Contact: Paula Weis
(202) 974-5282

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI, PRECISE TECHNOLOGY KICK OFF INCUMBENT WORKER TRAINING PROGRAM IN ILLINOIS

WASHINGTON (June 21, 2004) - The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) will partner with member company Precise Technology, Buffalo Grove, IL, to host an Incumbent Worker Training Program Kickoff June 29, from 9 a.m. - 10 a.m. at the company's Deerfield Parkway facility.

The event will mark the commencement of a training and certification program for 150 Precise Technology employees. The program, paid for in part by a $37,500 grant awarded to the company in March 2004 by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, grew out of a strategic alliance formed between SPI and the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) in May 2003.

Training will be conducted by David Outlaw, Precise Technology's technical training manager and other content experts from the company. The program will take place in three shifts - 6 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. - two days a week for seven weeks. Upon completion of the course, each worker will take SPI's online National Certification in Plastics (NCP) examination in injection molding. As part of the training project, Precise Technology will collect data to measure the effectiveness of the program, and may ultimately train up to 900 workers at their facilities throughout Illinois. Ever-increasing competition in the global marketplace was the driving force behind the development of the training program, as Precise saw a mounting need to upgrade the skills of its workers on a continuous basis.

"We participated in a successful state-funded training and certification project at our St. Petersburg, [FL] plant in 2001, and since then, we've wanted to expand the model to our other facilities," said Outlaw, "Through a very competitive grant process, we were able to receive partial funding to begin making that goal a reality in Illinois."

Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.4 million workers and provides nearly $310 billion in annual shipments. For more information, visit SPI on the Web at www.plasticsindustry.org.

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