Did you ever wonder what happens after your labels come off the press? In our latest Meet the Team interview, you’ll meet Chad Medved, a key part of Alpine’s Shipping and Rewinding department. With more than a decade in printing (and a brief stop in Pittsburgh’s brewing scene), Chad shares how he found his way back to labels—and why Alpine’s family culture, teamwork, and “checks and balances” mindset help ensure only top-quality work leaves our building.
Q: How did you begin working at Alpine Packaging?
Chad: I went to school at California University for graphic communications, multimedia and marketing, and I started working in the printing industry in about 2011. I worked for several different printing companies. Screen Printing Company in Charleroi. I worked for a company in Delmont, and I also worked for 84 Lumber, and I was a digital press operator.
I actually left the industry to start a career in the brewing industry. After being in the ad industry for about ten years, I decided that I wanted to step back into print. I actually got this job at Alpine because I met Jim and Jason at Grist House, where I used to work at the brewery in Pittsburgh, and they supplied us our label, so I was their main contact there.
By the time that I knew there was a position and an opening here at Alpine, I already knew them and I was familiar with them, and they were familiar with my work, ultimately with their work, and I’ve had over ten years of experience in the printing industry as it is. That that’s the gist of my background.
Q: What does your day-to-day role with the Shipping and Rewinding Team look like?
Chad: My day to day role here at Alpine in the Shipping and Rewinding Department is always different. I never know what’s going to be coming in and what’s going to be going out. A lot of the times there might be a rush order, or we might have a single job that will take all day long to do. So it’s never really the same thing twice, which is why it keeps me on my toes.
I also enjoy the fact that I can go from being in the Shipping Department to being the Rewinding Department and still work both areas wherever they need me to be. That way I’m never bored. I’m never not working because, you know, idle hands. You know what they say.
Q: How would you describe the team you work with?
Chad: The culture here at Alpine is unlike any other that I’ve really experienced. Most jobs that I have family doesn’t really come into it, but this is a family-owned business, and they really make you feel like you are family here, regardless if you’re new or if you’ve been here for 45 years. Everybody feels like they’re part of the family, and they really embody that wholeheartedly.
Q: How would you describe the culture at Alpine?
Chad: Alpine definitely stands for quality. There is no question on that. We have so many checks and balances for everything that we do here. So we value the quality of the product that we send out our door. And if we don’t feel that it’s up to our standards, it does not leave this building. I think that the values that they share, just as a family can, it bleeds over into the workplace. And everybody kind of also embodies that. It’s very symbiotic, I would say.
Q: Can you describe the floor process of getting a client’s order to the final product?
Chad: I can try to explain the process from start to finish, but it is quite a long process because we have so many different people that are involved, and we have so many checks and balances. That that’s why the quality of the product that goes out the door is always top notch. If one person finds something wrong with it, it is brought to everyone’s attention immediately.
We go from the customer ordering the product, and then it goes from there to proofing digital artwork. Depending on how it’s going to be produced, it either goes to the traditional flexor graphic presses or we take it to our digital press. Once that is finished, that it usually has to be rewound.
Then that comes to the Shipping Department where we do our final checks. So every step of the way, whenever it comes to the salesperson, the digital art room, then the actual pressmen, then the rewinds, then the Shipping Department, the checks and balances. There are more than enough. But believe it or not, you definitely don’t know how much really goes into just those little labels that you have on your milk cartons or your iced tea bottles. It’s a lot more work than you ever would think.
Q: How do you see teamwork contribute to the quality of the final products at Alpine?
Chad: Teamwork is very important because there’s not one person here that knows how to do everything. Without everybody’s help, this would never be possible. Teamwork is very vital, but it also is important for us to all get along with each other. And fortunately, here at Alpine, the morale is very high. Everybody is friends with everybody. Everybody gets along, and it makes for a really satisfying and really constructive work environment. That’s where teamwork really comes into play here.
Q: How does Alpine support your growth and learning in your role?
Chad: I believe that they support me and my role by listening to my strengths and my weaknesses and finding the best place for me to fit in in the company. Because if I wasn’t happy and if I was trying to do a job I didn’t feel comfortable doing, then it would show in the quality of our product.
They really listen to my strengths, my weaknesses, what I want, what I don’t want. And that way, it’s the job that they have for me, suits me the best, and the product will show and reflect that.
Q: Can you share an example of a time when you felt particularly supported by the Alpine team or management?
Chad: Every day. I think that every single day that I walk in the door, they always say hello. They’re always willing to greet me. But specifically, anytime that any mistake is caught, made by myself or by somebody else, they don’t reprimand you. They just correct it. It’s a mistake made. We learn from it, and that way it’s constructive instead of being destructive. Very supportive in that regard. There’s no animosity, no angst at all whenever you walk in that door.
Q: What’s one of your favorite moments or experiences working here?
Chad: I’m always facing a new challenge every day because every job that comes down requires something very different every single time. Sometimes I have to figure out exactly how a job is supposed to be done, or figure out a method that has been used in the past that may not work for that specific job anymore.
We have one client that we were working with, and I came up with a system that changed the way that we did our inventory for that job, and it actually helped out several of my coworkers. In the long run, it also helped to mainstream the process. They were very supportive of it. I told them if they can think of something better, then we would go with that. This is working right now, and everyone has been very supportive of that. And they will continue to do so. If I can figure out a way to do something better, I will absolutely suggest it. And if it doesn’t work, at least we tried.
Q: Why would someone want to work at Alpine?
Chad: From my perspective, it’s the printing industry. If you’re interested in print, then I would highly recommend this place. They’ve been around for 53 years, and they are a very great group of people to work with. Not ever being here before this, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I’m very glad now I did, because this place is somewhere I feel very comfortable being.
I don’t fear coming into work everyday, and I actually enjoy what I’m doing. From my perspective, it’s a job that you don’t hate. It’s a job that you actually enjoy, and you enjoy the people that you work with, the people that you work for, and not everyone can say that. So that’s why I really would say from my perspective, I choose Alpine.
Q: If someone were considering buying from Alpine or joining your team, what would you want them to know?
Chad: You’re buying from Alpine. You have to know you’re buying local, you’re buying American, you’re buying quality, and you’re buying experience. 53 years doesn’t lie.
