​On Friday, April 21, Riverside City College (RCC) hosted an open house event to celebrate the Applied Digital Media (ADM) Printing program’s centennial anniversary and showcase the program’s renovated facilities made possible by a recent million-dollar gift from Janet Steiner, a local printing philanthropist.

The event was attended by students, industry guests, Riverside Community College District (RCCD) Chancellor Wolde-Ab Isaac, Ph.D., RCCD Trustees Bill Hedrick and Mary Figueroa, RCC Interim President FeRita Carter, Ph.D., and other college leaders, with Patrick Scullin, the Faculty Director of ADM and Printing as emcee.

The open house featured two tours of the Tech B classrooms and the print shop. The first tour, from 9:00 to 11:00 am, was exclusive to students. The second tour, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, was open to attendees and industry guests. Following the tours, a ceremony and advisory meeting were held from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the Tech A Courtyard. The event culminated with a ribbon-cutting commemoration and photo opportunity with the donor and RCCD/RCC leaders.

RCC’s ADM Printing program has a long history of excellence in graphic communication education, starting in 1921. The program is the only California community college-based program accredited by PrintEd, dedicated to all aspects of commercial printing, with accreditation in five additional key industry areas in commercial printing and graphic design. Many local printing experts have been trained through the program at RCC over the past 100 years.

The open house event was made possible by Janet Steiner, a local leader in the commercial printing industry in the region. Steiner had a 36-year career, presiding over Thoro Packaging, a company her father and mother founded in 1967. In discussing her donation, she shared,

“I believe we need to exponentially leverage the opportunity in front of us. Having state-of-the-art printing equipment at Riverside City College and the Thoro Packaging Printing Scholarship, sponsored by Heidelberg USA, gives the college and RCCD a leg up for the trades. Traditional college is not for everyone, but learning skills to ensure you have an equitable future should be. This equipment will bring the trades back to life and act as a stepping-stone in building a strong Inland Empire workforce. It is critical that RCCD leadership and those running the printing program raise awareness of this technology to maximize the opportunity. All students from colleges in the area, and businesses with print needs, should be able to take advantage of this Inland Empire gold mine.”

RCC was identified as the beneficiary of her gift, specifically the College’s ADM and Printing program, with the help of Lou Caron, President of the Printing Industry Association of Southern California. RCC leaders worked with Jan Steiner for almost 3 years on this donation. On January 11, the ADM and Printing program took another big step forward with a special delivery from Heidelberg, North America, which eventually led to the open house experienced today.

Heidelberg USA, the world-wide leading partner and provider of solutions and services for the print media industry, established the Thoro Packaging Printing Scholarship at Riverside City College. The scholarship will provide $5,000 per year for the next five years to benefit students pursuing a degree in commercial printing from the College’s ADM and Printing program. Mr. Scullin shared,

“With the introduction of this new scholarship program, we have opened the door to a brighter future for countless students. The gift of education is one of the most precious and valuable things we can give, and we are filled with thankfulness for the opportunity to provide it. By investing in our students’ education, we are investing in the future of our society, creating a positive impact that will ripple out for generations to come.”

In a “One More Thing,” Steve Jobs moment, Steiner announced she worked a deal with Zund America, a second generation company manufacturing in Alstatten Switzerland. She has secured a Zund S3 M800 Digital Cutting Table for the print lab. Martin Thornton, representing Zund America, was present to share remarks. The table is valued at one hundred thousand dollars, and it was a pleasant surprise to end the event.

Overall, the open house event was a success. It celebrated the ADM Printing program’s century-long legacy of excellence in graphic communication education, showcased the program’s renovated facilities, and highlighted the generous donations from Janet Steiner and Heidelberg USA. With these donations, the program is well-positioned to continue training future printing industry professionals for many years to come.

Dr. Carter, a leader who always looks toward promise and gives honor where honor is due shared, “The event provided a glimpse into the program’s state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, which will undoubtedly continue to produce printing industry experts for generations to come. This is the beginning of a new 100-year era. Thank you to Ms. Jan Steiner and Heidelberg, USA. And thank you to our very own Patrick Scullin and team who day in and day out work with our students to create an amazing print program.”

Marie Thermidor, Community Relations Specialist who worked closely with Jan Steiner on acquiring this donation, shared heartfelt thanks from the Riverside Community College Foundation.

“On behalf of RCCD Foundation, we appreciate and embrace Mrs. Steiner’s commitment to improving the lives of our students at RCCD. It is donors like Jan, with her love and passion for serving, who make a difference in our community. We thank her for choosing RCC! We thank Mrs. Jan Stein again for being someone we can count on!”

There is much to be thankful for. What a momentous day for Riverside City College.​

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janet Steiner.

