At least two plastics executives are among the honorees in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 Awards.
Albert Salama, CEO of Sabert Corp., was picked for excellence in distribution and manufacturing in the New Jersey region.
"It is such an honor to be recognized along with so many visionaries, job creators and wealth makers," Salama said. "We all know that good people make good things happen, and a lot of good people make great things happen. I have been fortunate to be surrounded by great people who have taught me a lot, and for that I am ever thankful."
Salama founded Sabert 31 years ago, at age 32. According to a news release from the company, he resigned from a position as vice president of a major global bank and began selling plastic food trays out of his apartment.
Today the company has plants in New Jersey, Kentucky, California, Belgium and China.
The other plastics-related honoree that I spotted today is Scott Becker, president and CEO of Chromaflo Technologies Corp., an independent global supplier of colorant systems, chemical and pigment dispersions. Becker was picked in the distribution & manufacturing category in northeast Ohio.
"It's an honor to be recognized, but this award really symbolizes the willingness of our employees, investors, and lenders to support the vision of being the premier global supplier of colorant technologies," Becker said.
Chromaflo has been growing via acquisition. Prior to joining the business, Becker was president of Plasticolors Inc. According to a news release, it was Becker's vision to expand Plasticolor's growing thermoset business by entering the coatings market in the late 1990s. That decision eventually led to the creation of Chromaflo.
As winners in their respective regional contests, Becker and Salama now are now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 national program. Those awards will be announced in November.
Congratulations to both, and I'll be watching to see if any more plastics-related executives are among the winners this year.
