The Metro New York Printing Ink Association (MNYPIA) announces that their May meeting will be a tribute to John Jilek Sr., who has been named the 13th recipient of the club’s Anthony Mauriello Man of the Year award.

John grew up in Cleveland, OH. In 1975, he graduated from Franciscan University, Steubenville, OH, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in marketing.

He started his career in 1975 working for the Day-Glo Color Corp. in Cleveland. After a two-year extensive training program working through the company, he moved to Chicago in 1975 to work with “specifies” promoting Day-Glo concepts. In 1979, he started in sales.

In 1982, John went to work for Lawter International as the fluorescent product manager. Then in 1984, he was the Dyall wax compound product manager. Quickly rising through the organization, he was promoted in 1985 to European general manager where he was responsible for Lawter’s European operations, based in Antwerp, Belgium.

In 1989 he was promoted again to VP sales, North America, back in the company’s headquarters in Chicago. His responsibilities continued to grow as he took on the sales of South America and the Pacific Rim in 1994 and 1995, where he oversaw the construction of two plants in China and Singapore. In 1998, he was made the president and chief operating officer.

In 1999 John left Lawter to work for Ink Systems as president. In 2001 he started his own company, Inksolutions, in Elk Grove, IL as president-again, where he serves to this day.

The MNYPIA changed the Man of the Year award name this year to honor Anthony Mauriello, a founding board member of the club, who passed away in 2014.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 21, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at The Iberia Peninsula Restaurant, and will include a wine and beer bar reception and dinner. The cost to attend is $85. The Iberia Peninsula Restaurant is located at 63-69 Ferry Street in Newark, NJ. Phone: 973-344-7603.

Please reserve your spot today in what will be a very special and fun evening. To be included, simply sign up on the club’s website, which is MNYPIA.com.