An American Success: Unifoil Honors 25-Year Company Vet Joseph Funicelli

Published: August 25, 2003, By PRESS RELEASE

FAIRFIELD, NJ, USA—President and CEO of Unifoil Corp. Joseph J. Funicelli recently celebrated his 25th anniversary with the company, says the manufacturer/creator of coating, laminating and metallizing technology and materials. He was honored at a private reception attended by company shareholders and employees.

Unifoil issued the following release in commemoration of the event.

Funicelli’s career with Unifoil Corporation is a classic tale of American success. At the age of eighteen he accepted a summer job with the company, which was then called Anaconda Aluminum Corporation, learning about laminating. Two and a half decades later, Funicelli’s business acumen, vision, loyalty, and drive have helped transform Unifoil Corporation into an innovative, award-winning company that produces eye-catching foils, films and holographic materials for prestigious consumer goods manufacturers.

"Joe Funicelli is Unifoil Corporation," says George Barenholtz, associate board member at Unifoil. "He has worked in every area of the company and has accrued a tremendous wealth of knowledge. Yet, he continues to learn, grow and look to the future. Joe leads with intelligence and insight, and every Unifoil Corporation customer gains from his vast expertise," he adds.

Among Funicelli’s many accomplishments are the development of the award-winning UniLustre, Holographic UniLustre, and Registered Holographic UniLustre materials. When they were launched in the mid and late 90s, these unique non-laminated, transfer metallized, and holographic metallized papers and boards offered consumer goods manufacturers a dramatic new marketing aesthetic. The Gillette Company, Estee Lauder, Cadbury Schweppes, and Warner Lambert were among the early adopters of UniLustre brand.

"Joe is a visionary," says Bob Gallino, research and development manager, who worked with Funicelli to develop the UniLustre brand. "Creating new products inevitably present many technical challenges. Someone with less heart might have abandoned the effort. But Joe never lost confidence in the products or their potential," Gallino reports.

Funicelli’s work with the UniLustre brand not only grew business, but it also helped the company earn top honors from AIMCAL, the Association of Industrial Metallizers, Coaters, and Laminators. These included two prestigious "Peter Rigney Product of the Year" awards (named after the late and former PFFC editor) and several marketing and technical awards. Unifoil Corporation’s first "Peter Rigney" award, presented in 2000, was for Cadbury Schweppes’ "The Milk Tray" holiday chocolate box made with Double Rainbow Holographic UniLustre.

In March of this year, Unifoil Corporation received its second product of the year award for the company’s work on the Estee Lauder "Forever Elizabeth" heart-shaped cosmetic set up box.

Joseph J. Funicelli earned his B.S. in business administration from Pace University, NY, NY in 1982. He has dedicated his career to the company. In 1998 Funicelli was named President/CEO.

Visit Unifoil at unifoil.com.