Industry Mourns Vilardi ( Cont’d from Page 1)
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Records — Tom loved Bruce Springsteen — in New York City before going to work for NV Publications and his father, corrugated industry legend Ted Vilardi. Jim Curley, the first Editor-in Chief of Board Con- verting News and long-time family friend, remem- bered that he and Tom started at NV Publications at about the same time. “The company was little more than a year old — a four-person operation in two locations,” recalled Cur- ley. “Ted probably felt that the start-up could exhale at least a bit, so he added a salesman and a writer to their fledgling staff. Tom and I began with Recycling Markets, NV’s first acquisition. It was a good fit with Board Converting News in that both publications dealt with paper and it wasn’t a hard industry to learn. So, Tom and I would attend paper recycling dinners on the lower East Side of New York City and in New Jersey and eat some superb Italian food. “In the late 1980s, Tom married Jeneane Crawford and moved down to the Jersey Shore. I remember vis- iting his family and barely getting into his house when Tom said ‘here’ and quickly placed the infant T.J. in my arms. Some introduction! “Tom was, above all, a family man. He didn’t brag about his kids, but he was so proud of T.J. and Tyler and it showed. I remember the time he showed me an essay by one of them, who had written about how fortunate they had been to be born into Jeneane and Tom’s family. And, though he died much too early, Tom did enjoy the blessings of being a grandparent. “He was similarly caring towards his parents when they encountered the restricted world of old age. It’s not easy to assume the role of caregiver to your par- ents, but Tom and Jeneane did it. How he and I cried when Ted passed away! “In 1990, our New Jersey office moved down the shore.The company grew and its network of alliances, particularly that with the Brunton family, made NV a global publisher. But the last decade of the 20th centu- ry and the first of the new one were also times of in- tense consolidation of converters and their suppliers. Tom played a major role in keeping customers, adver- tisers and readers alike, signed up and happy and NV growing.That was a major achievement. “Talk about ‘relationship selling,’ a phrase that be- came popular several years ago. Both Tom and Ted practiced it throughout their entire careers. They sold to friends and had the interest of the industry they served front and center. Both were superb matchmakers, teaming up skilled workers looking for new opportunities with good employers eager for talent to help their companies grow.
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6 August 6, 2018 Flexo Market News
www.nvpublications.com
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