AICC Mexico (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1)
can help supply boxes?’ And every time I had to say ‘no.’ That got our board thinking that perhaps it would be good to establish more contact with our Latin American friends, especially in Mexico. So in 1998, María Frustaci joined our staff, giving us the ability to communicate better with Mexi- co. And we also have to acknowledge AICC-member com- panies like Danhil Container, DeLine Box Company, Liberty Carton and Orange County Container, which had all begun establishing plants in northern Mexico. Yañez: Humberto, once you had spoken with the asso-
he was extremely important and contributed enormously to the association during its beginnings; Jeff Hughes of ALHU International, also a founder and here well-repre- sented by Brad; Jim Haglund of Central Package & Dis- play, who was AICC’s International Director at the time and very important when our association began; and obviously María Frustaci, who retired a few years ago as AICC’s Di- rector for Latin America, and who was the first person who
David Yañez, left, moderated the panel. Alongside him from left to right are Jorge Ortega, Steve Young, Humberto Treviño, Marco Ferrara, Brad Hughes, and José Díaz.
helped direct the association and guide us to where we are now. Yañez: Humberto, you attended AICC’s 25th Anniver- sary Meeting in 1999 in Boca Raton, Florida. Why did you attend that meeting? Treviño: Our first AICC meeting was not planned; it was pushed on us. Grace and I had been in Waco, Texas, at the office of Mr. Don Parks, formerly of Central Texas Corrugat- ed. After spending some time negotiating for him to sell me sheets, he asked me, ‘Why don’t you buy sheets closer to home?’ Well, because I was struggling to find someone willing to sell sheets to me. And Don told me, ‘Look, what you are going through right now is exactly what happened to us 25 years ago. In fact, next week we are gathering in Boca Raton, Florida, and you need to be there. It is not a question of whether you want to or not — you must be there.’ After I left the meeting with Don, my wife asked, ‘How did it go?’ I said, ‘I think well… but next week we’re going to Florida.’ Yañez: Steve Young, there you are in Boca Raton, and when a Mexican arrived there, you probably thought: ‘What is this guy doing here?’ What was your impression? What caught your attention about opening the association internationally? Young: We have to go back before 1999, because I think the real genesis of AICC Mexico can be traced back to the NAFTA agreement of 1994. Beginning in the late 1990s, I started receiving calls at our office in Alexandria, Virginia, from member companies in the United States. They would say: ‘I have a customer that moved to Mexico, in the ma- quiladora area. Do you know anybody down there who
ciation, your next challenge was finding members. Treviño: That was difficult, but the day I met Steve, I knew it was going to work. The first task I had as the ad- vance man was: ‘Find a very young guy in Monterrey who works at Cartones Sultana.’ So, I started knocking on doors and eventually found Marco. And that was our first contact. And that is how everyone gradually began joining — all the converter members. But an important factor was also the suppliers, who became part of our united association alongside the converters. Yañez: Brad, you have the experience of coming with your father, who was very well known in the industry. What did your father transmit to you that motivated you to sup- port the association? Hughes: Yes, I followed in his footsteps because when I was young, he used to take me to AICC meetings in the United States. We have always been members. And al- though AICC Mexico did not begin until 1999 or 2000, I had already been attending AICC U.S. meetings since 1986 or 1987. So In my case, as a supplier, it was a natural union. Yañez: José, I imagine the same thing happened to you as it did to me. The gentlemen here had already organized the association and now came the first event. And it was in Monterrey — the first conference we had. You joined the association during that event. What were you expecting? Díaz: Yes, that is correct. I had just joined Mosca Cor- poration in October 2002. And Mosca Corporation was al- ready a member of AICC in the United States. The owner called me and said, ‘There is going to be the first AICC
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20 June 15, 2026
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