by admin | Jul 5, 2017 | Business Tips, Company News
Being a Family Business is a huge part of the culture and feeling at Rose City Label. We are proud to be family owned and operated. Coworkers, customers and vendors are all part of this extended family. It is the glue that holds us together. Recently, we were invited to speak to the students in the OSU Family Business Program. Helping build the family business’ culture of the future in this state is something we are very passionate about. We are proud to give back to this wonderful program.
What we Told the Students
Family Business isn’t Easy but it is Worth It!
The students in this class were all Junior and Senior level students that have a Family Business in their family. Not all are sure about their future within that business, but most are very interested to take on the challenge. We were brutally honest about the difficulties, heartache, and hurt feelings that come along from time to time. Also, we were very emphatic that it is the very best career option for many people – like us. It isn’t easy, but the rewards (mostly non-financial) make it worthwhile.
Be Patient and Respect Your Elders
Respect is the key to being respected. Your family business has been successful for many years, so it is best to watch and learn before trying to make changes. Don’t upset the system until you understand the system. Learn the trade – not just the tricks. Your value as a next generation member will be exaggerated when you can bridge the generations between yourself and your elders – when you can combine the best of their ideas and yours, then you will add value.
YOU have value – your time will come
With all the respect and deference that has been earned, don’t sell yourself short. Your family wouldn’t want you in the business if you didn’t have some real value to add. You have a unique perspective to bring to the conversation – don’t afraid to (respectfully) put forth your own opinions and ideas. You have a contribution to make and the business will be better if you make it.
Why Family Business
Being a family is a real competitive advantage. This blog post from 2015 shows many reasons why the family enterprise outperforms the average business. A longer time horizon is one of the main things that helps a family business win. When multiple generations are involved in a business, the idea of ‘legacy’ is always on our mind. We want to build and grow this enterprise so we have something of value to pass along to the next generation. This isn’t just a focus on quarterly or annual goals, but lifetime goals that last forever. This long time horizon makes difficult, correct decisions much easier. The United Front is also always in the front of your mind – we are all in this together, so we have to make it work for everyone. Cooperation and grace are always the watch words for our interactions. These two characteristics make a family business a very powerful force in the world.
OSU Family Business Program
We have learned from (and been recognized by) the OSU Family Business Program for the past 5 years. The AUSTIN FAMILY BUSINESS PROGRAM at OSU is an amazing, focused business school with a special emphasis on entrepreneurship and family business. Learn more by clicking here. Besides the current students enrolled in Bachelors and Masters degree programs, the OSU Family Business Program provides seminars and outreach to family businesses in the state. These seminars, and a dedicated network of professional advisors, provide a huge resource for the family owned businesses in the state of Oregon. We were proud to lecture to senior students about our experience growing up in and leading a successful family business.
Family Business of the Year
Rose City Label was a runner up in 2013 (click here for more info) and the big winner in 2015 – Austin Family Business of the Year. Check out the video presentation here.
Giving Back
Being successful in business is a privilege that we take very seriously. As part of that responsibility, we like to give back to our community. We do this in various ways, including charitable donations. More than that, we love the opportunity to share our story and impact future business leaders. Teaching and helping other family business owners (and future owners) is something we look forward to doing as often as possible. Do you know a good business program that needs a speaker? Call us today!
by admin | May 26, 2017 | Company News, Customers/Examples
Rose City Label will be closed Monday, May 29th in honor of Memorial Day.
Thank you to all our employees, customers, vendors and friends that have supported us throughout this past year. Please take this day off with your family to remember the sacrifices of people that have come before us to make this such a great nation. We are truly fortunate and blessed.
We will be back early Tuesday morning to work on your label order.
Please contact us if we can help with an upcoming project.
by admin | May 16, 2017 | Company News, Environmental Green
Rose City Label GREEN!
We constantly tries to find ways to reduce waste, resource consumption, and our overall environmental impact. Even before our first certification from Clackamas County in 2009, we have had an eye toward green business practices. This photo shows one of our many reuse projects – a friend of Rose City Label used surplus pallets to build beautiful cages for his garden. We are very proud of this type of reuse project – we have had several other items like this featured on the blog in the past. Here are some tips to help you on your GREEN journey.
Begin with the End in Mind
The easiest way to get rid of excess material is to not buy or create it in the first place. If you can buy from a more local source, or choose a product with less packaging, you will have less clean up to do on the back end. Rose City Label is GREEN – we always consider the eco-impact of our purchases so we can minimize the impact before it is created.
Negotiate with Vendors
Often, if you work closely with your supplier partners, you can return boxes or pallets for reuse. We do this with our core boxes – we buy many, many thousands of cardboard cores each month. These are delivered in large corrugated boxes. When the boxes are empty, our vendor picks them up when they are delivering our next delivery of cores. This marriage helps save the supplier (and us) money, but also gets more life out of that one corrugated box. Since Rose City Label is GREEN, we try to ask these questions as we make supplier selections. Not everyone can accomodate your needs, but you will never know if you don’t ask.
