To do classwork in fourth grade, Jon Norris was given an Apple computer, which his school earned through the collection of grocery store receipts. Ever since, Norris has been implementing, innovating and improving technology wherever he goes. He started at Starline (asi/89320) right after graduating from the University of Buffalo in 2004 with a degree in industrial engineering (he later earned an MBA at UB), back when the supplier was going through a significant tech transition.

“We inherited a legacy system and have since developed a new ERP system that allows us to be nimble,” Norris says. “It was quite a daunting task to write everything from accounting to warehousing to infrastructure to HR to production and scheduling, but now we have the flexibility to make modifications that better serve our customers.”

Today, Norris – Starline’s millennial change agent – is VP of operations, responsible for manufacturing, customer service, warehousing and technology. “We look at everything from a technology-first standpoint,” says the forward-thinking Norris.

One of Norris’ passions is his involvement with PromoStandards, an industry initiative he helped found. It connects all elements of the supply chain via system integrations over a standard protocol. “You don’t get many opportunities in your career to have an impact on the way an industry does business in terms of transactional commerce and the way it communicates,” says Norris, a married father of two daughters. “I don’t think the industry was ready for this 10 or 15 years ago. At that time, we were still trying to figure out how to build a website and trying to ram through integrated commerce. Now we’re more mature, and it’s taken off like crazy in the last few years.”

Norris is also a workgroup chair for the PPAI Tech Summit Planning Committee and a board member for FedEx Customer Technology. He’s spoken at a dizzying array of events, including ASI and PPAI tech summits, the North American Leadership Conference and Staples (asi/120601) national sales meeting, and even ran tech for the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America.

Going forward, what does Norris see happening with tech in the promo sector? “The largest companies are positioning themselves to be able to modernize their ability to transact business with website overhauls and ERP implementations. Even the small guys are realizing they can be a differentiator. Having a little passion goes a long way.”