Longtime plastics industry executive Stephen Petrakis will join the staff of the Plastics Industry Association in Washington, where he will be vice president of its equipment council, the trade group announced March 24.
Petrakis, who assumes the new job April 17, comes to the association from auxiliary equipment maker Thermal Care, Inc., in Niles, Ill., where he is vice president of sales and marketing.
He joined Thermal Care in November, after working for six years for Conair Group, as its vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. and Canada.
Petrakis has been in the plastics industry for 40 years, also serving in executive positions at Frigel North America and Sterling Corp.
"We are thrilled to welcome Steve to lead the Equipment Council," said Stan Glover, chair of the association's equipment council. "Steve brings decades of corporate experience working with both equipment and processor companies, and will provide exceptional leadership."
"The Equipment Council is at the core of the plastics industry," said Bill Carteaux, president and CEO of the association. "This invaluable council works hard to ensure the safety of our industry's 954,000 employees and will be well led by an expert like Steve Petrakis."
The group's previous director of industry affairs for the equipment council, David Palmer, has left the association, a spokeswoman said.
For one 18-month stint earlier in his career, Petrakis had also worked on the staff of the association, as its director of the Midwest/Northeast region.
In its statement, the group noted that Petrakis' father was a plastics engineer and worked in the field his entire career, and that his daughter also works in the industry.
"Plastics has been good to my family, and this opportunity to join PLASTICS allows me to serve the entire industry and do what I can to make it better," he said.
