“A third generation ink man, I started my career in 1973 with Sun Chemical in Kansas City, MO as a mill hand,” Mr. Castillo said.
Mr. Castillo has risen through the ranks wherever he worked. After five years in Sun Chemical’s Kansas City lab, he was promoted to location manager for a service station in Omaha, NE; in 1978, he served as president of the Omaha Craftsman Club.
Mr. Castillo then joined Shorewood Packaging in 2001 as corporate offset inks and coating technical manager, which involved technical responsibility for inks and coatings for the company’s six offset plants.
In June 2005, he joined Braden Sutphin Ink. Initially, he served as technical service manager working in the field with customers, and in March 2007, Mr. Castillo was promoted to technical manager, overseeing technical service, technical QC and the lab. In 2011 he added the responsibility for the offset operating plants at Braden Sutphin.
Meanwhile, Mr. Castillo has also been driving Braden Sutphin’s growth in the area of “green” inks that meet the needs of the printer - from longer and longer stay open inks that dry, to eco-products that meet the "green" needs of the customer. He also has worked with NAPIM for the past three to four years on its rating system for “green” inks. Outside of work, Mr. Castillo enjoys playing guitar in a contemporary worship band and photography.
It should come as no surprise that when Mr. Castillo talks about key influences on his career, his father plays a major role.
“My greatest influence in the ink industry is my father, who introduced me into the business and supported me through the various moves that I made early in my career,” Mr. Castillo said. “Others who played major parts were Brad Bergey, who gave me the opportunity to move into a branch manager’s role; Jeff Jones, technical manager for Sun Chemical’s corporate paste ink lab in Chicago; and Jim Leitch, CEO for Braden Sutphin. Jim has supported me in my current position, and given me the freedom in development of our paste ink product lines.”
Mr. Leitch said that Mr. Castillo is most deserving of the Pioneer Award.
“The following comments are from people that work for Marc,” Mr. Leitch said. “‘Marc is extremely hard working. ‘ ‘We leave at the end of the day and Marc just keeps on going.’ ‘ We appreciate that he is willing to find time to work with multiple departments to find solutions to problems.’ ‘His vast ink experience is a great source of knowledge for all of us.’
“Marc is probably similar to many individuals within the ink industry in that he has worked his entire career in this one industry,” Mr. Leitch said. “He has worked endlessly to help printers satisfy ‘their’ customer’s needs, while not asking for recognition but taking great pride in what he has accomplished. I am so glad that NAPIM has a Pioneer Award where people like Marc Castillo can be recognized for their contributions to our company’s success and to our industry.”
Mr. Castillo said that receiving the Pioneer Award is a tremendous honor.
“I am honored to have received the Pioneer Award, and to have been a part of the group inducted this year,” Mr. Castillo concluded. “It is very rewarding to be recognized by one’s peers. I am grateful for all the support that I have received from co-workers over the years.”