Janet, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The way I see it, I wasn’t passed down my father’s company when he died. I inherited an opportunity when his health failed. I took over the very small company and was fortunate enough to redeem my dad’s shareholders, including my mom, after my father passed away in a capital-intensive business and grow it to just under 40 million. I didn’t even own 5% when my dad died.

One of our early Board of Directors shared with me in a private conversation: “Your dad could not have done what you did. And you could not have done what your dad did.”

I chose to sell the company in 2018, which took a couple of years to wrap my head around. I did a lot of research on business brokers and narrowed it down to the top 3 and finally chose 1 broker to find a strategic buyer – a buyer who would respect the company as it was, its employees, and maintain the location where it was (Corona, CA). Someone who wanted a whole business so they could expand their market.

Today, I am retired from Thoro but I am fully immersed in helping other women stand in their own power and build successful businesses. It is my passion to help women Make Dust in the business world.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?

It has not always been a smooth road. As a matter of fact, as a woman in a male-dominated industry – manufacturing – it was the opposite of smooth.

There were a lot of challenges, but I took one challenge at a time and proved that women can be just as strong, just as tenacious and just as successful in any business when they work hard and give their all.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Make Dust/ TradeWorks USA?
I mentor professional women in male-dominated to help people grow.

What sets me apart from many other businesswomen is that I grew a manufacturing company to just under 40 million.

I’m most proud of seeing the people I’ve worked with growing and seeing them be the best they can be.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Running a business is not always easy… There is a perception that it is glamorous. You’ve got to go in, roll up your sleeves, and build your team and be able to build and develop your people. You’re going to get criticism all the time. You must develop not only your internal team but your external team. Your banking team is SO important. Learn from these people! People will share their knowledge. It doesn’t mean you have to take all of their knowledge. You filter out what doesn’t work and take what works.

Be the best you can be for your company and for yourself.

If you make a mess with someone, try to clean it up.

Kathy Dawson, CSP, CEO of Dawson & Dawson, Inc. is pleased to welcome her friend Jan Steiner to today’s ‘On Deck with Dawson & Dawson’. Jan is the former President/CEO of Thoro Packaging, an industry leading packaging solutions company. Driven by her life motto, “If you don’t make dust, you eat dust”, Jan scaled the company from $1 million to just under $40 million in revenue before negotiating the sale of her family-owned business in 2018 and retiring from this position. Throughout her career, Jan has earned numerous awards, including most recently being named Executive of the Year by Printing Industries Association of Southern California (PIASC), receiving the prestigious Spirit of the Entrepreneur Award, and being inducted into the Ben Franklin Honor Society in 2019. Today, with the spark of her vision and wisdom gained by her experience, Jan shares her core principles of success and business passion, inspiring and empowering other driven entrepreneurs to Make Dust, the name of her new speaking and mentoring business (ad)venture.

​The Riverside Community College District Foundation received $250,000 donation from printing entrepreneur Janet Steiner to support students in the Applied Digital Media (ADM) and Printing program at Riverside City College (RCC). The first of two contributions anticipated from Steiner, this gift provides a significant financial infusion to renovate the current printing facility on campus. The renovation will be followed by the donation of state-of-the-art commercial printing equipment provided in partnership with industry leader Heidelberg and Zünd.

A local leader in the commercial printing community in the region, Steiner with the help of Lou Caron, president of Printing Industry Association of Southern California identified RCC as the beneficiary of her gift. After a 36-year career presiding over Thoro Packaging, a company her father and mother founded in 1967, Steiner selected the College’s ADM and Printing program for the donation.

RCC’s ADM and Printing program has a strong history in printing graphic education. The first trade-printing course was offered in 1921. Thanks to this donation to the ADM and Printing program will become more viable and better positioned to train students for careers in commercial printing.

“We are grateful for the commitment that industry leaders such as Jan Steiner have to our college,” President Gregory Anderson, Ed.D., said. “They understand the vital role filled by RCC, educating and training students. These leaders depend on our graduates for their business to thrive.”

A donation of this level will significantly improve education and training opportunities for RCC students. The program’s current offset printing equipment is 50 years old and upgrading presses is expensive and cost prohibitive for the College. Acquisition of a high-quality press will provide better experience and hands-on training for students.

RCC’s ADM and Printing program is one of the last fully integrated graphic design, digital media, and printing programs on the west coast. The program is accredited in six key industry areas of commercial printing and graphic design. Offset printing is one a variety of printing skill competency areas covered by ADM commercial printing course. Over the past 100 years, many of the local printing experts were trained through the program at RCC.

