Mark Mathes - CEO
Mark Mathes grew up in the corrugated industry working literally every job that a corrugated facility offered. He began his training in earnest at the age of 16 working in a design lab after school and in the plant each summer. Graduating from college in 1979 with degrees in both Business Administration and Communications, he went to work for Farmland Industries in Public Relations. He joined Vanguard in 1981 working from sales up to his current position as President and CEO. In 1996, he founded Vanguard Label to manufacture pressure sensitive labels and in 1998 he added the production of spiral wound paper tubes. 2003 marked his expansion into Bentonville, Arkansas with the addition of a design facility in partnership with another display company and in 2005 he opened a Vanguard Companies sales and display facility in St. Louis, Missouri. In January of 2007, Mark purchased the company from Jack Mathes and in March of 2007, opened up another office in Bentonville, Arkansas. Mark has been the primary director of the company's move into direct print high graphics and displays.

Mark was elected to the Board of Directors of AICC in 2006. AICC is North America's leading industry corrugated trade association. Also in 2006, Mark was named a Faculty Member of the In-Store Marketing Institute for his role as a featured industry speaker.

Steve Martin - COO
Steve Martin began his career with Stone Container in Sales Service in the St. Louis market. From there, he went into a sales position before transferring to the Liberty plant to run the Sales Service department. Steve joined Vanguard in the mid-1980's as General Manager eventually becoming COO with full facility responsibility. It is Steve's operating philosophy of never having late orders that merged with graphics to create a unique production environment.

Jim Beard - General Manager
Jim Beard has been in the manufacturing environment for over 16 years. After graduating from the University of Central Missouri with a degree in Business Administration and Management he began his career as a buyer for Action Products Company. Action is a plastics molding, metal fabrication and custom seating manufacturer selling to both mass retail and industrial markets. His career with Action included Purchasing Manager, Materials Manager, Sales, General Manager and Vice President of Operations. During his career he was responsible for key contract negotiations, implementation of an MRP system, lean manufacturing process, ISO 9001:2000 implementation, product development, and building sales programs for both the custom molding and consumer product lines. As a direct supplier of Wal-Mart for all 16 years, Jim prided himself on his company’s 99% plus on time delivery record and quality conformance successes.

Jim joined Vanguard Companies in 2008 as Director of the Hallmark Team and was recently promoted to General Manger. Jim’s philosophy has always been that the key to success is to provide the highest quality product and craftsmanship at the most competitive price with superior service. He believes in the importance of lean and creative manufacturing to produce a superior product, while also providing a safe and rewarding working environment for all members of the production team and staff. Jim has always strived to not meet, but exceed all customer expectations.

Ted Luczak - Creative Services
Born in Warsaw, Poland. BS in Geodesy and Cartography at Warsaw Politechnical University. He completed one year of graduate school in Hydrogeology at University of Kansas in Lawrence. He has 17 years experience in structural display design. Ted started his career in 1990 working for E and E Display Group in Lawrence, Kansas. He joined Vanguard Companies in 1997 as Senior Designer, then was promoted to Director of Creative Services. Ted has a very powerful design style resulting from combining formal knowledge of spatial geometry and mechanics with modern CAD programs and experience in corrugated media. Successfully serviced many national as well as specialty accounts like: Hallmark Cards, Gillette, Spectrum Brands, Wal-mart, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Payless Shoes, etc. Winner of multiple POPAI's OMA (Outstanding Merchandising Achievement) Awards, American Advertising Federation ADDY Award, multiple CBA's Display of the Year Awards.