2023 Hall of Fame
Ed Karper began his career at metal building system manufacturer HCI Building Systems, Arlington, Wash., as a purchasing agent before becoming a purchasing manager. He started out by purchasing pre-painted steel and bare steel, before being recruited and offered a job in sales at California Finished Metals (CFM), Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where he covered the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii, selling the types of products he had previously been buying. CFM is
now part of the Metal Coaters Group.
While working at CFM, Ed worked with a variety of paint suppliers on different projects, as well as working on conversions from post-paint to pre-paint, led to a job offer at AkzoNobel. Beginning in May 1997, Ed worked at AkzoNobel, primarily covering the Pacific Northwest as well as commissioning a new steel mill and paint line that was being built in Kalama, Wash., which is
now known as Steelscape. Eventually, Ed became the West Coast Market Manager, where he had sales responsibility from the Rocky Mountains west.
In 2007, Karper moved to Columbus, Ohio, and took over marketing for North America, before eventually being offered a position with DuraCoat Products in 2017 as product manager.
Ed has always been great champion of MCA. He has the uncanny ability to take emotion out of conversations and direct discussions in a business-like manner. More importantly, he dedicated a tremendous amount of personal time, effort and passion to improve all aspects of the metal community.
Jim Bush, vice president of sales at ATAS International Inc., Allentown, Pa.
Trade Associations
It was during his time at AkzoNobel, when Ed worked with Harold Schroth (a 2019 Hall of Fame inductee), and Ed Heider in marketing, and they recruited him into the world of trade associations. “Harold, especially, was a big believer, as I am now, that a rising tide raises all boats,” Karper says. “The more that individual companies can work together for the betterment of the industry, the better off we’ll all be.”
Karper’s involvement began as Harold volunteered him to work on installing panels for displays at METALCON, and then tearing them down after the show. “During those early years was when I started to become more and more involved with the MCA,” Karper says. “Harold, of course, was a big proponent of the MCA and the Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA), and actually helped form the MRA.”
Karper has been involved with the MRA for approximately 25 years, and has headed numerous MCA committees, serving on the Executive Committee, and been Chairman. “His understanding of the issues before the MCA and his resolve to confront and improve them have always been exceptional,” says Dale Nelson, president, Roof Hugger LLC, Lutz, Fla. “What I enjoy more than his many Association accomplishments, is the man himself. His sense of humor is wonderful, and his laugh is contagious. His curiosity and personal interest in everyone he comes in contact with is moving. My wife Jan and I feel lucky to call Ed and his wife Maria our friends.”
One of the things Karper was involved with is the development of the MCA Paint Certification Program for coatings companies. “With all association work, anytime you get a room full of a bunch of competitors sitting down in a room around the table to try and solve a common problem, it can be challenging. But thanks to a lot of the MCA leadership at that time, they got it done. And, in fact we just recently rebooted the program.”
Karper was also involved with the Ohio congressional lobbying group to keep the Energy Star federal tax credits program and was an original member of The Metal Initiative (TMI) team, which was a mandatory marketing program to try and promote the use of metal. Over time, TMI turned into a marketing plan that focused not on one group or entity, but the overall marketplace.
“We also looked at what
has now become the alliances,” Karper says. “We have a group of companies gather underneath the overarching tent of the MCA, which covers everything in the metal building envelope. We allowed for some specialized groups to be formed that are a little bit different than the committees and councils.”
“Ed has always been great champion of MCA,” says Jim Bush, vice president of sales at ATAS International Inc., Allentown, Pa. “He has the uncanny ability to take emotion out of conversations and direct discussions in a business-like manner. He also taught me how to navigate the political aspects of association work and put internal agendas aside for betterment of the association and industry. More importantly, he dedicated a tremendous amount of personal time, effort and passion to improve all aspects of the metal community. As Ed recently tenured out of board responsibilities, he will be missed with his input, guidance, and mentorship to the incoming leaders of the association.”
When not working, Karper likes anything outdoors, hunting and fishing with friends and family, as well as sports. Ed and his wife have a son and two daughters.
