Leadership
Dennis Crawford
co-owner, president and COO, All-Pak Inc.
Smart Business Pittsburgh | October 2008
Dennis Crawford is all about performance. Whether it’s making things happen
in the vast number of community boards
and organizations he is involved with in
the Pittsburgh area or his work in the
packaging industry, Crawford likes to
get things done.
His can-do attitude is perhaps best
exemplified through his work as president and chief operating officer at All-Pak Inc.
A leader in the rigid packaging industry, Crawford was one of five senior
managers who purchased the company
as a group from owner Ken Simon in
1990. In 2001, Crawford and his business
partner, Dennis Sipe, bought out the
other three partners and went about
positioning the company for the strong
growth it has since achieved.
Crawford promoted three individuals to
vice presidents and made them each
accountable for their respective business units. The units were restructured to allow
them to focus more on what they do best
and, in the process, provide better service
to customers.
Through all the changes that were
made, Crawford asked employees to
focus on a series of values that he and
Sipe developed. Known as the CRAIGS
value system, the acronym is something
that every employee is to use as a guideline for their actions.
The term stands for creativity, respect,
accountability, integrity, growth and satisfaction. The words are intended to serve as
the benchmark against which all the decisions and actions of All-Pak’s owners, managers and employees are to be compared.
None of the values have only one definition. Each has many meanings and many
nuances and is subject to the interpretation
of individuals with different backgrounds
and different experiences.
Each value can mean different things in different situations.
Since Crawford and Sipe took control
at All-Pak, sales and revenue have
increased by 60 percent and 45 new
employees have been added. The company has added offices in Florida and
Georgia as well as climate-controlled
warehousing in Ohio for the pharmaceutical industry.
Through innovation and dynamic
thinking, Crawford has made himself
into a leader in making the Pittsburgh
economy go. And he shows no signs of
slowing down.
HOW TO REACH: All-Pak Inc., www.all-pak.com or (800) 245-2283
