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Processor of the Year Award | Executive Forum 2008

The PN Executive Forum next Feb. 25-28 in San Diego features a strong lineup of expert presenters tackling a diverse range of topics. Among those confirmed so far:

    
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
•  Amy Zettlemoyer, Director of Packaging, Sam's Club division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
•  Stephanie Barger, Founder & Executive Director, Earth Resource Foundation
Amy Zettlemoyer is part of the team at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club directing its supply base to reduce the amount of packaging for the products it sells. Stephanie Barger has been an outspoken plastics critic in California, and is challenging the industry to do more to protect the environment and adopt more sustainable practices.

GROWTH, LEGISLATION & ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
•  Pete Grande, CEO/Founder, Command Packaging & President, California Film Extruders & Converters Assn.
•  Laurie J. Hansen, Government Affairs Specialist, Progressive Bag Alliance
•  Frank Ruiz, President, Plastimin LLC; Research Director, Heritage Plastics Inc.; and Technical Director, Heritage Bag Co.
•  Don Loepp, Managing Editor, Plastics News (discussion moderator)
This activist group of industry film and bag executives is on the front lines of some of the plastics industry's most challenging battles. They are confronting bag and plastics materials bans, marine debris issues, the rise of bioresins, are and other working with environmentalists and legislators in California to find solutions that protect the environment while not destroying the bottom line. What starts in the Golden State often spreads nationwide, so all plastics processors must heed the lessons being learned.

MATERIALS MARKET PROSPECTS
•  Greg Babe, President/CEO - North America, Bayer MaterialScience
•  Howard Ungerleider, Commercial VP for Plastics - North America, Dow Chemical Co.
•  Michael Mulrooney, President, Basell Polyolefins North America
•  Frank Esposito, Reporter, Plastics News (discussion moderator)
This high-powered trio of resin executives shares their individual views on the supply, demand and market conditions affecting polycarbonate, polyethylene and polypropylene resins, and then convene in a panel moderated by PN's own Frank Esposito.

"THE SEVEN REVOLUTIONS" - GLOBAL TRENDS TO 2025
•  Erik Peterson, Senior Vice President, Center for Strategic & International Studies
The CSIS is a nonpartisan, nonprofit Washington, D.C.- based think tank established in 1962. Peterson holds the William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis and also is director of the CSIS Global Strategy Institute. As part of the institute's research, Peterson heads the "Seven Revolutions Initiative," an internationally recognized effort to identify and project global trends out to the year 2025. This thought-provoking presentation suggests what forces will change the world in which we live.

THE VITAL INTERSECTION OF DESIGN & BUSINESS
•  Prof. Patrick Whitney, Director - Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology
Dubbed a "design visionary" by BusinessWeek magazine recently, Patrick Whitney is leading the effort to enlighten corporate leaders about the key role that good design plays in many companies' success. Well-versed in global design trends, he and his IIT group organized a highly touted conference in Beijing in late 2005 called "Designing for the New China Markets." He will share his views on the intertwining of business and design, and its likely impact in both established and emerging markets.

EMERGING MARKETS & GLOBALIZATION
•  Jim Buonomo, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Strategy Officer, Nypro Inc.
•  Ashok Goel, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Essel Propack Ltd.
•  Helmar Franz, Executive Vice President, Ningbo Haitian Group
•  Doreen Huro Michelini, Founder & Principal, China Mexico Solutions LLC
•  Chris Runckel, Chairman, U.S.-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and President, Runckel & Associates
These players know China, India and Southeast Asia, as well as Central Europe and Mexico, and will share their views on how those markets are reshaping the global plastics industry. Buonomo oversees operations for Nypro, a billion-dollar custom molder with more than a dozen plants in China and India. Goel, in addition to heading fast-expanding, specialty packaging giant Essel Propack, also serves as president of the Organization of Plastics Processors of India trade association. Franz, former co-managing director of Demag Plastics Group, now lives in Ningbo, China, helping to define and drive business for Haitian Group, which claims to be the world's largest maker of plastic injection molding machines. Huro Michelini, in addition to running consulting firm China Mexico Solutions, also serves as business development manager for Rockford, Ill.-based Industrial Molds Group, which builds plastic injection tools, mold components and provides molding in the U.S., Mexico, China and Sweden. She will offer a case study on how some North American molders and mold makers must expand globally to remain competitive domestically. And Runckel, a former diplomat and foreign-service veteran who worked in the Ford White House, specializes in guiding small, medium and family-owned businesses to expand their operations in Asia.

SUCCESSION PLANNING & CRISIS MANAGEMENT
•  David Bolland, President/Chief Operating Officer, Plymouth Foam Inc.
•  Tom Testwuide, Chairman/CEO, Plymouth Foam Inc.
The tragic corporate airplane crash in early 2005 that claimed the lives of the pilot and the top three executives/owners of expanded-polystyrene-foam products maker Plymouth Foam Inc. would have doomed many firms. But Plymouth had mapped out a careful succession plan, managed its way through the crisis, and today is not only surviving but thriving.

AUTOMOTIVE MARKET OUTLOOK
•  Kim Korth, President/Founder, IRN Inc.
This long-time automotive industry expert will share her insights into the current trials and tribulations of the auto sector and its impact on the supplier base.

MERGER & ACQUISITION TRENDS
•  Thomas Blaige, CEO & Managing Partner, Blaige & Co.
•  Ira Boots, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Berry Plastics Corp.
•  Jeffrey W. Dancer, President, Allan F. Dow Group LLC
•  Michael Lord, CEO, Blue Water Automotive Systems Inc.
This panel will feature a mix of processor executives and investment bankers experienced in buying and selling plastics companies. The panelists will share their views of the current M&A market, as well as do's and don'ts for those considering buying or selling.

PLASTICS NEWS PROCESSOR OF THE YEAR AWARD & PANEL
Tuesday evening's semi-formal PN Processor of the Year Awards Reception will recognize and honor this year's finalists and reveal the winner, while senior officials from the finalist companies — Ira Boots of Berry Plastics Corp., Dr. Robert Janeczko of Innovative Injection Technologies Inc., and Ray Burns and Jeff Somple of Mack Molding Co. - will share their best practices during a breakfast panel the following morning. Panel moderators are Megan Mehalko, partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP, and Jeff Mengel, partner at Plante & Moran PLLC.

PANEL: TIPS FOR BUYING RESIN MORE EFFECTIVELY
•  Bill Bowie, Chief Operating Officer, Resin Technology Inc. (moderator)
•  Jim Bob Carpenter, Executive VP - Global Sourcing, Intertape Polymer Group
•  Jerry Esposito, GM/Director - Worldwide Sourcing, Thomson's Technicolor H.E.S.
•  Pete Henning, Chairman, CEO & President, Plano Molding Co.
•  Jack Riopelle, President, Wisconsin Film & Bag
In a first for the Executive Forum, this Wednesday morning panel organized by consultants Resin Technology Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, will feature processors discussing resin-buying tactics and strategies that help to level the playing field.

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