I’m ashamed to admit it, but for five years in the early 90s, I was a manufacturing lobbyist who had never stepped foot inside of a manufacturing plant.  I was 25 years old, lobbying tax and budget issues and I thought I was pretty sharp.  To make matters worse, in many instances I was lobbying members of Congress and Hill staffers who had also never been inside a plant … talk about the blind leading the blind.

 It wasn’t until years later when I had my first of many plant tours,  that I realized how little I really knew about the people and the processes that I was representing and the disservice that I was doing to my association’s members.  The unfortunate truth is that too many members of Congress and agency staff that are responsible for regulations and legislation affecting our companies, are guilty of this same ignorance.  Sure, they’re smart people, they read newspapers and many have been to law school.  Like I did, they probably think they know everything they need to know about manufacturing.  But, they don’t. 

Last week, I visited two Berry Plastics facilities – in Baltimore (pictured in the photo above) and Hanover, Md. — and was reminded of how important it is to show, and not just tell, our elected representatives about what we do and how we do it.   I had forgotten about the impressive and innovative technologies that allow companies like Berry to stay competitive.  High tech manufacturing isn’t just in Palo Alto anymore — it is the norm in American manufacturing.  I saw, firsthand, the importance that this company places on employee safety and investments that they have made in recycling scrap –not just to be green, but to reclaim a valuable resource.  Finally, I witnessed the tremendous pride of the Berry employees in their plant and the products they produce.  In the coming months, Berry’s Hanover plant will be making $30 million worth of investments in equipment, hiring several dozen new employees and ensuring steady and satisfying work for the 145 employees who already work there. 

Can you imagine making an important business decision without understanding all of the implications?  Members of Congress will be in their home districts in August and for several weeks in the fall.  Let’s make an effort to bring them into our plants and show them our pride.  Seeing is believing.  Check out this photo – and this one and one more – of  elected representatives who have recently visited the plants of SPI member companies  

Be a Plastics Champion and “Take Action for Plastics” by hosting an elected official on a plant tour of your company’s facility. SPI can help make the arrangements and provide you with solid “how-to” information.  Get started — for more information on  SPI grassroots programs, email grassroots@plasticsindustry.org.

When I became president of SPI nearly six years ago, I immediately began speaking about the importance of our diverse industry coming together, leveraging the sum of our many parts, and truly speaking with one voice and acting according to one vision. Individual parts – yes — but working together in unison.

I am delighted to announce an initiative that will not only bring us even closer to “one voice, one vision,” but also provide greater value to your business. The three major plastics trade associations in the U.S. and Canada — SPI, the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association – publicly announced today our plans to formalize our long-standing alliance for the benefit of the North American plastics industry. We will continue our work together on key industry priorities through a virtual structure called the North American Plastics Alliance (NAPA).

The plastics industry has common opportunities and challenges throughout the value chain and across borders. By formalizing our collaboration with ACC and CPIA on select programs, we will be able to provide greater value and eliminate redundancy. Together, we will have an increased ability to demonstrate the collective value of the North American plastics industry and boost the power and reach of our communications and advocacy.

NAPA’s Initial Priorities for Enhanced Collaboration

While in the past we have enjoyed success working informally with ACC and CPIA, formalizing our agreement and establishing a NAPA Steering Team of staff and members represents a new level of commitment to cooperation. In addition to me, SPI’s representative on the Steering Team will be Jay Cude, President and CEO, Coeur Inc., and Vice Chair of the SPI Board of Directors. Having a Steering Team will help the new Alliance focus efforts on the most important, highest ROI areas for the industry. The initial priorities for enhanced collaboration will be:

• Pellet Containment: Extension of Operation Clean Sweep® to broaden pellet containment efforts in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere
• Energy Recovery: Promotion and facilitation of energy recovery and conversion of used plastics to complement recycling
• Plastics Favorability: Increasing the favorability of plastics with key stakeholders
• Advocacy: Targeted advocacy with policy makers to support the growth of the plastics industry

United to Maximize Effectiveness

I want to particularly emphasize to you that the creation of NAPA is not a cost-cutting exercise. While we may enjoy efficiencies along the way, the focus is on effectiveness. United under a formal structure, SPI, ACC and CPIA can maximize our power to successfully serve North American plastics manufacturers and ensure that our industry moves forward with one voice and one vision.

United, the future of the plastics industry is bright.

There will be some exciting new videos about plastics on YouTube this fall. I’m talking about the entries in SPI’s “Shaping Your World” student video contest, which is taking entries from now through August 31, 2011. Better yet, these videos will emphasize the materials’ benefits, versatile properties and cool applications since the contest theme is plastics’ innovation. The possible takes on that are limitless and the inspiration is literally all around us.

The contest is part of the 75^th anniversary celebration of SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, and is held in conjunction with The Future of Plastics Foundation. All college undergrads and graduate students in plastics programs are invited and encouraged to submit original videos.

If you know a student who could enter, give him or her a call or email. It’s for a good cause—plastics being a very good cause—plus the few rules there are leave the door wide open to any and all kinds of creative expression. You can also tell that student that the prizes are good no, really good no, awesome, definitely awesome.

First prize is a 64GB iPad2 with Wi-Fi + 3G, a check for $2,000, and a three-day trip to NPE2012 next April that includes air travel to and from Orlando, FL, hotel accommodations, an NPE2012 pass, and a couple of tickets to Universal Studios in Orlando.

