Every spring, the Metro New York Printing Ink Association (MNYPIA) announces the recipient of the club’s Anthony Mauriello Man of the Year award. This year marks the 14th year the club has presented its award, with Brad Bergey, former executive director of the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), receiving this year’s honor.
 
Bergey was honored May 5, 2016, at a dinner held in his honor at the Iberia Peninsula restaurant in Newark, NJ.
 
Prior to joining NAPIM, Bergey had a prominent career in the ink business. After graduating with a degree in economics from Iowa University, he was at IBM for three years before joining Sun Chemical in 1978.
 
While at Sun Chemical, Bergey started as an operations manager and was promoted to branch and district manager, group controller and other operations support assignments before he was named VP of branch operations in 1992. In 1995. Bergey became a corporate VP of Sun Chemical Corporation and COO of Kohl & Madden, before leaving the industry in 2006 after serving as president of the Kohl & Madden division.
 
Bergey was active in NAPIM while at Sun Chemical, serving as chairman of NAPIM’s Management Committee, which is responsible for analyzing and presenting the annual State of the Industry Report. Bergey received the prestigious Printing Ink Pioneer Award from NAPIM in 2004.
 
In 2011, Bergey was chosen to be the executive director of NAPIM, succeeding Jim Coleman. He retired from NAPIM at the end of 2015, leaving behind him some important achievements, including relocating the association from its Woodbridge, NJ headquarters and bringing on TAPPI to help with the association’s day-to-day activities.
 
George Fuchs, NAPIM’s director regulatory affairs and technology, served as emcee, highlighting Bergey’s career.
 
“I had a great time working with Brad,” said Fuchs, who was the MNYPIA’s Man of the Year in 2011. “No one deserves it more.”
 
Bergey talked about his career, noting the influences he had during his time at Sun Chemical.
 
“We were very successful over the years at Sun Chemical,” he recalled. “I had the great opportunity to work with fantastic mentors. Ed Barr was the brightest strategic man I ever knew, and Massie Odiotti was probably the smartest financial guy I ever met. Lou Gaspari was another important mentor for me. Mentoring is something we don’t do enough of in this business.”
 
Bergey noted that he initially declined the invitation to join NAPIM, but friendships within the industry led him to take the position.
 
“Relationships brought me back into the industry, and my time with NAPIM was very enjoyable,” he said. “It’s been a very rewarding career.”
 
The MNYPIA changed the Man of the Year award name in 2015 to honor Anthony Mauriello, a founding board member of the club who passed away in 2014. For more information on the club, see its website at www.mnypia.org.