Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 14, 2001 02:00 AM

Former SPI lobbyist says group is eroding

Steve Toloken
Assistant Managing Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    WASHINGTON — When the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.'s top federal lobbyist resigned last month, he wrote the group's president a blunt letter saying SPI is becoming less effective in public policy work and has seen its membership decline to the point where it is difficult to substantiate its claim to being the industry's "principal trade association."

    The April 6 resignation letter from Lewis Freeman, SPI's former chief federal lobbyist, warns that the association's ability to "be the industry leader it once was on public policy issues" is weakening because of declining resources.

    Freeman, who has since said he will now pursue government-affairs consulting work, and SPI President Don Duncan declined to comment on the letter. Two sources familiar with it confirmed its contents after Plastics News obtained a copy.

    Freeman, a 21-year veteran of SPI who left May 1, had been SPI's vice president of government affairs but was reassigned and given more limited responsibilities for strictly federal legislative work by Duncan, who succeeded Larry Thomas as SPI president in February 2000.

    Freeman, in his letter, said his "more limited" responsibilities in the new job were "neither satisfying to me personally or satisfactory professionally."

    But beyond those personal concerns, he said the group's diminished commitment to public policy work, particularly at the federal level, was starting to compromise the group's effectiveness and was placing it into the "ranks of the also-rans."

    "For an industry that boasts being the fourth largest in the nation, such a lower profile is frankly puzzling to the public officials SPI seeks to influence in the Congress and the regulatory agencies, as well as to many customer and competing material trade associations with which the association interacts," Freeman wrote.

    While declining to discuss the letter specifically, Duncan said generally he was not disappointed with the group's public policy work.

    "I'm convinced we can do better," he said, arguing that the group has been struggling with a new internal structure designed to involve member companies more heavily. The trade association has made "a lot of progress in the last six to nine months," he said.

    SPI now has a strong team of member companies involved in its government affairs efforts, Duncan said. Additionally, he said SPI needs to coordinate its activities with the American Plastics Council, in Arlington, Va.

    Freeman's letter also said that SPI has seen an "alarming" decline in the number of processors — down 45 percent since 1998, and 30 percent in the past 15 months. The loss of raw materials suppliers and the absence of major product sectors, like bottles, pipe and foam, has weakened SPI's ability to be the leader it once was, Freeman wrote.

    "The eroding membership base has reached a point where the claim that SPI is the `principal trade association' for the industry is difficult to substantiate," Freeman wrote.

    SPI argues it is the industry's principal trade association because it has members from all segments of the industry. APC, which has only resin company members, has a much larger budget.

    SPI lost some of its largest member companies as a result of its split with APC. It now has about 1,500 member companies, including 700-800 processors, Duncan said.

    That is down from about 2,000 before the fight with APC. The two groups were once closely allied, but relations became very frosty after merger talks between them fell apart. The groups have made efforts to cooperate in the past year.

    SPI lost several hundred members, many of them small polyurethane roofing suppliers, when some of SPI's larger business units shifted to APC, Duncan said. Some SPI companies have raised concerns about the group's struggles to attract new members. Duncan conceded that he suspects membership has remained flat, even when you remove the "APC effect" of companies leaving SPI for APC.

    One government affairs source at an SPI member company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attention of SPI companies has shifted away from government affairs since 1994, when Republicans took control of Congress and former Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., became House speaker.

    "From the time Newt got in, at the Washington level, the industry was not looking over its shoulder every day wondering who is going to get it," the source said. "As a result the [SPI] board focused its attention on creating value as processors, equipment producers, and raw materials suppliers."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Greenback sets goal for 300 plants to recycle laminated packaging within 20 years
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Kickstart: Paper bags, 'paper' bottles
    2
    Resin Prices
    3
    Treaty talks end with plans for a draft agreement, but hurdles remain
    4
    PP recycler PureCycle sees Ohio plant as springboard for growth
    5
    WL Plastics building $40M MDPE pipe plant in Texas
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified