FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tracy Cullen
(202) 974-5282
Email: tcullen@plasticsindustry.org

SPI PRESIDENT WILLIAM CARTEAUX STRENGTHENS ADVOCACY RESOURCES, ACHIEVES PUBLIC POLICY SUCCESS FOR PLASTICS INDUSTRY

Plastics News Feature Article Deems CEO's First 19 Months at Helm a Success

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 3, 2006) – The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) President and CEO William R. Carteaux received high praise for his boundless energy, sharp focus and visionary leadership in an October 30, 2006 front page feature story in Plastics News. In reviewing Carteaux's 19-month tenure at SPI, the weekly plastics industry trade publication, which has more than 60,000 print subscribers, states, "Carteaux's voracious appetite for learning and driving SPI forward has given the association increasing respect in Washington and among its members." The entire article is available at http://www.plasticsindustry.org/about/news/plasticsnews20061030.pdf.

Headlined "Carteaux's energy contagious," the lengthy piece summarizes assessments made by SPI board members and staff, executives of member companies, Washington lobbyists and other insiders of Carteaux's progress in shaping the organization for the future and meeting a variety of the industry's public policy challenges. In particular, the piece highlights impressive strides made by SPI under Carteaux's leadership in the areas of government relations and international trade, membership gains, increased visibility inside and outside the industry, and stronger unity in the plastics sector via alliances and partnerships. One Washington insider quoted in the article states, "He [Carteaux] has made SPI more well-known and more of a player in public policy issues and legislative circles."

The piece also includes several statements from Carteaux himself on the changes he has tried to implement, his future plans for the organization and challenges that still need to be addressed. "We have gone from not being known in Washington to where people in Washington know who we are and where we get calls daily when there is legislation affecting plastics," Carteaux says in the article. "We have made the point that this [the plastics industry] is a vital part of the economy."

"We congratulate Carteaux for building upon the work of his predecessor, Don Duncan," reads an accompanying "Viewpoint" editorial in the same issue of Plastics News. ". . . SPI is on the right path."

Bill Carteaux came to SPI in March 2005 from Demag Plastics Group in the USA (Strongsville, Ohio), where he was president and chief executive officer. Demag Plastics Group Corp. is one of the nation's top two manufacturers of injection molding machines for the plastics industry.

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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 1.3 million workers and provides nearly $345 billion in annual shipments.

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