The Paperboard Packaging Council
Century Club
Winston Packaging
www.winstonpackaging.com
Founded in 1911 by Alexander Gray "A.G." Gordon, a journeyman bookbinder and entrepreneur, Winston Printing Co. started out as a modest job shop for commercial printing at the corner of Third and Liberty streets in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina. R.J. Reynolds was the company’s largest customer and remained so for 82 years.
In 1952, A.G.’s son John R. Gordon brought the expertise of an industrial engineer to the printing craft after years of electronics experience in the Air Force and military service in World War II and Korea. John successfully transformed the company into a manufacturing plant, expanded capabilities with the addition of offset printing presses, and significantly improved the workflow processes and management techniques. Winston Printing built and moved into a new 56,000 square foot facility on North Point Boulevard in 1979, where it remains today. Two subsequent additions brought the total square footage to 80,000 square feet in 2002.
Current president and CEO James Gordon decided during his teenage years that he wanted to become involved in the family business. Working each summer and during school breaks, he learned the business from the ground up, earned a business degree from NC State University and, after five years as the Manufacturing Manager, succeeded his father as company president in 1984. Gordon has steered the company through the Internet/Digital Age by staying at the forefront of technology and recognizing emerging trends in the market. He turned the company into a full-fledged packaging operation during the mid 90s, with the operating unit name change to “Winston Packaging” in 1999.
As times change, Winston Packaging changes with it, moving to newer industries such as nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals and Internet retail, and becoming certified to sustainable “green” packaging standards. The company actively pursues practices to reduce, reuse, and recycle all materials used in its facility in order to reduce its carbon footprint.
“When you look back and consider what has taken place in the world in the past 100 years, you gain a perspective of what my grandfather and father faced, up to the experiences my son and I face today,” Gordon says. “My grandfather and father faced their own very unique challenges: the Great Depression, two World Wars, rationing, a manufacturing revolution. Today, surviving and thriving as a fourth-generation, family-owned business relies on strong customer relationships and partnering to help them find solutions in sustainable package design, GMP quality standards, customer management systems, shipping and more. From what my grandfather started in 1911 through today, we are certainly proud of our 100 years.”