Andrew Berlin wanted to be a college professor.

Inspired by numerous teachers throughout high school and college, it led the Glencoe native to pursue teaching political science, history or philosophy.

That course changed when he decided to attend Loyola University-Chicago for law school, and after working as a lawyer for two years, he joined his father and bought Alco Packaging in 1988.

“One of the clients at the firm was selling off a company called Alco Packaging, that was a troubled packaging company,” he said. “My father was in the steel business, he and I together went in and bought the company and the idea was just to fix it up and flip it in a couple years.

“Here we are, it will be 31 years in January, and we never really ended up flipping it.”

Berlin turned the company — now called Berlin Packaging — into a multi-billion dollar, international company that spans four continents and has allowed him to pursue other interests he’s developed over time as well.

One of those interests? Owning a baseball franchise.

Berlin grew up a baseball fan, but owning a franchise was not something he aspired to do. That all changed when he became an investor with the Chicago White Sox in 2007.

“I never wanted to buy a baseball asset for vanity purposes,” he said. “I always felt that it was a good business and a solid business, and something that you could get a decent return on investment if the business was operated correctly.

“In my effort in becoming a partner [with the] White Sox, I knew that Jerry Reinsdorf was going to keep the team for a long period of time. And so my desire was to purchase a Major League team, but it had to be in the Central Division of the National League and the American League because I didn’t want to go far from Chicago.”

When no Major League teams in those divisions were for sale, Berlin went to the next best thing: the minor leagues.

In November 2011, Berlin announced he had reached an agreement to purchase the South Bend Silver Hawks, then a minor-league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2014, the team’s name was changed to the South Bend Cubs, joining the Cubs minor league system.

Since becoming a part of the system, the South Bend franchise was voted Best Class A ballpark in the country by Ballpark Digest in 2017, was named Ballpark Digest’s Team of the Year and received the John H. Johnson President’s Award — the highest award in minor league baseball in 2015.

Berlin created a solid foundation for the South Bend Cubs, installing a talented executive management team and making sure the organization had solid leadership in place.

This has led to the success of the minor league team, he said.

“We have a terrific president and leadership team in South Bend that together we’ve done a lot of training there, and together we work on the strategy and the tactical initiatives necessary to turn the team around,” Berlin said.

After selling off his portion of the White Sox in 2014, Berlin invested in the Chicago Cubs in February 2015, becoming a large minority investor of the franchise.

As successful as Berlin is in the business world, giving back to his community and those that have helped him get to where he is today has always been near to his heart.

Berlin has served as a board of trustee at his alma mater Syracuse University, a member of the Illinois State Police Merit Board and one of three commissioners on Glencoe’s Public Safety Commission.

This fall, Berlin also helped the Glencoe Park District improve Bronco Field at Watts Park by coordinating a joint effort with the groundskeepers from the South Bend Cubs, as well as volunteers from Glencoe.

“The greatest joy in my life has always been my experience with my children,” Berlin said. “I love that my children are active; they’ve played on teams; they’ve had great experiences in sports. Seeing kids playing outside, being fit and being active, especially my own children, it’s been a real joy.

“One way I’d like to give back to my community, and having grown up in the community and having participated in sports in Glencoe, whether it be on a team or just with my friends, pick-up games in the park. I like the idea that generations of other kids, whether they’re my kids or not, can enjoy some of what Glencoe has to offer.

“I think Glencoe is just a little jewel of a town that deserves the best facilities for the kids. And whether that be the schools or the parks, that’s something I take a lot of interest in.”