David Savastano, Editor07.18.22
The Ault Award, the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers’ (NAPIM) most prestigious honor, recognizes an individual for extraordinary dedication to the ink industry. Without a doubt, Jim Leitch, the 2022 Ault Award honoree, meets and exceeds that standard.
Consider this: Leitch served the typical two-year term as NAPIM’s president, and then stayed on as president for another half-year when the line of succession was interrupted. In addition, he served on NAPIM’s Management Information Committee, where he helped compile and presented NAPIM’s annual State of the Industry report for 17 years, and was a long-time member of its Board of Directors.
Leitch, who serves as vice president regional manager at Wikoff Color, is widely respected throughout the ink industry as a hard worker. He spent the vast majority of his ink career at Braden Sutphin, which was owned by his family, but Leitch took a different route to the ink business. He went to Republic Steel as an accountant for five years, and earned his CPA during then. He then joined Parker Hannifin for two and a half years, where he traveled throughout the US and Brazil, before joining Braden Sutphin.
“When Jim came out of college, he could have applied to Braden Sutphin, but he didn’t want to do that,” said Cal Sutphin Sr., Leitch’s uncle and retired president of Braden Sutphin. “He felt he would be taking advantage of the family. He joined an accounting firm and traveled rather extensively on business.”
“In 1988, I was working at Parker-Hannifin Corporation when Tom McManamon, who was Braden Sutphin’s chairman of the board, called me to determine if I would be interested in interviewing for the controller position,” Leitch recalled. “I decided to interview because I knew it would be a challenge to me professionally and it allowed me to continue living in Cleveland where both my wife’s family and our family lived, so I interviewed and was hired in January 1989.” When Ted Zelek retired, Leitch was interviewed to be president and CEO, and was hired to replace him.
Family is so important to Leitch. Both Jim Sutphin and Cal Sutphin were industry icons, and earned Ault Awards. Leitch said it was an honor to continue the family tradition.
“Because I’ve been so close through it with Jim and Cal Sutphin, it was special to be the third recipient from our family, especially because Cal and his wife Sandy were there,” he said.
“He and his wife Diana have four daughters, and they are a super family,” Sutphin added.
The sheetfed ink industry has been challenging, especially on medium-sized family-owned businesses. In 2018, faced with the continuing challenges in the sheetfed ink business, Leitch realized it was time to sell the family business.
“I didn’t join Braden Sutphin until I was 30, and that nine years of experience at large publicly traded companies gave me the perspective that while it is a family business, you have to run it as a business,” said Leitch. “The timing was right to sell. We were very interested in remaining a US business, and Wikoff Color has been a great company to partner with. Back in the day, Braden Sutphin had an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), and joining an employee-owned company was familiar. It has been a great partnership for our family and employees joining Wikoff Color, and Geoff Peters has been wonderful in making our company feel welcome!”
“I was president on NAPIM for two and a half year, and the NAPIM management information committee exposed me to a lot of people from different companies,” Leitch noted. “Among my influences, I really respected Rick Clendenning of INX, who worked for a big company but always found time to spend with the smaller ink companies, as well as getting to know people like Mike Murphy, Jeff Koppelman, Pat Carlisle and Mike Gettis. They were great guys and always open to sharing information. Also working with George Fuchs and especially John Copeland from the NAPIM staff was tremendous.”
Leitch is no stranger when it comes to being honored by NAPIM. In 2018, Leitch received the Printing Ink Pioneer Award from NAPIM, but joining his two uncles in receiving the Ault Award was beyond special.
“It’s beyond what I can comprehend,” said Leitch about receiving the Ault Award. “I want to thank everybody. I always appreciated everyone in the industry being so open and willing to help each other.”
Consider this: Leitch served the typical two-year term as NAPIM’s president, and then stayed on as president for another half-year when the line of succession was interrupted. In addition, he served on NAPIM’s Management Information Committee, where he helped compile and presented NAPIM’s annual State of the Industry report for 17 years, and was a long-time member of its Board of Directors.
Leitch, who serves as vice president regional manager at Wikoff Color, is widely respected throughout the ink industry as a hard worker. He spent the vast majority of his ink career at Braden Sutphin, which was owned by his family, but Leitch took a different route to the ink business. He went to Republic Steel as an accountant for five years, and earned his CPA during then. He then joined Parker Hannifin for two and a half years, where he traveled throughout the US and Brazil, before joining Braden Sutphin.
“When Jim came out of college, he could have applied to Braden Sutphin, but he didn’t want to do that,” said Cal Sutphin Sr., Leitch’s uncle and retired president of Braden Sutphin. “He felt he would be taking advantage of the family. He joined an accounting firm and traveled rather extensively on business.”
“In 1988, I was working at Parker-Hannifin Corporation when Tom McManamon, who was Braden Sutphin’s chairman of the board, called me to determine if I would be interested in interviewing for the controller position,” Leitch recalled. “I decided to interview because I knew it would be a challenge to me professionally and it allowed me to continue living in Cleveland where both my wife’s family and our family lived, so I interviewed and was hired in January 1989.” When Ted Zelek retired, Leitch was interviewed to be president and CEO, and was hired to replace him.
Sutphin spoke of Leitch’s tremendous work ethic.
“Jim would come in with two briefcases every day,” Sutphin said. “He’s likeable and a hard worker.”Family is so important to Leitch. Both Jim Sutphin and Cal Sutphin were industry icons, and earned Ault Awards. Leitch said it was an honor to continue the family tradition.
“Because I’ve been so close through it with Jim and Cal Sutphin, it was special to be the third recipient from our family, especially because Cal and his wife Sandy were there,” he said.
“He and his wife Diana have four daughters, and they are a super family,” Sutphin added.
The sheetfed ink industry has been challenging, especially on medium-sized family-owned businesses. In 2018, faced with the continuing challenges in the sheetfed ink business, Leitch realized it was time to sell the family business.
“I didn’t join Braden Sutphin until I was 30, and that nine years of experience at large publicly traded companies gave me the perspective that while it is a family business, you have to run it as a business,” said Leitch. “The timing was right to sell. We were very interested in remaining a US business, and Wikoff Color has been a great company to partner with. Back in the day, Braden Sutphin had an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), and joining an employee-owned company was familiar. It has been a great partnership for our family and employees joining Wikoff Color, and Geoff Peters has been wonderful in making our company feel welcome!”
Working with NAPIM
Leitch spoke about his experiences with NAPIM and some of the influences he met while serving the association.“I was president on NAPIM for two and a half year, and the NAPIM management information committee exposed me to a lot of people from different companies,” Leitch noted. “Among my influences, I really respected Rick Clendenning of INX, who worked for a big company but always found time to spend with the smaller ink companies, as well as getting to know people like Mike Murphy, Jeff Koppelman, Pat Carlisle and Mike Gettis. They were great guys and always open to sharing information. Also working with George Fuchs and especially John Copeland from the NAPIM staff was tremendous.”
Leitch is no stranger when it comes to being honored by NAPIM. In 2018, Leitch received the Printing Ink Pioneer Award from NAPIM, but joining his two uncles in receiving the Ault Award was beyond special.
“It’s beyond what I can comprehend,” said Leitch about receiving the Ault Award. “I want to thank everybody. I always appreciated everyone in the industry being so open and willing to help each other.”