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Every industry has a few people who show up — not for the spotlight, but because somebody has to keep the lights on and the next generation moving. In the folding carton world, Eric Frank is squarely one of those people, and this month the Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) finally put a trophy next to his name.
At its fall meeting in Orlando, Florida, the PPC honoured Eric Frank — senior vice president of marketing at Koenig & Bauer (US/CA) — with the 2026 Volunteer Leader Award of Excellence. The award recognises decades of service to both the council and the wider folding carton community. And when you read the citation, you realise “decades” is not hyperbole.
PPC president Emily Leonczyk didn’t hold back. “Eric’s volunteer leadership legacy is woven throughout PPC and our industry,” she said. She credited him with teaching, mentoring and sharing his perspective, representing the supplier community, and helping steer the association through moments of real change. In her words, Eric “embodies what PPC is here to do: grow, promote, and protect our industry by bringing people together, sharing knowledge, and helping develop the next generation of leaders.”
That last sentence is the whole point, really. Associations don’t run on speeches. They run on people like Frank who turn up, lead the board meetings, teach the boot camps, and welcome the newcomers who don’t yet know anyone.
Frank’s own story is a reminder that careers in this trade often start small. It began with a high school printing class — the kind of elective a teenager picks almost by accident — and that led to a printing degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology, one of the most respected programmes in the field. From there he climbed into senior leadership roles that helped advance and strengthen printing and packaging on several fronts. Along the way he’s frequently led board meetings and initiatives, taught association boot camps, and given educational presentations as a genuine print enthusiast rather than a reluctant exec.
Why does any of this matter to the average printer or converter? Because the carton business — like every corner of print — is ageing. The people who built it are retiring, and the pipeline of young talent is thinner than anyone is comfortable admitting. The only way that gap closes is through people like Frank who treat mentorship as a duty, not a nice-to-have. The “impact,” as Leonczyk put it, “may be best measured in the people he has welcomed, encouraged, and befriended along the way.”
There’s a lesson here that goes past one award. The most valuable asset in our industry isn’t the newest press or the biggest plant — it’s the knowledge passed from one person to the next. When a veteran takes an hour to teach a boot camp or mentor a rookie, that compounds across an entire career and an entire sector.
So congratulations to Eric Frank — and a quiet nudge to the rest of us. Who are you mentoring? What are you passing on? The awards are nice, but the real trophy is the stronger industry you leave behind.
Source: PrintCAN