Get the Word Out
The only way we were able to give away the pallets in the photo above is that we let people know – Rose City Label is GREEN! They ask us about recycling and our friends, employees, vendors and customers know that we are into recycling. Because we have been doing this – and because we brag about it – people ask for surplus materials. We are happy to share! Spread the word.
Sell Your Old Stuff
As we have upgraded our equipment, we have sold off old equipment through used equipment dealers. Often you can get rid of general use items on Craigslist or Ebay, but for more specialized equipment, you need to network with specific resellers in your industry. Get to know these people so you always have a ready buyer for your surplus equipment. Even though a particular item is no use to us anymore due to the quality of label we are producing, there are always smaller startup companies that can use your old equipment.
Finally, Recycle
Because Rose City Label is GREEN, recycling is always the last option. It is much better than landfill, but recycling consumes many resources. If you have to, by all means please recycle all your paper, metal, wood, and any other commodity. Try the other things first, but if they don’t work, find a good recycler to dispose of your surplus equipment.
We Can Help!
Rose City Label is GREEN. A big part of that is helping customers, suppliers and friends on their green journey. If you need help or have questions, please call us today. We can help.
by admin | May 2, 2017 | Company News, Technical, Videos
We Constantly Reinvest in the Latest Technology to Serve You Better
Servo driven technology keeps us on the cutting edge. Our customers demand better labels each day. We work hard to bring them to you faster, more accurately, and at a more competitive price. By investing in our fourth state of the art, servo driven machine, we are raising the bar on quality each day. Servo driven technology means our machines are faster, more reliable, and more accurate for you.
Video – See the Machine in Action!
Check out this 2 minute video to see the machine running in our shop. This isn’t a demo or a factory video – this is our machine running on our floor! Click here to see the video of this new machine.
Faster Label Production
With speeds up to 900 feet per minute, this servo driven technology flies through the orders. The touch screen setup is faster and the actual rewind process is much faster than before.
More Accurate Roll Counts
With precise servo driven technology, you know you will get exactly the roll count you need. Being able to deliver repeatable, high quality labels is a cornerstone of what we do at Rose City Label.
Servo Driven Technology – More Reliable – Meeting Commitments
Being able to guarantee on-time deliveries is important to our customers. By constantly upgrading and modernizing, we can be sure that our equipment will be ready to serve you – on time, every time. If a machine does break down, modern electronics backed by a US company help us to always be back up and running quickly. This machine helps us to stand behind our commitments.
Constantly Modernizing For You!
As we continue on our 90th year of label production, we are not resting on our success. We are constantly moving forward with the latest technology innovations. Check out our new Foil Stamping Press by clicking here. We also added environmentally friendly, water-wash printing plates last year. Check out this post to learn more about these new printing plates. Please call us today for all your label needs – we are working hard and preparing for the future so we can always be your trusted label printing partner.
by admin | Feb 14, 2017 | Company News, Environmental Green
Rose City Label is collaborating with the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) on a new eco-friendly project. If successful, this will bring Oregon recycling to a whole new level. Rather than crushing and recycling the glass bottles, this innovative new approach is trying to reuse bottles from selected breweries.
Beer Bottle Recycling
Here is a part of the text of the press release:
As a national leader in environmental initiatives and craft brewing, Oregon represents an ideal setting to create a refillable beer bottle system. Such a system would take beverage industry stewardship well beyond the success of Oregon’s iconic bottle bill program.
This program has technical challenges, so the OBRC has enlisted the help of industry experts 
including Rose City Label. Similar programs have been successful in Europe and we are trying to build on this success to make a world class program here in Oregon. Heavier bottles are being tested to ensure they are durable enough to be used multiple times after washing, and the label adhesive is also a crucial component that we are working on with the program coordinator.
Stay Tuned – This is a Work in Progress
We have several systemic and technical challenges to overcome in order to make this program a success. 
With the hard work of the advisory partners and the OBRC, we are confident that we will make steady, meaningful progress toward a more sustainable program for container reuse. Please check back often as we make progress toward this important goal.
Check out the Refill Program website by clicking here
Thank you to the OBRC and Our Amazing Customers
We were only included in this program because of a very kind recommendation from one of our customers. We will continue to work hard to earn your trust and stay on the cutting edge of eco-friendly business ideas.
by admin | Jan 11, 2017 | Company News
This much snow hasn’t hit Portland in years!
Some people are saying we haven’t had a downpour like this since January 1996, which lead to massive flooding in Portland in February that same year. We certainly hope that isn’t the case, but we are trying to prepare.
Safety First
We were lucky to have three dedicated people who live close to the office that were able to make it in for a few hours today. They ensured the shop was safe and secure, they were able to get a little work done, and then leave for the day. Thankfully, this isn’t a particularly busy time of year for us and we didn’t have any promised deliveries that had to go out today. Regardless, we always prioritize safety for our employees so closing the office was an easy decision.
We Will Be Back
Hopefully by tomorrow enough snow will be melted to allow us to get back to work tomorrow with a full crew. THANK YOU all for your support and understanding during this difficult weather.
