​Organization promotes plastics as a career to wider audience

When Lynzie Nebel was attending Biomed Boston in May 2015, a sales representative at Jade Group International approached her and shared the possibility of a new nonprofit organization in the plastics industry.

"I had kind of been interested in starting something to get women into plastics. Obviously, there's a lot of stuff to get women into engineering, but [they] almost always skip over plastics," said Nebel, who is project engineer and account manager at Jade. "When he said that, I was like, 'That is what I am trying to do right now, but I just don't really know where to take the first step.'"

Nebel was handed the phone number of Jennifer Snodgrass, who was developing an organization that seeks to raise awareness and opportunities in the industry.

Snodgrass, who has only been involved in the industry for the last three years, came from a nonprofit and education background. Her idea began in 2014 while assisting Jade with outreach to students and universities in the United States. After learning about the manufacturing skills gap, she joined forces with Patrick Smith, president of Jade, and Nebel to form Advocates for Plastics Careers in America.

"The basic mission of Advocates is to raise awareness throughout the entire community of the United States … about all opportunities for careers in plastics, which range from jobs you can get right out of high school and maybe you go into an apprenticeship program, some jobs where you might start with a couple of years at a local community college trade school and then be able to jump in, then all the way through major Ph.D. programs," said Snodgrass, who earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., and is working on her MBA from San Diego State University.

"If somebody is a really hands-on person or they're a designer, there's such a broad range of interests that might lead somebody into the industry," she added. "There's a place for almost everything — every kind of skill, passion or gift that somebody might have."

Information tabs on Advocates' website include "Employers/Professionals," "Students/Parents," "Educators/Counselors," "Military" and "Women."

Snodgrass, who is the president of Advocates, said Nebel's focus is on "wanting to interest more young women and mentoring them."

"I know just from experience, there's a lot of times where I'm the only woman in the room," Nebel said, mentioning a time she traveled to China and a manager said she was the first female engineer that he had ever met. "At that point it was only 2013, but still. We're not talking 1950 here.

"I am seeing some more women get into the industry. Some of the classes [in college], I know, have more women. But also, you'll get a class that only has like two or three women. Why? Why can't every single class have close to 50 percent, if not more? Kind of the way I think we get more women in the industry is to make it seem more accessible," she added. "I know part of my hesitation getting into plastics was you have to be an engineer; you have to have that super nerdy mindset."

Nebel said that while she enjoyed the technology classes she had taken in high school, her original plan was to major in music. (She played viola.) But after injuring her wrist at a basketball game, she went back to the drawing board and gave plastics a shot.

She said she "fell in love with the tightknit part of the program" at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Penn., where she went on to earn her bachelor's degree in plastics engineering technology.

Snodgrass and Nebel said Advocates is geared toward both people who are already involved in the plastics industry and those who are not. For those who are in the business, the organization is a resource for those who want to help grow the industry by sharing success stories or connecting with other professionals. Alternatively, Advocates can be a source of information for students, including educational resources, financial aid opportunities and career prospects.

"We have already collected just a handful of people's personal stories. We've got some people's stories and headshots ready to be uploaded, and we want to share more and more of those," Snodgrass said. "It's the kind of thing where we've got people who went into the military and came out and went into plastics. We have one gentleman who was an attorney, but he was interested in hands-on things and went and got a degree in plastics. Now he's a patent attorney for people who are developing new plastics products."

Nebel, who is also secretary at Advocates, said she hopes the organization is a go-to place for students who want to go into STEM fields.

"I just want people to kind of keep it in the back of their mind," she said. "I want schools to know that Advocates is a great site to have students take a look at."

Snodgrass added that they also want Advocates to connect companies with school systems and other groups such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts so that even children can think about what the plastics industry can offer.

"I would really like for everyone to know about us, and we want to help promote all the different programs, universities, trade schools, apprenticeships, co-ops, anything that's going on in plastics," Snodgrass said.

Snodgrass is on her third year of SPE membership, where she is on the SPE Foundation Scholarship Review Committee.

"There aren't enough students coming to work in plastics each year. … I really want to try to help publicize that they have all these scholarships," she said.

"In my opinion, plastics is just kind of skipped over in general. It's a hidden industry, and it shouldn't be," Nebel said. "It's so obvious when you think about it, but it's not obvious to some people. I still have people approach me and say, 'You're a plastics engineer? What can you do?' And it's like, 'Oh my gosh, I can do everything.'

"I want everyone to see that you don't need to be your stereotypical engineer. There's no set job in here; there's no set skill level in plastics," she added.

Snodgrass has a full plate with Advocates; she constantly thinks about the different ways to promote both the organization itself and the plastics industry in general.

"I think that reaching out to younger and younger people — not so much talking about what they would like to do for a living, but how you would like to see the world be different," she said. "What things worry you or concern you? … In hospitals and veterinary clinics, you cannot possibly treat patients without plastics. Games, toys, electronics, automobiles. If we really get people to open their eyes and realize that you can't go five minutes of your day without doing something with plastics. There's so much that I'd really like to do that it's hard for me to rein myself in with the organization because some of the kinds of things I'd like to do."

Snodgrass added that it's just her and Nebel working on building the organization, with the exception of some advisers. They said they would love to have more people involved and are open to getting more feedback and advice.

"Plastics isn't just one dimension, as long as that can be conveyed to people who aren't really aware of the industry," Nebel said. "I think that's going to do further. Hopefully, with the aid of Advocates, we can really get people interested and involved in the industry."