BOHEMIA, NY—FTA has welcomed Mike Buystedt into the FTA Hall of Fame as the 60th member of a select group of individuals who have made significant contributions to the Association and the flexographic industry.
The announcement was made on Sunday, March 13 at the close of the Awards Banquet during FORUM 2022, FTA’s annual four-day technical conference.
Born into a family of flexographers—his mother, sister and later his wife all worked in the industry—Mike was destined to make a 41-year career in the business. He rose through the ranks in the ink business as a technical manager, operations manager, product manager, technical director, general manager, director of sales and finally, vice president narrow web North America for Flint Group.
“Mike has been an icon in the label community for as long as I can remember,” said FTA President and fellow Hall of Famer Mark Cisternino. “He has been instrumental in working to grow the business and provide advancement opportunities industrywide through education at all levels.”
Mike is known for his hard work ethic, positive attitude and desire to make printers’ lives better. His contributions to FTA include developing portions of the ink chapter in Flexography: Principles & Practices (FP&P), serving on the Expanded Gamut Subcommittee for Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances (FIRST), co-chairing the first TLMI/FTA Technical Conference in 2003, and speaking at multiple at FTA FORUMs, Fall Conferences and Technical Seminars. He also authored several articles for FLEXO Magazine, with a frequent topic being narrow web UV.
He has also been involved with the Envelope Manufacturers Association, Flexible Packaging Association, Gravure Association of America, Printing Industry Midwest, Twin Cities Flexo Association, Independent Carton Converters and most notably the Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute, where he served on the board of directors, chaired its Technical and Awards Committee, and frequently judged the TLMI and World Label Awards. In 2005, he was awarded the first-ever TLMI Supplier of the Year Award for his 25 years of service.
“Mike has always given of his time to many trade associations—FTA being among the list of benefactors,” noted 2005 Hall of Fame inductee Denny McGee. “He supported and served as a mentor on many educational programs at the high school, community college, trade school and college level. If you asked Mike to do anything for the flexo industry, he’d be there and, of course, he’d give his all to the cause.”
Read about Mike’s career as told by colleagues and family members in a comprehensive profile inside the March issue of FLEXO Magazine.
In addition to the Hall of Fame induction, FTA also announced the recipients of its other honors and awards, including the 2022 Excellence in Flexography Awards, 2022 Technical Innovation Award, 2022 Sustainability Excellence Award and President’s Award honorees.
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