Second prize is a 32-GB iPad2 with Wi-Fi, and a $1,000 check. Third place earns a 16 GB iPad2 with Wi-Fi, and a $500 check. Since concepting, producing, and directing the video should be a lot of fun to begin with, the prizes are like a big, sweet cherry (or maybe Apple?) on top.

The contest is easy to enter – for example, the actual posting is to a YouTube Direct channel. Full info about every other aspect of the contest can be found at http://www.plasticsindustry.org/studentvideos. So click on it, check it out, and start encouraging students. If you are a student, turn up the creative dial and go for it. Orlando is very nice in April and the NPE show is always a knockout. Besides, you’ll be like a celebrity there.

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Rob Neilley, the former Editor in Chief of Injection Molding Magazine, is SPI’s Social Media Specialist.  

Senator Ron Johnson (right) with SPI President Bill Carteaux

Referring to SPI President Bill Carteaux — but in reality speaking of the entire U.S. plastics industry –  Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) told a crowd of  nearly 150 plastics industry professionals at the SPI Spring 2011 National Board Conference, “Bill’s got one of his own on the inside now.” Indeed, Senator Johnson is a plastics manufacturer himself, having founded Pacur, a PET sheet extrusion company,  in 1979. Speaking at SPI’s  plenary breakfast session yesterday in Scottsdale, Arizona, Johnson discussed his transition from the factory floor to the Senate floor and repeatedly urged his audience to “get involved and stay involved” in matters of public policy and the political process.

In the summer of 1979, Senator Johnson and his brother-in-law started Pacur in Oshkosh, Wis. The company specializes in the extrusion of light and heavy gauge polyester, copolyester and polypropylene resins for a variety of applications, including packaging, printing, medical and electrical. From operating the equipment, to keeping the company books and selling its products, Johnson has been involved in every function of the business.

As a trade association, SPI devotes a considerable amount of time educating elected officials about the business of plastics — the benefits of plastic products, the industry’s significant contributions to the economy, and the challenges that can hinder manufacturing in this country. How unique and wonderful in this case to have a U.S. Senator who already understands the plastics industry because he is part of it!

“I try to relate everything I do in Congress to my business career,” said Johnson, who serves on the Appropriations, Budget, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Aging Committees. ”As a manufacturer you want to find the root cause of things. If  there’s a machine leaking oil or a problem somewhere else in the manufacturing process, you don’t just fix the symptoms, you find the root cause… A business perspective is needed in Washington and that’s the one I bring.”

In his first run for any sort of elected office, Senator Johnson defeated Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold in the November 2010 election. He believes there is a real need for more “citizen-legislators” like himself. “At some point in time, good people need to get involved and stay involved…We need more citizen-legislators in Washington — people who have had a real working life and have raised a family.”

Senator Johnson was asked by an audience member, “What does ’get involved, stay involved’ mean for SPI and the plastics industry?” He responded, “You are vital to providing information to the young staffers of House and Senate members to educate them. That’s what  is important about trade groups: providing information.” 

After discussing issues that ranged from  “the wonder and power of the free market system” to global competition, jobs (“You can’t say you love jobs and then also hate the job creators”), and the national debt crisis, Senator Johnson concluded by telling his plastics industry peers, “This country is something incredibly precious. Will it last? Yes, if good people get involved and stay involved.”

Dear Colleagues,

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand last month toppled buildings, buckled streets, and caused hundreds of deaths. The Christchurch community needs our industry’s help.  In fact, our colleagues in New Zealand have directly appealed to the U.S. plastics industry for a very critical, specific need: portable toilets.

My counterpart at Plastics New Zealand explained to me that the public sewage system in the impacted area may not be operable for more than a year! This is a dire sanitation problem that will quickly become a public health crisis if we do not offer our assistance.  There  is a growing need for portable toilets there in order to avoid adding disease and sickness to what is already a nightmare for these citizens.

Manufactured largely from polyethylene, portable toilets are a specific need that our industry is uniquely qualified to meet.

Here’s How We Can Help

From the 2010 earthquakes in Haiti, to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike on the U.S. Gulf Coast and the 2004 tsunami and earthquakes in Asia Pacific, I have been extremely proud of the way my colleagues in the plastics and chemical industries have lent a generous hand with both monetary contributions and in-kind donations of the supplies that our companies manufacture: Bottled water, water purification chemicals and kits, PVC pipe to rebuild water and sanitation systems, water storage containers, plastic houses and other building supplies, medical supplies and even prosthetic limbs.

The Christchurch earthquake is no different and SPI is spearheading an industry-wide effort to produce and ship 4,000 portable toilets to New Zealand. While one portable toilet manufacturer has already graciously offered to manufacture and ship 50 units at no cost, I am asking the rest of the industry to help fund the overall effort. I am appealing to you so that we can raise the $1.5 million necessary– in both cash donations and in-kind contributions of resin and colorant. Be assured that 100% of your donation will be used directly for this effort’s production and shipment costs only.

Act Now: Quick, Easy Ways to Participate

Please go to the plasticsfoundation.org  site and click the “Donate” button there to securely make a donation using a credit card. If you wish to make a cash or in-kind donation directly without going through the website, please call SPI’s Susan Douglas at 202.974.5224 or email her.

Thank you for supporting the plastics industry and the people of New Zealand in this humanitarian effort.