www.alpinepackaging.com
By Lisa Rouh

Alpine Packaging’s journey of label printing excellence dates back to the 1950s, when founder Bill Johnson was a partner in a business primarily printing five-and-dime store pricing labels for the 3M Company. During a sales call with Kelly-Springfield Tire Company in Cumberland, MD, Johnson overheard a buyer struggling to get labels from a supplier. The buyer turned to Johnson and offered him all of the company’s business – and that’s where the rubber hit the road for Johnson’s career in tire label manufacturing.

In 1972, after surviving a nearly fatal bleeding ulcer, Johnson decided to launch his own company to custom-manufacture printed labels, tapes, cellophane, and poly bags for customers across the United States. He and his wife, Sug, rallied their teenage children – twin daughters, Jan and Jill, and son, Bobby – to commit to join the family business. 

The Johnsons built a 10,000 square-foot manufacturing plant on the former site of a convent, the Vogue Terrace Night Club, and the Alpine Hotel. Inspired by the “A” that placed the name first in the phone book, they named the company Alpine Packaging. Sug designed the original logo, cleverly using a roll of tape to form the P in Packaging. With seven employees, two tire label presses, and one cellophane candy bag machine, Alpine hit the road running.

Today, the company operates from a 43,000 square-foot facility in North Versailles, PA. Its 32 employees produce custom pressure  sensitive product labels and tapes, clear polyethylene bags, and flexible packaging films. Alpine Packaging serves a wide range of industries – from its roots in tire labels to CBD, clothing, food and beverage, fragrances, health and beauty, janitorial and industrial, mining safety and fire service, nutraceuticals, pet care, and even robotics. The labels and films produced meet demanding requirements for quality, turnaround, and innovation across the US, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and beyond.

Alpine’s fleet of printing equipment includes a range of Mark Andy presses (five 830s, two 910s, four 2200s, and an LP3000), a Webtron 1000, and a Screen Truepress Jet L350 UV digital press. The L350 allows for precision color matching – especially for hard-to-hit brand shades – and makes short runs, variable data, and complex graphics fast and cost-effective.

Also pushing boundaries are Alpine’s flexo presses. On the LP3000, the team has conquered unsupported film, a challenging material that usually requires chill rolls for stability. This capability has opened doors to niche markets such as single-serve beverage wraps and individually-labeled cookies. The facility also includes three slitter-rewinders and a modern platemaking system.

With 14 presses, advanced platemaking, and a growing digital program, Alpine Packaging has the tools – but it’s the people who make the difference. The company’s experienced label engineers work with customers to understand each product’s surface, shape, and environment. Whether a label needs to stick to a dusty tire, wrap around a frozen bottle, or peel cleanly from delicate packaging, the team selects the right combination of material and adhesive from a deep inventory.

“We’re not just a label printer,” states Jan Lehigh, Johnson’s daughter and the company’s current CEO. “We consider ourselves label engineers. We want to know what your product is and where it’s being applied so we can recommend the right material and adhesive that works – and that lasts.”

That problem-solving mindset has led to standout projects, from scratch-and-sniff labels for auto and CBD products to cast-and-cure embellishments that help craft beer labels shine. Alpine has even printed path-tracking patterns for warehouse robots.

As the company’s second generation, Lehigh and her siblings learned the label business from the ground up. She recalls getting dressed up to join her father on sales calls during school breaks, sweeping floors, and operating a cellophane candy bag machine. Her parents required all three children to graduate from college and gain outside experience before joining the company full-time.

Lehigh earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education with a focus on business, and worked as a substitute high school teacher at her alma mater for three years – leaving school at 3 pm each day to type invoices for her mother. When she officially joined Alpine, she started in customer service, then moved into press scheduling, inside and outside sales, and, in 2004, the leadership role of CEO. Her brother left the company in 2007, and her sister retired in 2021. But Lehigh still treasures the time all five family members worked together to grow the family business – and their family bond.

“My parents would have lunch with us in the conference room every day, and we’d talk about business or just about life,” she says. “That time together meant a lot. Now my son Chase is our digital specialist, and my son Chad is sales manager. I bring lunch for us every day because I want them to feel that same love and connection. And now I’m excited that our first grandchild – Chase’s daughter, Liliana, born earlier this year – could be the first in our fourth generation of Alpine!”

That strong connection extends throughout the Alpine Packaging team. The Lehighs have built a workplace culture that treats employees like extended family.

“Our employees’ happiness is essential to our success, and we love gathering for pizza day, donuts, or Olive Garden to stay connected,” Lehigh says. “Our open-door policy invites people to come in and talk, even about personal issues. That kind of support leads to long-tenured, loyal team members – it’s not unusual for them to retire after more than 40 years with us.”

As a woman-owned business in a predominantly male industry, Alpine is also carving new paths in the marketplace. The company has earned Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Tier 1 certification, helping it supply government agencies and companies that prioritize minority-owned vendors. Lehigh is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute (TLMI), and Southwestern Pennsylvania’s economic development agency, Catalyst Connection.

“We’re proud of what we’ve built,” Lehigh concludes. “We’re a woman-owned, family-run label engineering company that treats employees like family, thrives on challenges, and delivers quality labels that solve real-world problems.”