Dec 23, 2020
No one in the history of Cutco has changed more lives than Erick Laine. Erick was the leader of the team that purchased Cutco from ALCOA, and he oversaw the company’s transformation from a “little knife factory” in Olean NY to the largest cutlery company in North America. He helped create a global presence for Cutco in other countries, and simultaneously helped grow the Vector Marketing sales arm that has impacted hundreds of thousands of people.
Erick was born in 1933 in the Soviet Republic of Karelia, where his Finnish parents had found work. His family fled Stalin’s purges, eventually emigrating to Wisconsin. Erick graduated from the University of Wisconsin before starting his role with ALCOA, which eventually led him to Cutco and to Olean. Erick Laine passed away on December 1st, 2020, leaving behind an incalculable legacy.
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