Tenacity, resiliency, and the pioneering spirit have been hallmarks of K. Sidrane’s journey. The Long Island, NY-based label converter has experienced exponential growth thanks to a focus on cutting-edge technology, exploring new markets, strong company culture, and significant poise in the face of adversity.

Now in its third generation, K. Sidrane traces its roots back to World War II. With a degree in metallurgy and engineering, Merchant Marine Harold Sidrane returned to New York in search of new beginnings. Harold and his wife, Katherine, both worked at Sperry Gyroscope, but entrepreneurship beckoned. K. Sidrane was established in 1948, and Harold quickly put his skills to work.

“Someone recommended he get into the tape business, and he thought that sounded like a pretty good idea,” says Neil Sidrane, owner and CEO. “My father being an engineer, he built his own press. My parents lived in Manhattan on Bank Street, and I remember my mother telling me about how the neighbors in the building weren’t too happy because my father was running this machine in the apartment. From there it progressed, and then he opened up a factory in Queens.”

In the 1960s, Harold, who was featured in Bill Klein’s 1994 book, They Built An Industry, brought the company to Freeport, Long Island. K. Sidrane operated out of a 2,000 square-foot facility before embarking on several additions. The final iteration of the plant was 10,500 square feet, as it remained until 2012.

Neil, who grew up in the family business, joined the company in 1978. “He built all his own presses, and while my father was building machines, me and my brothers would run around with the hand trucks and go up and down all the aisles,” recalls Neil. “When I was in high school, I worked in the warehouse and built boxes to hold tooling. When I graduated from college, I went right into the business.”

Throughout the years, K. Sidrane enjoyed modest growth. The company emerged as an early adopter of digital label printing. However, 2012 became a turning point for K. Sidrane. Long Island, along with many parts of the tri-state area, was devastated by Hurricane Sandy that year. “Superstorm Sandy,” as it was called, caused more than $70 billion in damage in the United States. The Freeport facility and much of the company’s equipment was submerged under four feet of water. 

While the devastation rendered much of the equipment in the Freeport location inoperable, resiliency was on full display. K. Sidrane’s vendors played a key role. Plus, Neil’s children, Adam, Arielle, and Zach, all subsequently joined the company.

“After the storm, we were struggling to stay in business,” says Michael Liff, COO. “We relied on close relationships with a lot of vendors, including HP, ABG, and Rotoflex. HP found us a facility on Long Island to partner with – a place where we could use their equipment. The owner of Piping Rock Health Products, Scott Rudolph, had just bought a company and had an HP press but didn’t really know how to use it at the time. I would shuttle two people there every day, six days a week, to run their HP press and their ABG. Then, one day a month, we would run their jobs for them and teach their operators. That relationship kept us going.”

Pennsylvania’s Labels by Peluzzi, Long Island’s Precision Label, and Massachusetts’ Reid Label & Graphics were all instrumental in allowing K. Sidrane to continue running label work out of their facilities. In July of 2013, Neil closed on a deal to acquire K. Sidrane’s current space in Farmingdale, NY.  Today, K. Sidrane is home to nearly 80 employees in two Farmingdale-based facilities, which account for more than 50,000 square feet of space.

“We literally rebuilt this entire facility,” says Neil. “From soup to nuts, we did everything – we totally gutted and renovated it. We cut up the floors, moved the plumbing, and took care of everything but the windows. After the storm we knew we had to move and relocate because God forbid we have another storm. I had 35 employees at the time, and I felt responsible because these people all had families.”

Liff, Fredis Bonilla, operations manager, and James Flora, production manager, have been instrumental in growing K. Sidrane alongside Neil. They have also served as mentors to the third generation. Adam now functions as vice president, while Arielle is the company’s director of marketing. Zach has the title of president. Neil’s wife, Risa, has also been integral to the company’s success, having functioned in several support roles for more than 40 years.

The third generation has helped drive growth, as K. Sidrane produces labels, flexible packaging, and shrink sleeves for customers throughout North America. Markets range from food and beverage to medical devices and cannabis.

