FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tracy Cullen
Tel: (202) 210-0467
Email: tcullen@socplas.org

Plastics Industry Associations Agree to Work Together

CHICAGO (June 21, 2006) –Working towards a vision of strategic collaboration among the industry associations, the Board of Directors of the National Plastics Center (NPC), comprised of industry and association leaders, will enter into a “Memorandum of Agreement” beginning July 1, with the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI), under which SPI will begin to manage the Center and its programs. The announcement was made by NPC Chairman of the Board Watts Humphrey Jr. from the Conair Group while at SPI’s NPE 2006 trade show being held this week in Chicago.

“The National Plastics Center will contract with SPI to provide professional management services for its museum and programs to ensure long-term viability and success while maintaining the autonomy provided by the existing Board,” Humphrey said. “The core program goals of NPC are complimentary to the current SPI programs. Working together, with SPI and other industry groups, we can provide a total education and public outreach package to the plastics industry.”

SPI President William Carteaux echoed Humphrey’s enthusiasm for pooling the industry’s resources. “SPI’s mission is to leverage our collective expertise, our special relationships, our political capital and our growing database of information to promote the plastics industry domestically and globally,” Carteaux said. “Strength in numbers combined with our sector expertise—that has always been a hallmark of SPI. And it will continue to be in the future.”

The National Plastics Center will continue as a separate legal entity, maintaining a high level of autonomy. Its existing Board of Directors will continue to provide continuity and leadership as SPI takes on daily management of the Center’s educational initiatives and public outreach campaigns.

SPI will also continue NPC’s close collaboration with allied industry organizations, in particular the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). The Center’s Plastivan ™ program will continue to expand its relationship with SPE's sections and divisions to extend the reach of the program to communities around the United States. Plastivan™ will also be marketed to all SPI members as well as to SPI’s twelve end-market business units.

“Working together, we are advancing our industry’s complimentary and compatible goals,” Carteaux added. “United with one vision and one voice, the future of the plastics industry is bright.”

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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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