Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/278800
18 | /insight on manufacturing • March 2014 w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m L ike his brother, Jonathan Patton was headed for the big leagues. "I le college to play basketball in the NBA. I got draed by the Dallas Mavericks," says Patton, whose brother is former Green Bay Packers defensive back Charles Woodson. But even at the top of his game, Patton maintained a realistic view of a career as a professional athlete. "I understand that basketball doesn't last forever. My ultimate goal was to have another career," he says. "I knew I wanted to be in manufacturing, I just wasn't sure what area." Flexography can print on many types of absorbent and non-absorbent materials and is commonly used for products like paper and plastic bags, milk cartons, disposable cups and candy bar wrappers. "e printing industry is far from dead," Gehrt says. "Look at all the packaging that's out there. Flexography has the majority of the packaging industry because of its ability to print on a wide variety of surfaces." In fact, the packaging industry is the fastest growing job segment in America today, Gehrt says, with its heart in the Fox Valley. Paving a path to print flexography provides new manufacturing career opportunity for pro athlete e answer became clear during a trip to Lambeau Field to watch his brother play. During the game, Patton struck up a conversation with fellow Packers fan Greg Santaga, president and CEO of Green Bay Converting and Hattiesburg Paper Corporation. e company operates a plant in Green Bay along with their operation in Hattiesburg, Miss. "He thought I would fit the mold of somebody who would be successful in this industry and said, 'If you're really serious about manufacturing, I'll make it interesting for you. I'll give you an opportunity to come in and learn the business,'" Patton explains. Although it would require a move to Green Bay from Houston, Patton felt the offer was too good to pass up. "It was the opportunity of a lifetime to come in and learn a business," he says. With that, Patton hung up his high tops and headed north. He completed the degree he'd been pursuing in college before he le to play basketball, earning his bachelor's in communications at UW-Green Bay. en, to increase his technical skills, he enrolled in Fox Valley Technical College's (FVTC) Package and Label Printing program, ready to take Santaga up on his offer. "When I have a passion for something I give it 110 percent," Patton says. "Just like I did with basketball, I put 110 percent into pursuing this opportunity." The promise of print Anyone's who's bought into the bleak prediction that "print is dead" need only walk into their local grocery store to have that statement dispelled. "Anytime you walk into a store, more than half of the packaging you see was printed using flexography," says Scott Gehrt, package and label printing instructor at FVTC. Flexography, or flexographic printing, is a high-speed print process which uses flexible printing plates made of rubber or plastic. Scott Gehrt, package and label printing instructor at FVTC B y C o n n i e F e l l m a n