A materials executive and a few materials firms have won some recent recognition in Northeast Ohio.
Patricia Hubbard — global technology director for PolyOne Corp.'s Specialty Engineered Materials unit — was one of nine local executives on a Who To Watch in Technology list published on June 22 by Crain's Cleveland Business. CCB is a sister publication of Plastics News.
Hubbard oversees teams of researchers at PolyOne's headquarters in Avon Lake, as well as at sites in Germany and China. The firm ranks as North America's largest compounder and concentrate maker.
“One day we might replace a metal bracket that goes into a car,” Hubbard told CCB. “Another day, we might replace lead in an x-ray machine.”
Hubbard is a Northeast Ohio product — a Vermilion High School alum now living in Olmsted Falls with her husband and two sons. CCB also asked Hubbard what she'd be doing if she wasn't working in the technology sector.
“That's easy,” she said. “I'd own an ice cream parlor.”
Five plastics-related firms also were named in a ranking of Northeast Ohio's Top Workplaces published in the June 21 edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper.
Lubrizol Corp. of Wickliffe came in fourth among 25 firms listed in the large category, for companies with more than 500 employees. The firm's plastics unit is based in Brecksville, with production in Avon Lake. Lubrizol ranks as North America's largest producer of thermoplastic polyurethane.
In the midsize Top Workplaces category — for firms with 150-500 employees — Gold Key Processing Inc. of Middlefield was ranked 34th among 50 companies by the PD. The plastics mixer and compounder is a unit of Swedish compounder Hexpol AB.
The PD's small Top Workplaces category — for firms with less than 150 employees — included Riverside Co. at number 17, ENPAC at number 54 and Palmer Holland Inc. at number 63 among 75 companies. Cleveland-based Riverside is a financial firm that owns plastisol compound maker Rutland Plastics Inc. of Pineville, N.C., and PVC window extruder Sunrise Windows Ltd. of Temperance, Mich.
ENPAC of Eastlake is a major producer of plastic spill control products, including drums, tarps, funnels and pallets. North Olmsted-based Palmer Holland is a specialty chemicals distributor that sells resins and additives for Arkema, Clariant, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil Chemical, LyondellBasell Industries and other suppliers.
Congrats to all!