Jim Cincinello

Likeability is an important predictor to success in life. Some people seem naturally endowed with appealing personalities. They tend to complement their aptitudes by being personable and graceful, by presenting themselves well, and by possessing the social skills for every occasion.

If there is anyone within the IADD who personifies "likeability," it is Jim Cincinello, a partner in Marco Die Supplies, Inc. Chosen by IADD President Greg Zimmer of Zimmer Industries to be the recipient of the 2010 IADD Presidential Award, Cincinello is “someone who has all these sterling qualities, and much more.

Zimmer both regaled and roasted Cincinello (shown at left with wife Diana) before presenting him with the award at the IADD’s Midyear Leadership Conference held in New Orleans, LA, USA at the Loews Hotel. Professing to be jealous and envious of Cincinello, in actuality Zimmer lauded him for being one of the IADD’s top membership ambassadors. Cincinello has volunteered to staff numerous booths at CorrExpo, GFA Expo, and other trade shows where he put in much time and effort, all at his own expense. “His booth style is energetic, enthusiastic, passionate, and persuasive. His skill at drawing people in (including his unerring aim with pieces of candy) and his in-depth knowledge of IADD, combine to make him a formidable one-man sales force. He’s always willing to raise his hand to help with any project.”

In addition, Cincinello “became an IADD chapter officer at a time of great change, and he skillfully took the chapter reins and committed to its growth. He acted as vice-chair and beyond, planning, promoting and running excellent meetings, while ‘pitching’ IADD membership to all who would listen. How well the Lake Michigan chapter has functioned is certainly due in great part to his varied skills and good nature. One of his greatest contributions is his uncanny ability to bring people together.”

Cincinello started in 1975 at Triangle Dies as a draftsman, laying out dies by hand. He intended to become a machinist until they told him that he had to purchase all his own tools. He saw an ad in the paper and applied for the position. It just so happened that when he applied in person, he realized that the owner Joe Marovich, Sr. who was on the same bowling league as his mother for the last 15 years. He got the job on the spot.

After about two months in the layout department, he was asked if he wanted to learn how to jig and knife rotary and flat dies for the corrugated industry. “Of course I said ‘Yes!’ and I worked in the shop as a jigger/knifer for over eight years,” he adds.

As Triangle started growing, there were other opportunities for Cincinello. He was asked if he wanted to move to second shift and be a working supervisor of the eight guys, and “of course I said ‘Yes.’”

So he ran the second shift, managing, inspecting the dies as they were finished, running samples to make sure they were correct, then wrapped and shipped. From there he would fill in when the first shift managers were sick or on vacation, working both first and second shifts. His normal day was 16 to 20 hours. After doing that for about two years, there was another opening that came up—running the supply department, which included handling the stock for the shop and for resale. He reorganized the whole supply department to get it running smoothly, and at the same time, a few other jobs were added on, like building maintenance inside and out, equipment repair, and truck maintenance. After doing that for a few years, he was offered the opportunity to purchase a small portion of the company. So “of course I said ‘Yes.’” He worked there for another five years and decided it was time for a change.

In 1989 he started with Wagner Midwest, based in Wyoming, MI, USA, which was a suburb of Grand Rapids. He was hired as a sales person selling die supplies. After three months he was promoted to General Manager. He lived in the Chicago area, as he traveled the Midwest. After four years in Wyoming, MI, the company decided to make a leap into the Chicago area, which is Elmhurst, IL, USA today. He was with the Wagner Group until the beginning of the year 2000.

In February of 2000 he went into business with Jeff Charno from Performance Dieboard. They were equal partners for about two months when they decided to merge their company with a larger company that was more established in the industry. That was Marco Wood Products. After about three months, they decided to change the name of the company to Marco Die Supplies, which it remains today.

Cincinello feels one of the main challenges of being in business today is trying to educate people and stay on top of all the new products, machines and products being cut in the industry. He says, “Your work is never done. To grow, you need to learn. Never look back; always look in front of you.”

He advises newcomers in the industry to, “Work hard, be honest, learn everything people are willing to teach you. No matter what happens, try to always look at the positive, and most of all be good to all people.” As a talker who also walks the talk, Cincinello hopes to teach the people that he works with as much as he can so they can continue where he leaves off. At the same time, his goal is “to put a smile on everyone’s face that I talk to.”

While he feels the future of the industry looks good, he admits that it is shrinking. “We are the industry, and we have to invest in ourselves and the business to keep things growing. We all complain about China and other markets coming in, but it is our job to do what we do better, quicker, and without fault.”

He says that he has been very lucky to have found such great opportunities in this industry, but he also cites his family as key to his success. “I have such an understanding wife and kids to put up with me, as I’m away so much. My son Anthony has graduated from college and is a mechanic; daughter Elana graduated from Bradley with a marketing degree and works for Marco; and son Vincent currently works in the Marco warehouse.

His crazy travel and work hours mean that he has to work out at 4:50 am when he’s in town, but they don’t stop him from contributing his time and talent to the Knights of Columbus, involvement in TAPPI, or riding motorcycles (his hobby).

It’s no surprise that this genuinely humble and likeable man “would like to talk to young kids and try to help them understand what life is about. I’d like them to know that if they stay out of trouble and work hard, good things will happen. What gives me a good feeling is when I know I made a difference. I don’t need to be told, but I really like to see the good things from my efforts—in my family, business and just in my life.”

Without a doubt, the IADD has seen many good things come from Jim’s efforts and congratulates him on receiving this award.

No matter what responsibility he’s been asked to shoulder or what kind of task he’s asked to perform, the extremely likeable Jim Cincinello, of course, says “Yes.”