This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of R. Stanton Avery - inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and founder of the company that has become Avery Dennison. "Stan was a true entrepreneur and an amazing mentor to the people who helped him build the company. His faith in the people around him and his positive engagement with each of them was a large part of what I thought made Stan special," says David Martin, VP/GM for Roll Materials Australia.

"Stan Avery not only founded our Company," says John Quinn, VP/GM - Roll Materials Asia Pacific, "he created a business environment based on innovation, an unrelenting focus on product quality, entrepreneurship, and strong values and ethical business dealings."

Early Desire to Help People
R. Stanton Avery was born on January 13, 1907 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (before that U.S. territory was even a state) the son of a Congregational minister. His upbringing led to a desire to spend his life doing good works.
"There was a time when all I wanted to do was help people with charitable work," Stan recalled in the early 1990s. "But as time went on, I decided a business could do even more. It could help more people than I could ever possibly help on my own."

A Simple Idea Creates an Industry
During the depths of the Great Depression in the U.S., Stan had an idea - that self-adhesive and removable price stickers would be a benefit for gift shops and antique stores. With $100 borrowed from his fiancée, Dorothy, he began making and selling "Kum-Kleen" products - naming the labels he invented to indicate that they could be removed without leaving a residue. Although the labels were primitive by today's standards, "they were the only self-adhesive labels in the world," Stan said. From this simple idea - and the continuous innovations that helped grow his business - Stan Avery not only created a company that would ultimately lead the worldwide pressure-sensitive materials industry, but created the industry itself.

A Culture of Innovation and Belief in Employees
Stan's emphasis on innovation - driven by his "try and try again" philosophy - helped the business grow steadily throughout the years, attracting talented, creative employees. "You have to believe in your employees," Stan said often, emphasizing his belief in giving people responsibility and authority to run their businesses to meet customer demands.