Cultivating Leadership - Moravian College

Open to Business>Tops ofTheir ClassWalk into most any supermarket ormegamart in the world, and you’ll findan array of consumer products mademore convenient by Seaquist Closuresand its parent company, Aptar Group,Inc. Their packaging innovationsinclude:• Flip-top toothpaste caps• Pour spout flip-top for Heinzketchup and other condiments• Bottom-dispensing closures forketchup, honey, and other foods• Flip-top caps for shampoo, handcream, and suntan lotion• Clog-resistant caps for handlotions• One-piece hinge closures forsports drinksRuskoski decided to concentrate onEnglish literature with Professors RobertBurcaw and Lloyd Burkhart. “I still had notdemonstrated much promise as a scholar,”he recalls. “But one of the great thingsabout Moravian College is the personalinterest demonstrated by its teachers. Evenwhen I displayed less than a reciprocalinterest in my own development,Moravian educators helpedshape my life.“ProfessorsRobert Burcaw[English], GeorgeDiamond [English],Dan Gilbert [history],Bessie Michael [English],Eric Rodin [journalism], Coaches Calvo andKritis, and many more gave me confidenceand modeled the way for learning beyondthe classroom.”Beyond the ClassroomAfter graduating from Moravian,Ruskoski enrolled in a master’s degreeprogram at the University of Maine, intendingto emulate Moravian English professorRobert Burcaw. He completed the courseworkbut still felt uncertain about his direction.After backpacking around Europe forsix months, he returned home to try teaching.“It did not take me long to determinethat teaching was not for me,” he recalls.Brief stints as bartender, truck driver, andrailroad freight brakeman followed.Eventually a friend, Dan Mumaw,opened the door to an opportunity withan industrial closure company, AmericanFlange and Manufacturing, where Ruskoskistarted as a management trainee. He learnedthe fundamentals of the business and tookon progressively greater responsibilities,including international marketing and sales.His innate sense of responsibility evolvedinto a leadership response that grew overtime: “I learned that working with peopleto solve problems and meet customer needswas interesting and meaningful, and that Icould perform well in a business situation.”In 1975, Bob Carow, president of U.S.Cap & Closure and a friend of Mumaw,showed up at Ruskoski’s office with abusiness proposal. “Bob had been commissionedby Seaquist Valve Co. to start upa dispensing closure company for consumerproducts. The idea was to diversifySeaquist’s business in aerosol valves andspray pumps into another category,” heexplains. “The business had no name, noproducts, and no customers. But Bob didhave entrepreneurial spirit, ideas, and financialsupport.”Carow succeeded in recruiting Ruskoskias his business partner, and the pair becamea two-person company working withSeaquist resources.In 1976, Seaquist Closures introducedthe flip-top dispensing cap, branded theSnap Top®, for hair, skin, and sun careproducts, which all used non-dispensing,screw-off caps at the time. After three yearsof hard work, commercial success finallyseemed a distinct possibility.The company began to expand, addingpeople and skills. The fifteenth hire, vicepresident of marketing, was the womanwho later became his wife (Sandy) and who“was behind many of our important productdevelopments and launches.”Other key innovations followed, andthe company expanded with new productsfor the food, beverage, personal care, andhousehold categories. (See “Tops of TheirClass” at left.) Among the most recognizedis the “upside-down ketchup cap,” launchedin 1999. Seaquist Closure’s 2-1/8-inchdiameter closure, coupled with its patentedSimpliSqueeze® silicone valve, allows consumersto store condiments, like ketchup14 MORAVIAN COLLEGE MAGAZINE FALL 2009