Detroit — NPE2018 just ended, so it's time for a vacation, right? No! It's time again for the Plastics News Processor of the Year Award, 2018 edition!
The award season has begun, and we are officially seeking nominations. It's easy to take the first step, by submitting a simple nomination form explaining why you think the company deserves the award. The form is online at www.plasticsnews.com/poy.
Before you jump in, it's a good idea to read our frequently asked questions. When you get to the awards page, scroll down to the FAQ link and click on it. That will give you a good idea of what we want in a longer written submission report, which comes after we receive the nomination.
Anyone can nominate a processor. You can self-nominate your own company, and suppliers, customers and economic development officials can nominate a processor for the award.
The Processor of the Year Award honors a North American plastics processor for its performance, corporate responsibility and overall excellence. Past award recipients, finalists and other companies who have participated say the award is a valuable way to get some publicity and confirmation by a third party. Plastics News' editorial staffers do the judging.
Each candidate must be a plastics processor — a company that manufactures plastic parts. A nominee can be a company or an operating division, public or private, that has been engaged in plastics processing for at least five years.
There are seven award criteria: financial performance, quality, customer relations, employee relations, environmental performance, industry/public service and technological innovation.
The deadline for entry is Oct. 9. By that date, we want to receive each company's submission.
After a processor is nominated, we ask each nominee to develop a detailed report. As we said earlier, before you launch into the report, first check out the FAQ. We also recommend calling award coordinator Bill Bregar, a senior reporter at Plastics News. Bill can be reached at 330-203-5991 or emailed at [email protected].
In addition to the Processor of the Year Award, Plastics News honors worthy contestants with the PN Excellence Awards for specific categories. And former Processor of the Year winners are eligible to apply for our Sustained Excellence Award.
The 2017 Processor of the Year was Petoskey Plastics Inc., a company based in Petoskey, Mich., that makes blown film and does film converting, including film from recycled plastics
PN Excellence Awards went to MTD Micro Molding, a micromolder in Charlton, Mass., for employee relations; Plastek Industries Inc., a custom injection molder based in Erie, Pa., for customer relations; and Trilogy Plastics Inc., a rotational molder in Alliance, Ohio, for industry and public service.
There were no entries for the Sustained Excellence award last year.
The 2018 winners will be announced at the next Plastics News Executive Forum, scheduled for March 4-6, 2019, in Naples, Fla., at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club.