Topline Products’ Charles Chang Receives 2014 Ellis Island Medal of Honor

When Charles Ta-Peng Chang, president of Topline Products, stood at the celebratory podium in the historic Great Hall of Ellis Island in the middle of New York Harbor on May 10, he says he was overwhelmed, thinking: “How did I get here? I am a lucky guy!”

Chang, who was born in China and grew up in Taiwan, was one of 100 Americans from a wide variety of ethnicities who was honored in this year’s Ellis Island Medals of Honor ceremony, part of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO). More than 2,000 people had been nominated for distinction in 2014.

When Chang’s name was called, he stepped forward among much pomp and circumstance, including the brass instrumentals of a military band, as a West Point cadet placed a golden Statue of Liberty-engraved Ellis Island Medal of Honor around his neck.

Standing in the expansive space in which 17 million immigrants had been processed from the late 19th through the mid-20th century to begin new lives in the U.S., Chang says the emotional experience “made him think more about being an American, feel like an American and understand the power of ‘the melting pot.’ “

The Ellis Island Medals of Honor program, now in its 28th year, signals that the recipients have become integral citizens of the U.S., and honors those selected for their contributions. Throughout the years, many presidents, dignitaries, athletes, entertainers and others have been recognized in this way. Chang shared this year’s spotlight with luminaries including Vice Admiral David L. Cooper, Brigadier General Ruben A. Cubero, heavy weight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, fashion designer Elie Tahari and television producer and Chinese-American cosmetics entrepreneur and philanthropist Yue-Sai Kan. Previous honorees in the cosmetics industry include Leonard and Evelyn Lauder and Nikos Mouyiaris, owner of Mana Cosmetics. The recipients of the award are entered in the Congressional Record.

As Luck Would Have It

While Chang says he attributes his success in the business world to good luck, and being in the right place at the right time, his courage and fortitude as well as the generous, trusting and influential people he engaged with along the way—including the love of his life, Lucy—have all played a critical role.

Chang first set foot in the U.S. in 1971 as a graduate student at “Ole Miss” where he was enrolled in a master’s program in chemical engineering. “I came here by myself to study,” he says, “and had no idea what the U.S. was like.” He says he spoke halting English and lived in a dorm with other international students, but had the advantage of a host family to teach him about American culture.

With only two months left before earning his degree, Chang says he woke up one morning feeling that chemical engineering was not going to lead to a rewarding career. So he went to the campus library and began researching other fields. When he read about the packaging engineering program at Rutgers University, he knew he had found his path. He was accepted, moved north to New Jersey and earned an MS in Industrial Engineering, with a double major in Packaging Engineering. “I knew that packaging would give me the opportunity to be creative and innovative,” he says. He continued his studies, earning an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an APC in marketing from New York University.

Stressing the importance of internship programs—which Chang champions today through his work with Rutgers’ Packaging Engineering Program—he says he landed a position at Lever Brothers, working on products in Personal Care, Household and Food. Upon graduation he was hired there full-time and began doing “all kinds of product testing” and got involved with all their brands.

“I still remember my first day on the job,” says Chang. “I had to test the cap on a tube of toothpaste.” He adds that there were a myriad of considerations, such as torque, ease of use, compatibility, barrier properties, etc.

When a headhunter subsequently recruited Chang, he entered the world of Avon, in the Purchasing & Package Development department. Here, he says, he learned so much. “There were a lot of new packages every day,” recalls Chang, “and every Friday, about 40 people from the entire department met in the conference room and reviewed every project.” He says it was a lesson in problem solving as a group. “There was no such thing as missing a launch date,” says Chang. He says as a young engineer, he sat there like “a sponge,” and learned “there’s always a way to solve a problem.” Thus, Chang developed his lifelong motto: “No Way, No Way—there is always a solution.”

A Life’s Journey

When Chang met his wife Lucy, then a graduate student in chemistry at Columbia, his life took another turn. Once they were married, she strongly encouraged him to start his own business. So in 1982, Chang quit his full-time job and devoted himself to Topline, which he had incorporated in the state of NJ in 1975. Lucy became his active partner for many years, until she tragically passed away eight years ago.

