Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
      • 2022 class
  • 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
    • 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
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • 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
  • 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
January 15, 2007 01:00 AM

Larry Johnson receives Leo Shluker Award

Roger Renstrom
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    The California Film Extruders and Converters Association usually honors someone with strong California business ties with its annual Leo Shluker Award.

    This year, however, the group picked Larry Johnson, 67, of Ponte Verda Beach, Fla., acknowledging the contribution of someone who has played a wider industry role.

    Ill health kept Johnson from attending CFECA's Jan. 9 meeting in Cerritos, Calif. Johnson is undergoing cancer treatments.

    The Shluker award is Johnson's second honor in the past year. In April, the Film and Bag Federation honored him with a special commendation during its conference in Tampa, Fla., particularly praising his advocacy for recycling plastics. Johnson is a longtime FBF director.

    Business associates, industry leaders and an environmentalist lauded Johnson's contributions in telephone interviews, noting that he has raised the awareness level of the plastics industry and national trade associations and responded adroitly to critical situations.

    ``Larry's strongest attribute is his extraordinary leadership ability,'' said Johnson's former business partner William Seanor. ``He can develop long-term relationships and cause people to perceive his empathy.'' Seanor now is chairman and chief executive officer of flexible packaging converter Overwraps Packaging Inc. of Dallas.

    Kevin Kelly, CEO of Emerald Packaging Inc. in Union City, Calif., said: ``It is really impossible to overstate the important role that Larry has played in the last few years in the industry. Larry's role is indispensable.''

    Johnson's force of personality has pushed communication with environmentalists and zeroed in on the industry's critical issues, said Kelly. ``He has the legitimacy, knowledge, personality and willingness to do that.''

    ``CFECA could not have chosen a more appropriate and deserving individual for this award,'' said Jack Riopelle, president of Wisconsin Film & Bag Inc. of Shawano Wis., and chairman of FBF, a business unit of Washington-based SPI.

    ``Larry has given tirelessly of himself'' in working with CFECA, the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. and the industry to present the industry's position ``with professionalism, great passion and an extraordinary comprehension of the issues and the challenges the industry faces,'' Riopelle said.

    ``Larry is not at all bashful about speaking to the fact that our industry as a whole needs to do a better job of environmental stewardship. That took a great deal of courage, but it brought Larry a great deal of credibility with certain agencies trying to tax or ban plastic bags.''

    Donna Dempsey, executive director of Washington-based FBF, said Johnson's knowledge, credibility and compassion showed local governments and environmental groups that industry could do the right thing.

    Prior to Johnson's vigorous involvement, ``I don't think industry truly had the spirit to want to partner'' with agencies such as the California Integrated Waste Management Board and the California Coastal Commission and groups such as Californians Against Waste, said Dempsey.

    CAW leader Mark Murray said he has ``a tremendous amount of respect'' for Johnson and his forthrightness.

    ``Larry wants to solve problems,'' said Murray, executive director of Sacramento, Calif.-based CAW. ``He is definitely not someone who rolls over'' or easily yields ground.

    Over 2½ years, Johnson and Murray have worked to craft solutions to problems with plastic bags without getting into the more common rhetorical battles.

    ``I found him a thoughtful and reasonable advocate for his point of view,'' Murray said. ``He was willing to sit down, roll up his sleeves and find a solution.''

    Kick-starting PBA

    Johnson is an activist with FBF, but he, Seanor and Leon Farahnik recognized that the industry in California needed a more powerful and reasoned vehicle to respond to various anti-plastics initiatives. ``We decided the FBF was not the right vehicle,'' Seanor said.

    As a result, five plastic bag manufacturers including Vanguard and Farahnik-led Hilex Poly Co. LLC formed PBA in early 2005 to address proposed bag bans, taxes and related issues.

    Johnson, who was appointed and continues as PBA chairman, took the assignment seriously and worked through numerous regulatory and legislative situations while simultaneously performing his regular duties as Vanguard president and a managing partner.

    ``He took on additional responsibilities with PBA,'' Seanor said. ``He focused a high percentage of his time on issues confronting PBA, and he used his leadership and organizational skills to bring that effort together to represent industry in a convincing manner. That resulted in successes in California.''

    The founding firms funded PBA with $500,000 on its first day and have ``raised upward of $1.5 million,'' mostly for recycling awareness and implementation programs, said an amazed Laurie Hansen, a lobbyist in Sacramento. The PBA retained her services.

    ``They wanted to know what it would take for the industry to get us out of this'' downward spiraling situation, Hansen said.

    ``We actually put programs into place,'' she said. ``That was all Larry. He gave environmentalists and local governments his word, and he kept it.''

    Among other things, those efforts led to an agreement between San Francisco officials and grocers to reduce usage by 10 million bags; that avoided a proposed 17 cent-per-bag tax. ``Los Angeles [also] was moving that way and threatened a 10 cent tax,'' Hansen said.

    Johnson evangelizes about his recycling experiences, encouraging others to take responsibility for controlling resin pellets in manufacturing environments, Hansen said.

    Hilex of Hartsville, S.C., acquired Vanguard in October 2005. At that time, Vanguard's seven plants had annual sales of about $350 million, and Hilex's five facilities had sales of about $300 million.

    As a consequence of the sale, Johnson further increased his focus on environmental issues. He disengaged from hands-on daily management duties and became a consultant to Hilex owners with a primary responsibility to pursue the PBA agenda and focus on initiatives potentially affecting the bag industry.

    In his spare time, Johnson uses his significant creative and mechanical skills in woodworking to make furniture and help with home remodeling and room additions, including at his daughters' homes. He and his wife, Charlene, have three daughters and nine grandchildren.

    Mike McGuiness of St. Louis proudly counts himself as being among Johnson's proteges from their days at Ivex and Vanguard.

    He recalled Johnson's lesson about turning off the proverbial light switch at the end of a work week and leaving the switch off during weekend time at home with family members.

    ``My approach to interacting with people mirrors the approach I learned from Larry Johnson,'' McGuiness said.

    CFECA of Newport Beach, Calif., began the Leo Shluker Award in 1985 in recognition of the group's founder and first president.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Groups call for faster phaseout of plastics in national parks
    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
    Obituary: Trexel CEO Brian Bechard
    2
    Get used to higher inflation, interest rates
    3
    With plenty of uncertainty, the race to automotive electrification is underway
    4
    HIG Capital to ‘accelerate investments' in Avient distribution unit
    5
    Nexus executive: Industry must deliver on promise of chemical recycling
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    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
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. 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
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
          • 2022 class
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • 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
        • 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
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • 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
    • 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