“We’re process driven,” explains Adam. “We work with companies across the country. We have clients that extend to Utah and Texas, and we do ship to Mexico. If it fits our process, we’ll take on the work.”

Real-life heroes

Heroes abounded during K. Sidrane’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy. From the dedicated staff to the converter’s loyal vendors, numerous people were instrumental in K. Sidrane’s quick bounce-back.

Adam and Zach were critical in helping renovate the new office space, as they could often be seen on scissor lifts painting the ceiling. Several employees would join Liff on his daily trips back and forth from Freeport to make sure labels continued making their way to clients.

The Sidrane family has established a culture that has not gotten lost on employees, either. “It’s the way we’ve always operated; we treat people like family,” explains Neil. “Our employees are our biggest asset. Anyone can buy equipment, but we’ve invested a lot of money in training our people. And a lot of people we’ve trained from the ground up.”

 “One thing that shows just what this company is about – every one of the employees who worked with us in Freeport before the storm came with us to Farmingdale,” adds Liff. “Everybody stayed with us. Many didn’t have to commute at all because they lived in that town. Now they commute the 15 miles to this facility and they stayed with us, which shows their commitment.”

The proof is in the long-tenured staff, which has grown via positive word-of-mouth referrals. K. Sidrane’s lead operator has worked with the company for nearly 20 years, and his wife has joined him for 17 years. Meanwhile, the operator’s mother, stepfather, and brother have all worked – and continue to work, save for one recent retirement – at the company for north of a decade.

“It’s different now because it was a mom-and-pop company in the earlier days, and then we started to grow and grow,” says Liff. “We keep that mentality, though. It’s an incredible place to work for, and the environment is great, the camaraderie is great, and the ownership is great. They take care of their employees and provide excellent benefits. It’s an exceptional work environment.”

Of course, K. Sidrane’s vendors have played a critical role in the company’s success, as well. Suppliers’ willingness to work with K. Sidrane – on everything from payment timelines to replacement equipment – allowed the team to get back on its feet.

HP and ABG have been long-time vendor partners that were integral in K. Sidrane’s revival. ABG, specifically, went above and beyond to take care of a loyal customer.

“ABG was a real hero for us,” says Neil. “Because our ABG was entirely under water, too, we had to rebuild that entire press. That was a long process because it was such a big machine. We had to rip out every electrical component and every electrical touchpoint. We literally rebuilt the entire machine. 

“In the meantime, ABG sent another press from Europe that they were taking out of another facility – at no charge,” Neil continues. “ABG literally gave us this loaner press. They shipped it here, and we didn’t have to pay for freight – we didn’t pay for anything. They were a hero for us; they did everything. All of our vendors were great, every single one.”

In addition to HP and ABG, K. Sidrane received strong support from Avery Dennison, Flexcon, and Green Bay Packaging on the pressure sensitive label material side. Plus, RotoMetrics, a Maxcess brand, and Rotoflex were instrumental, as well.

“We owed a decent amount of money to our vendors, but we always paid our bills on time,” remarks Neil. “We were never late. There I was, sitting with no business and no cashflow. So, I reached out to our vendors, and they all agreed to allow us to pay over time. Every supplier worked with us.”

“It’s all about relationships and loyalty,” adds Liff. “It’s a good learning lesson for any small-to medium-sized business. You do the right thing and you pay your bills on time – and you have an upstanding relationship with a vendor – a true, loyal partner will take care of you.”

Digital pioneers

Digital label printing has emerged as one of the industry’s hot topics in recent years, but K. Sidrane made the calculated decision to become one of the first converters to enter the space more than 20 years ago.

Liff, a technology expert and a good friend of Neil’s, assisted K. Sidrane with its foray into digital. Prior to joining the company in 2003, Liff had experience working with an HP Indigo ws4500 digital press. Management attended several tradeshows, with a keen eye on HP’s technology. However, the Freeport facility lacked the space to accommodate the HP press. The team remained determined, however. In 2010, K. Sidrane built a dedicated room to house digital technology when it bought its first HP Indigo WS6000 digital press.

