In 1978 MFSA established an award to honor the record of achievement by one man, Luke Kaiser, an industry pioneer and founder of the Premier Company in Houston, Texas.  Mr. Kaiser was a singular advocate for the value of education, and his relentless promotion of education within our association serves to this day as the benchmark to which the rest of us are compared.

Each year, we seek to identify and recognize a member of our association whose efforts best express Luke Kaiser’s focus on education as a key to success in the mailing industry.

This year, our association has identified not one, but two people, brothers in fact, who, when it comes to sharing their knowledge with the membership, would make Luke Kaiser proud.  Those two people are K. Jon Runstrom and Erik Runstrom, respectively the President and Executive Vice President of BCC Software.

Jon and Erik are quite well-known within MFSA, as well as the broader mailing industry, for their expertise and savvy when it comes to preparing the mail and complying with postal regulations.  In fact, sometimes we wonder who really knows the DMM better, our director of Postal Affairs Leo Raymond, or the Runstroms.  And Leo wrote the DMM!

Jon founded BCC Software in 1978.  Erik joined the company in 1984 after getting his doctorate from Purdue.  Within their company, the Runstroms preach the value of postal expertise as an important element of any employee’s training.  They do so not only because it’s good business for a company that provides postal software, but also because they believe that the more educated the mailing community is, the stronger the industry will be. 

Many of you who participate on MFSA’s listserve probably feel as though you know the Runstroms personally.  They are frequent – and prolific – contributors to MFSA’s online discussion forum.  Their answers to their fellow members are usually quite thoughtful, and they both have a knack for explaining many of the confusing aspects of “postal” in a way that is easy to understand, even for readers with little in-depth knowledge of postal issues.  In fact, it is their extensive contributions to MFSA’s listserve that form the foundation for this award.

However, the Runstroms’ contributions go further than their listserve postings.  Erik was a charter member of MFSA’s Technology Committee, and now serves on the Postal & Government Affairs Committee.  They have also written several articles on postal-related matters in MFSA’s newsletter, PostScripts.  And of course, you are likely to see at least one of them at just about every conference MFSA hosts.

Within the broader industry community, The Runstroms are also active, participating in Postal Service activities at the local and national levels and speaking and writing in numerous industry publications.  They recently released an informative data services guide that discusses the many changes to the Postal Service’s Move Update and other list enhancement initiatives.  This record of involvement in the mailing industry, of helping the mailing community wade through the thicket of complicated postal regulations, and of working with peers and postal associates nationally, gives some evidence to why Jon and Erik richly deserve an award named in honor of another great educator in our industry.

I am personally pleased, and on behalf of MFSA take great pleasure in recognizing Jon and Erik Runstrom’s extraordinary contributions to education in the mailing and fulfillment industry – and in presenting them with the Luke Kaiser Educational Award! 

Ladies and Gentlemen:  please join me in honoring Jon & Erik Runstrom!

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