Kickstart: A new image for a plastics plant

Injection molder Matrix 4 — or M4 — and its owner, Patricia Miller, have done a lot of work to change the image of what manufacturing looks like. Now they're taking that message to the streets, commissioning an art mural from Lauren Asta to cover the outside walls of its plant in Woodstock, Ill.

Miller said with the mural, Asta can inspire both the M4 team and surrounding community.

"I had seen Lauren's work in Chicago, loved the black and white style, its gender neutrality and clear vision. It was important for me to partner with a strong female artist like Lauren to manifest our vision of bringing art and creativity to the factory and community," Miller said in a news release.

The M4 site is on a prominent corner in Woodstock and serves as a gateway to the community, Miller said. Asta added that community members frequently checked in with her throughout the four-week project.

It's time to play ball — Wiffle Ball, that is — with the World Series of Wiffle Ball set for this weekend in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Nearly 80 teams took part in the 2019 Wiffle Ball World Series. After a year off for the pandemic, it's back for play Aug. 14-15. There are teams for kids age 7-9 on up to a division for those who are 30-plus years old. This year, organizers told the Cleveland.com website that 114 teams have signed up.

The series began as a way to raise funds to build a new ball field in Twinsburg.

Each game has four innings of play and the home run line is 90 feet from home plate. The fielders play without gloves, of course.

David N. Mullaney invented the Wiffle Ball in the summer of 1953 when he watched his son and a friend playing a game with a plastic golf ball and a broomstick handle.

"They had given up on baseball and softball," the company website notes. "Not enough players for two teams, not enough space for a field, and too many broken windows."

So far this year, Plastics News has profiled Rising Stars, Women Breaking the Mold, and companies and individuals working to improve diversity.

Now it's time for CEOs to get a little recognition. Yes, I know CEOs are more typically in the news, but especially this past year they've also had to deal with more big issues than ever appear in the news.

As Editor Don Loepp put it in this week's print issue of PN: "Here are just a few of the questions they face: Do you require masks and vaccinations, encourage them, or make them optional? How do you handle people working virtually vs. showing up in person? Policies on work travel are also in flux, as well as whether to host visits from suppliers and customers."

The Sept. 6 issue of PN is our seventh annual CEO issue. We invite you to head to plasticsnews.com/CEO to fill out a survey to help us plan our coverage.