Forbes names Multi-Color to top 10 small companies list

Label & Narrow Web, Nov-Dec, 2003

Multi-Color Corporation, of Cincinnati, OH, has been ranked 7th on Forbes magazine's "200 Best Small Companies" list, published in October. The printing and converting company, which had never before appeared on the list, was highlighted as one of the top 10 "Most Up and Coming" small companies in the United States.

"You see signs of this Cincinnati-based company everywhere but probably don't know it," wrote Forbes. "For more than 80 years consumer brands have relied on Multi-Color for packaging design. Today its in-mold and heat-transfer labels appear on 330 of the world's most popular brands--Tide, Febreze, Palmolive and Prestone among them. For the fiscal year ended March 31 sales rose 37 percent to $100 million; net income, 34 percent to $6.3 million."

The people at Multi-Color, of course, were "absolutely thrilled," according to President Frank Gerace. "It came as a total surprise--we were never notified of it. Forbes does this entirely on their own, which makes it even more valuable to us.

"It's always nice to be recognized on a national basis, when comparing your company with over 200 other small businesses across the United States, and to be named one of the top 10 in America. It's great for the employees, that for all of the hard work and effort they've made over the past four or five years they receive this type of recognition. It also serves as a motivating factor for the future, helping them to realize that hard work doesn't go unnoticed," Gerace says.

"Having said that, I will add that we won't let it go to our heads. We'll still come to work every day and do the best we can to guarantee future success."

One aspect of the Forbes award, Gerace adds, "is that our board of directors received credit for the effective job they've done from a corporate governance standpoint. They received the second highest score in the process--97 out of 100. It's always nice for our shareholders and employees to know that our board of directors is very aligned with our core principles and values, and that they govern themselves no differently than we manage the business."

Gerace further notes that the award goes beyond Multi-Color to embrace the industry, as a whole.

"It speaks well of the industry. Our being named in the Forbes Top 10 Small Companies speaks well of the potential of the industry. All of us should be proud. It's a strong vibrant industry, and I hope our peers share in the recognition."