Patrick Scullin, associate professor of Applied Digital Media and Printing said, “A number of our graduates got their start in commercial printing at various local companies. Now, with a donation of this scale, we are humbled to carry on the legacy and leadership in commercial printing that Ms. Steiner and her family have started. Her gift will benefit generations of students.”​

We have known and worked with Janet Steiner for years and we are excited to welcome her to our Advisory Board!

Janet is a tireless entrepreneur and visionary who over the course of her career built up her family business, Thoro Packaging, into a leader in the industry. Since selling Thoro Packaging in 2018, Janet has worked with many entrepreneurs helping them with the lessons she learned through the school of hard knocks.

Additionally, Janet is a supporter of Titan Women Collective, a donor to our program, and was named the 2019 Executive of the Year by the Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California!

We are looking forward to benefiting from Janet’s leadership and experience in her new role as a member of the CSUF Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.

Janet Steiner is the CEO of Make Dust. She is a Professional Speaker, Mentor and Connector of Entrepreneurial Women. She has over 30 years of CEO and Board of Director experience, and is the right woman to have on your side to help with the trials and tribulations of running your own business or succeeding in a professional position. Jan is a heartfelt leader who made her mark in a male dominated world. As the CEO of Thoro Packaging, Jan scaled the company from $1 million to just under $40 million dollars in revenue, proving you can turn your power as a woman into purposeful profit. Today, Jan speaks and leads other driven women by sharing her core principles of success and passion for business. In this episode, we discuss: How Janet describes her current self, and what she does in Make Dust What are Jan’s top things that she would like to share to business owners to Build Better Businesses Jan’s stories in the past and influences that formed what she is today and how did she grow Thoro Packaging from a million dollar to 40 million dollars in a short period of time? What Janet likes most about what she does today and some great advices that she received, and would like to share as well. How to stay relevant and in-the-know of the current changes I hope you will find this episode as exciting and informative as I have. Janet is on a new journey into helping and inspiring people in business, especially women, and those in the manufacturing world. She hopes that one day, all business owners get to a point of building a better business and achieve the success they are aiming! Please let me know your thoughts! Connect with Janet Steiner/Make Dust: Website: https://www.makedust.com/

Steve Eschbach is founder and president of Eschbach Enterprises, Inc. (EE), a comprehensive business advisory firm focused on enhancing corporate value to take business owners to their next level of success. Through the various subsidiaries under the EE umbrella as well as the established affiliations/strategic partnerships he has established in his 40-plus years as a senior financial executive leader, Mr. Eschbach has the direct experience and/or knows subject matter professionals that enables business owners to continue to thrive. His companies over the years have represented both the sellers and buyers in dozens of business transactions over 40 years, ranging in size from under $100 thousand to over $15 billion, and in industries such as energy, technology, entertainment, healthcare management, retail and home services to name a few.

Building upon this, Mr. Eschbach is a published author, sought-after public speaker, audio and video podcast host at both the local and national levels and community leader – both past and present – on a number of community nonprofit boards and professional organizations. Mr. Eschbach holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Business Administration degree in Investment Finance from the University of Hartford. He has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1989 and is an Illinois licensed producer in life/health insurance as well real estate.

Los Angeles, California—Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California (PIASC) announces the selection of Janet Steiner, former CEO of Thoro Packaging in Corona, California, as it’s Executive of the Year. PIASC is the largest affiliate of Printing Industries of America, the national trade association for the printing and graphic arts industry. “Janet was chosen for this honor because she is held in such high regard as the leader of an innovative and very successful folding carton company,” says Janet Green, PIASC Public Relations Chair.

Thoro Packaging was originally launched by Janet’s father in 1967. Janet got involved out of a desire to help him achieve his goals. One thing led to another, and in 1982 she took over as President, eventually buying the business. Under Janet’s 36 years of leadership Thoro Packaging grew exponentially—from about $2 million in annual sales to nearly $38 million—and became an industry-leading packaging solutions company.

“I always loved the business!” Janet shares. “I loved that we could create excellent packaging for our customers that helped them sell their products. It was fun to stretch our imaginations and abilities, and push the envelope in terms of what could be possible.”

This drive for quality and innovation resulted in Thoro Packaging receiving numerous industry awards. Between 2009 and 2017 Thoro won 14 Best of Category Awards and a People’s Choice Award in PIASC’s Print Excellence Awards program. The company was also recognized by the Printing Industries of America as one of the Best Workplaces in the Americas in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and received a number of awards in the Paperboard Packaging Council’s annual Carton Competition as well.

Award presentation, acceptance speech and post-show comments from Janet Steiner of Thoro Packaging (Corona).

If you have not had the chance to hear Jan Steiner speak, here is your opportunity. Jan’s interview with Ray Anderson for the Good Hearted Leadership web series will give you insight into how Thoro Packaging began, Jan’s struggle in a male dominated industry and finally, what has made Thoro so successful.