Kickstart: Offering opportunities in addition to paychecks

Profiles of companies in this year's Best Places to Work in the plastics industry list is out in the print version of Plastics News this week and also available online.

While PN is very happy to present this list, it is managed by Best Companies Group, a Harrisburg, Pa.-based research firm that has spent more than a decade administrating data and identifying exceptional places to work.

As we read over the background provided by Best Companies on these 22 companies, it's interesting to see what is — and what isn't — cited by employees in the ranking. The companies that rise to the top may pay well and offer generous insurance, but that's not the information cited most often.

What does help companies stand out? Opportunities. Opportunities to add skills needed for promotion, opportunities to be paid while volunteering with local organizations, opportunities to mentor and be mentored, opportunities to adjust your workday so it adapts to your life, rather than forcing you to adapt your life to your workday.

"Every single person is building this organization, and you feel it in the work that you do," said Dan Holloway, vice president of human resources and administration at PureCycle Technologies Inc., which landed at No. 9 among suppliers. "We are shaping what this company is going to look like in the future."

How many credit cards, gift cards, debit cards, membership cards or other types of smart cards do you have? Chances are, you're going to be getting more.

In a new report, analysts for The Insight Partners say the global smart card industry will grow 4.8 percent per year betweeen 2021 and 2028, reaching a total value of more than $1.8 billion per year by 2028.

That's the value of the cards — most commonly made of PVC or ABS — not the value of whatever bank, government or store credit is embedded in them.

Much of the reason for the growth, Insight Partners says, is that countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region have been switching to smart cards for transportation, government and education. That area is also home to materials suppliers that are investing in new technologies that can be embedded in the cards.

General Motors Co.'s Corvette has always been a standard bearer for the automaker. Even through bankruptcy and a global financial crisis, the composite-bodied sports car has sold well.

It's also housed breakthroughs for materials from its debut as a fiberglass-bodied car at its 1953 introduction and its use of carbon-fiber composites for the body now.

And starting next year, it'll go electric.

GM said April 25 that next year will bring a version of an electrified engine, with all-electric models available in two years. The announcement came on the same day that GM said it is asking suppliers to sign pledges about becoming carbon neutral and adopting social and governance commitments, such as human rights protections and fair operating practices.