Syracuse Label & Surround Printing combines with two Capital Region firms

The new organization has three facilities; 165,000 square feet of manufacturing space; 175 full-time employee owners; and $65 million in sales.

Industry veterans Nick Van Alstine, CEO of Macaran and Van Alstine, and Kathy Alaimo, president of Syracuse Label & Surround Printing, will lead the new business, operating as co-CEOs. Tom Sargent of Macaran Printed Products as will serve as president.

“I have known Nick Van Alstine, and we’ve been friendly competitors for over 20 years,” Alaimo said. “This friendship and mutual trust evolved into a conversation about how similar our companies were, and what an exciting opportunity we had to support future growth for our employee-owners.”

At the same time, both Alaimo and Van Alstine plan to retire effective Dec. 31 of this year and assume roles as co-chairs of the board of directors. Sargent will assume the CEO position effective Jan. 1, 2023.

The announcement is the “culmination of a well-planned and orderly succession process to ensure the continued success of the organization,” per the announcement.

Customers will not see any changes to the day-to-day operations of Syracuse Label, Macaran, or Van Alstine. All sales, service, and accounting procedures and contacts will “remain intact,” and all divisions will continue to use their branded visual identities and logos, per the announcement.

Purpose for merging firms

The merger brings together three strong, industry leading label and packaging companies who share common cultures, common cause and common goals. Both companies are 100 percent employee owned.

“Driven by industry consolidation,” both organizations said they found themselves in “similar circumstances as the competitive landscape has shifted around them.” The merger creates an organization with “greater scale, capacity and capability, bringing additional value” to the customers and markets it serves.

“This is a great fit for our businesses. This merger is all about our shared values; preserving corporate legacies, creating value for our employee-owners and becoming more competitive in the marketplace,” Van Alstine said.