been translated. Another 10 will be completed in the new fiscal year. This program receives robust oversight from the AICC México board of directors in terms of prioritization of which courses to translate. AICC has engaged translation services in Mexico City to ensure proper dialect for the widest appeal, and AICC México converter members graciously review the translated courses for technical accuracy before they are posted online.

National Meetings, Regional Summits, and Special Events

Attendance at AICC’s national meetings, summits, and other events topped 3,000 in FY 2019. The 2018 Annual Meeting and Corrugated Week in Indianapolis saw 1,726 attendees, while AICC’s 2019 Spring Meeting in Miami drew 658.

AICC ran seven summits in FY 2019, along with multiple events in Canada and Mexico. The U.S. summits were attended by 635 members and guests, while events in Canada and Mexico attracted 690 members and guests.

Combined revenue from AICC’s U.S. national meetings, summits, and Corrugated Week was $1,534,781.* AICC’s sixth annual Independents’ Cup Charity Golf Tournament, held in conjunction with the 2019 Spring Meeting in Miami, raised a combined $40,000 for the J. Richard Troll Memorial Scholarship, Branches, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Publications and Advertising

AICC’s publications and advertising contributed positively to AICC in FY 2019, bringing in a combined $364,343, up slightly from the previous year’s $339,000. FY 2019’s total was made up of $345,888 in website and print (BoxScore) advertising, and $18,455 in publication sales.

AICC Canada

AICC Canada encompasses Ontario, Québec, and the Maritime Provinces. It is run by an independent board of directors chaired by President Stephen Moore of Moore Packaging. AICC Canada hosts a number of events annually and provides various services to its members locally. In 2018–19, events included general member meetings, an annual Christmas party with 140 attendees, the winter President’s Luncheon, and the Vision 2020 trade fair in April, which had 54 exhibitors and 245 attendees. Completing the year was the always well-attended golf tournament co-hosted with Canadian Corrugated & Containerboard Association. AICC Canada publishes its own regional membership directory and biennial salary survey. Terri-Lynn Levesque, vice president of administration at Royal Containers Ltd., serves as regional director on the AICC board of directors. For more information on the activities of AICC Canada, contact Jana Marmei, administrative director, at 905-727-9405 or jm@aiccbox.ca, or visit www.aiccbox.ca.

AICC México

In 2019, AICC México programming grew. The AICC México Annual Meeting and Trade Fair was held in Querétaro, Mexico, and drew 185 attendees. The Emerging Leaders program in Mexico continues to grow, as does the general membership, totaling more than 50. As mentioned earlier in this article, AICC México members are playing a vital role in the translations of AICC online education materials into Spanish. Founded in 2001, the region continues to be a vital and growing part of AICC’s international family. AICC México is represented on AICC’s board of directors by Pedro Aguirre of Tecnología de Cartón in Gómez Palacio, in Durango, Mexico.

Executive and Governance

During FY 2019, AICC and TAPPI agreed to extend their partnership in Corrugated Week and SuperCorrExpo by contract extension to 2030 and 2032, respectively. As the fiscal year drew to a close, so, too, did the successful transition of AICC staff leadership whereby Michael D’Angelo succeeded AICC President Steve Young as of July 1. Young remains on staff and a vital contributor as ambassador-at-large.

AICC continued its traditional collaboration with related industry trade associations, including TAPPI (see preceding paragraph), the Fibre Box Association, the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA), and others. In May, Michael D’Angelo co-chaired the corrugated session at the FTA Spring Meeting, which saw the involvement of several members’ companies in a successful program. Internationally, AICC maintains membership in the International Corrugated Case Association (ICCA), in which we are represented on its board of directors by AICC Overseas Director Kim Nelson, who is CEO of Royal Containers Ltd. This year’s ICCA meeting was held in Palm Beach, Fla., and while there, AICC leadership met with the leadership of several corrugated-related associations from various regions, including Europe, Canada, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Sri Lanka. AICC sent a delegation to the U.K. Sheet Plant Association meeting in Liverpool, England, in June. AICC also attended the annual convention of ACCCSA, the association for corrugated manufacturers in the Caribbean and Central and South America, held in Miami Beach, Fla.

At its meeting in September 2018 in Indianapolis, AICC’s board of directors identified the creation and maintenance of closer overseas ties with related organizations as a Destination Model goal.

Financial Results

AICC’s operations in FY 2019 brought in $4,058,009 in revenues and realized expenses of $3,733,210. This resulted in a net operating income of $324,799. This income, along with ($55,492) in nonoperating income from the writing off of obsolete inventory, predominantly obsolete-format publications, resulted in a total net income of $269,307. AICC’s auditors are Mullins PC of Bethesda, Md. AICC members who wish to receive a copy of AICC’s audited financial statement should send a request in writing to: