Catalog Success recognizes five professionals named to the top honors in the catalog industry.

By Reported Donna Loyle

In 1984, Rolf Ostern, founder of Viking Office Products, recruited Helford away from Reliable. Although Viking was, at the time, a smaller company than Reliable, Helford made the jump because he saw the opportunity to put some of his business ideas into action.

He recalls: “I had known Rolf for many years by then, and I was confident in him. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse: to be president and COO. I could build the company my way and put into practice my ideas about how to treat customers well to gain their business. I knew that Rolf had built a war chest of cash that enabled us to put these ideas into action.”