Every December, the Chicago Printing Ink Production Club (CPIPC) selects a leading ink manufacturer as its Ink Maker of the Year. This year’s selection, Vic Dahleen of Central Ink Corporation, is an ideal choice for the prestigious honor.
 
A CPIPC member, Dahleen is VP of sales and marketing at Central Ink, where he has worked in positions of increasing responsibility since 1992. He entered the ink industry in 1986, joining his father Wendell and brothers Gregg and Brad at Acme Printing Ink.
 
“My dad Wendel was a salesman at Acme, and my brothers Gregg and Brad were also there,” Dahleen recalled. “I began in production and then went to an implant for four years, and while I had always hoped to work in the lab, being in production and working at an inplant were great learning experiences.”
 
In 1992, Dahleen interviewed at Central Ink, where he has worked ever since, beginning on the technical side and moving on to a wide range of responsibilities.
 
“I was hired as lab manager, and then moved to Minneapolis to set up our branch as well as our first inplant operation,” said Dahleen. “When I returned to Chicago, I was put in charge of converting our company to dry pigments, which was a great opportunity learning dry grind manufacturing. I then headed up technical service and mobile diagnostics, and became VP of sales and marketing in 2015.”
 
Gregg Dahleen joined Vic at Central Ink in 1996, and Vic enjoys working with and for his brother, who is now Central Ink’s president, as well as Richard Breen, Central Ink’s longtime CEO.
 
“My biggest influences were my father and two brothers,” Dahleen noted. “It’s great working with my older brother. Of course, working for Ault Award recipient Richard Breen at Central Ink has been an incredible learning opportunity these past 25 years.  He has always encouraged me to be involved in the entire ink making process.”
 
When the CPIPC announced that Dahleen was receiving the Ink Maker of the Year Award, Dahleen didn’t realize the award was coming to him.
 
“It was a complete surprise,” Dahleen said. “I was listening to the announcer, and then something about the bio clicked and everyone was looking at me. It’s a real honor, as the CPIPC does a lot of great things for the industry.”
 
Already the Dahleen family is heading into its third generation in the ink industry. “My oldest son Vic. Jr. works in our labs, while our youngest, Zach, is a contractor doing IT work,” Dahleen noted.
 
Outside of work, Dahleen enjoys golf, traveling, scuba diving and spending time with the family.