Chang says when he launched Topline, he “had no money, no business acumen.”

He says, “I started from scratch.”

What’s more, “Nobody really gave me a chance; nobody knew who I was and more importantly, if I would be able to deliver.”

His first lucky break came when Gay Mayer, president of Mem Company, needed a part for a promotional project, a music box for the fragrance Heaven Scent—and gave Chang a shot because the current supplier he was using was unable to deliver.

So Chang went to the Orient to search for the musical movement that was needed. He found the part in Japan, but underwent a quick induction into the realities of business management, learning about practices such as prepayment and letters of credit. This is when he says his luck kicked in once again, as he felt he was in the right place at the right time.

He says there were three reasons for this.

First, “Going to Asia for cosmetics packaging was about to become a megatrend.” Chang explains that he was a pioneer of this trend in 1982-83. “Prior to that,” he says, “people had thought the cost savings was too good to be true, the quality was too new to be reliable.” By 1990, Chang says everyone had accepted the trend.

Another break was that he was from Taiwan, and was familiar with the culture and spoke the language. “I could have been from anywhere else,” he says.

And third, because he was a packaging engineer, he knew how to work with Taiwanese companies to get the desired quality. While pushing them in this direction, he says he made a significant contribution to the factory he worked with—and to the local economy.

Company Development

While Chang started his business as an importer, a development company, today Topline is vertically integrated and offers a combination of self-manufacturing and outsourcing. It has also become a leader in turnkey manufacturing, which Chang says he was instrumental in establishing.

Chang says he made two other important business decisions that helped propel the company forward. In 1990, he redefined his business strategy as a repeat business, with no more promotional items; and in 1995, he opened his first manufacturing facility in Shanghai.
In 2000, he added additional factories. Today, Topline has offices in Wayne, New Jersey, Paris and Sao Paulo and two factories in China, one in Mexico and one in Michigan, with more than 800 employees and 600,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

Most Memorable Package

With all of Topline’s many package development projects over the years, we couldn’t help but ask about the ones that had been most meaningful to him.

Chang immediately said the most rewarding package has been Topline’s patented Butterfly Compact, which they developed in-house. It opens from both the top and bottom. The shades are seen through the top cover; the bottom makes use of otherwise hollow space, opening to reveal a mirror and storage for an applicator. “It has everything the consumers and the marketers want,” says Chang. Topline went on to produce “an astounding” 100 million of these compacts.

Indeed, Chang expresses that this is just the type of challenge he thrives on. “I love to create innovations,” he says. “They are my passion; I love a challenge.” He adds: “Innovation is just common sense—with a few disciplines.”

Today Topline holds more than 40 patents in the marketplace, many realized with retired Revlon executive Bob Sheffler, who Chang says he was lucky to meet.

In line with his love of innovation, Chang tells us that Topline is now developing a project that “could bring cosmetic brushes to another level.”

Honors and Volunteer Work

Chang’s passions and his dedication to the industry go beyond Topline. He was inducted into the Packaging Hall of Fame by NJPEC (New Jersey Packaging Executives Club) in 2007. He received the Asian Business Leadership Award in 2008 from USPACC (US Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce) and Wells Fargo Bank. In 2010, he received the President’s Volunteer Service Award given by President Obama. He currently serves on the board of directors of the American Cancer Society Asian Initiative. He is chairperson of Rutgers Packaging Engineering advisory board. He also serves on Rutgers School of Engineering Industry advisory board. He is a member of the international advisory committee at Barnard College.

Achieving the American Dream

Wrapping up, Chang pauses, once again reflecting on his life and career with wonder at the luck of it. “I chose packaging because it’s an industry that enables me to innovate and create. But I didn’t choose cosmetics—the headhunter got me into it.”

He says that as he stood at the ceremony at Ellis Island and thought back on all his lucky accomplishments, he knew he had achieved the American dream.