In order to make space, K. Sidrane removed much of its old equipment, including a Scribe press and several of Harold’s early innovations. The HP Indigo WS6000 was operational for nearly two years until Hurricane Sandy ravaged the facility. HP sent the press back to Israel for repair, and the refurbished version would later be used to help acquire newer HP technology.

Today, the vast majority of K. Sidrane’s label runs are produced digitally. The company will run medical device work on an old Webtron press, but label work has shifted to HP. K. Sidrane operates two HP Indigo WS6800 digital presses and an HP Indigo 8000 digital press. Most recently, K. Sidrane added a Durst Tau RSCi digital inkjet press to complement the toner technology available with the HP suite. 

“The Durst is a simple machine to run and it’s fast,” says Adam. “We pretty much investigated every inkjet press. We visited TLF Graphics in Rochester, NY, and Bob McJury was very gracious in showing us the technology. The Durst press is really our solution to flexo, because we were just not interested in going back in that direction.”

“The Durst is not a replacement, it’s a complement to the fleet,” adds Zach. “We had a need for faster and longer runs, and this was
the solution.”

To complement its digital printing, K. Sidrane runs two ABG units with a third on the way. An ABG DigiLite with Fast Track diecutting will work alongside a near-line turret. That will mark the next equipment installation for the Long Island converter.

‘Big plans’

With expansions on several fronts, the company is eyeing seismic growth. Adam, Arielle, and Zach are committed to furthering the Sidrane legacy, and the third generation has established a strong vision for the future.

“There’s a legacy here, and we don’t want to screw that up,” states Adam. “The only way to continue that is to continue to grow
the business.”

“We’re in growth mode – plain and simple,” adds Neil. “When I started in this business, our sales were less than $500,000 a year. We do that in less than a week now. These guys have big plans. We’re really in the infancy of our second plant, too.”

From a leadership standpoint, the management team has gained tremendous value from its FLAG (Flexo Label Advantage Group) membership. Liff has been an active member, and Adam has taken the reins over the past year.

“FLAG has done a great job building this community,” says Adam. “A lot of printers don’t have all these different capabilities. FLAG members can communicate directly with each other. It’s great for someone like me, who’s working with seven members who have been in the industry for 40 years. People are just willing to share knowledge, and that’s what I love about it.”

Leadership growth has been internal, too. “From a production, management, and leadership standpoint, just being a mentor, Freddy has been a really big help to me,” states Adam. “Michael has also been a big mentor to me. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them.”

Flexible packaging will play a key part in the converter’s future. Just as K. Sidrane was on the cutting-edge of digital label printing, the company was quick to add flexible packaging and shrink sleeve capabilities to its portfolio.

“When I started, one thing I began looking into was the flexible packaging market,” recalls Adam. “From 2019 to 2022, we were visiting a variety of vendors and companies that were allowing us to see a range of equipment, from HP 25Ks at the time to their pouch-making equipment. The idea was to go into this market, since we were supporting so many clients with their labels. If you’re selling their label, you can essentially use these same films for their stick packs and cartons and keep consistency across their entire brand. It made sense for us because we were working with so many clients where we were just doing one portion of their business when we could be doing everything.”

The second K. Sidrane facility, located several doors down from 24 Baiting Place Road, has been established to handle flexible packaging growth, as well as shrink sleeves.

“We did struggle looking for a building, but we were determined to get into this market because we were brokering out a lot of this business,” comments Neil. “Adam basically handled everything with our flexible packaging journey, and he convinced me to do this. The market has evolved dramatically.  

“We spent two years looking all over Long Island,” adds Neil. “We bought the building in July of 2023. Finally, we started getting more equipment in there – the laminator, the pouch machines, a slitter, a shrink sleeve seamer, and then another pouch machine and a Grafotronic unit. Then we got a second HP press. Now we’re almost done building the offices. We are full steam ahead.”