Plastics News Executive Forum 2007
Amy Zettlemoyer, packaging director for Wal-Mart Stores and its Sam’s Club chain, has some fun mixing it up with plastics suppliers during the Q&A session about environmental responsibility.
Odd couple: Some attendees came just to see how industry executives interacted with environmentalist Stephanie Barger, head of the Environmental Resource Foundation and architect of the “Campaign Against the Plastic Plague.” Pete Grande, president of L.A. bag maker Command Packaging, and Stephanie made nice, though they certainly did not completely see eye to eye on science and tactics.
As director of the Illinois Institute of Technology’s design school in Chicago, Prof. Patrick Whitney heads the largest post-graduate industrial design school in the U.S. One of his missions is to get tomorrow’s business leaders to recognize and understand the value of design in running a successful corporation.
Keynote speaker Erik Peterson, executive VP at the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies, wows the crowd with an eye-popping, thought-provoking multimedia presentation about the factors that will reshape the world as we know it by 2025.
SPI in stereo: Mike Mulrooney, recently appointed president of Basell Polyolefins North America, chats with Society of Plastics Industry Inc. President Bill Carteaux (right) and SPI's VP of Regional Operations Rick Sturgis (left) during a break.
President/CEO Ron Ricotta (center, blue shirt) attends his fourth Executive Forum, bringing 13 of his Century Mold Co. Inc. colleagues with him. The group held a strategic planning meeting on-site at the Paradise Point Resort immediately after the Forum’s conclusion, so they could discuss and apply what they had learned in the previous three days.
Brothers Starkey rock the house (or actually, the boat) on a Mississippi-style big-wheel boat that was site of Monday’s Casino Night reception sponsored by their firm, Progressive Components. President Glenn Starkey (arms flailing) and VP Don Starkey shed their usual inhibitions to join the house band on a few songs.
Cruel & unusual punishment: This trio of industry execs – (L-R) Plante & Moran’s Jeff Mengel, Progressive Components’ Don Starkey and RJG Inc.’s Matt Groleau – jumped on stage to sing backup on “Born to Be Wild” for the rock band during the floating Casino Night bash. (Insider tip: Keep your day jobs, guys!)
Susan Bessemer, sales administration manager for Novatec Inc., and Harry Short, president of Advantage Engineering Group’s new Auxiliary Systems Group, enjoy the Asian-themed cuisine of Sunday evening’s opening networking reception.
Frank Ruiz, president of additives maker Plastimin LLC in Texas, teamed with Laurie Hansen (center), Sacramento-based lobbyist and government affairs adviser to the Progressive Bag Alliance, on the panel debating plastics companies’ corporate responsibility as it relates to the environment. Attendee Anoosheh Mostafaei, president of Ship and Shore Environmental Inc. in Signal Hill, Calif., joins them at the opening reception.
Seeing double? Ted Kuskowski (left), VP of business development, and his brother Walter, president/CEO of Wentworth Technologies Co. Ltd. in Burlington, Ontario, take in the conference.
Cross-border communications (L-R): Berry Plastics financial manager Bob Shah; Nypro Inc. CFO and Chief Strategy Officer Jim Buonomo; Mumbai, India-based Essel Propack Ltd. Vice Chairman and Managing Director Ashok Goel; Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Mumbai-based General Manager of Polymer Exports Sanjay Moolji; and Helmar Franz, executive VP of Chinese machinery giant Ningbo Haitian Group Co. Ltd.
Just like old times: Haitian’s Helmar Franz (left) and SPI President Bill Carteaux used to share executive managing director duties at German machinery maker Demag Plastics Group before assuming their current jobs.
Roger Klouda, president of MSI Mold Builders Inc., escaped the ice storm in his home state of Iowa to attend.
Alex Mora, president of Formula Plastics Inc. in Tecate, Calif., makes some points during the Q&A session.
Joe Pack, recently promoted to CEO of Dallas-based injection molder Moll Industries Ltd., listens intently to the best-practices advice dispensed by several speakers.
Attendee Ramon Parellada ventured north from Guatemala for the conference. Parellada is director of Polytec, a division of film and bag maker Polymeros y Tecnologia SA.
Wisconsin Film & Bag Inc. President Jack Riopelle not only offered resin-buying tips as a panelist but also was active in the Q&A sessions.
Mary Scheibel, principal owner of Milwaukee-based marketing communications firm Scheibel Halaska Inc., keeps busy taking notes even between sessions.
Investment bankers’ night out: Financial minds compared notes (and EBITDA ratios) throughout the conference. Above are (L-R): John Hart, VP of P&M Corporate Finance LLC; Jeff Kolke, VP of GE Corporate Lending; and Scott Bashrum, senior portfolio analyst for Highland Capital Management LP.
Michael Lord (left), president and CEO of Blue Water Automotive Systems Inc., holds court during an evening reception with Glenn Kornfeld, president of Sun Plastech Inc., and John Moyer, president of Asahi Kasei Plastics North America Inc.
Paul Minbiole (left), president of E-Beam Services Inc., and his wife, Patti, visit at the Processor of the Year reception with Joe Klunk, president of Parkway Products.
Bob Foote (center), president of Technical Polymers LLC in Bedford, Ga., was one of two people who nominated Innovative Injection Technologies Inc. for PN’s Processor of the Year Award. I2Tech – represented here by co-owners Josh Janeczko and his father, Bob — celebrated making the finalists’ circle for the second year in a row at the award reception.
Seeking some useful insights before making his next big acquisition, Berry Plastics Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Ira Boots and his wife, Terry, consult during the Moroccan-themed Processor of the Year Award reception with the “sandman” fortune teller. Berry was one of three POY award finalists.
Winner of the Gwyneth Paltrow look-alike contest, Elizabeth Burgess, a senior partner with Altus Capital Partners in Westport, Conn., said she found the final morning’s best-practices panel with the Processor of the Year Award finalist executives to be especially useful.
For the second straight year, we asked executives from our Processor of the Year Award finalists to participate on a breakfast panel, to share “best practices” advice with attendees. This year’s panel was particularly entertaining and enlightening, and featured (L-R): Mack Molding regional presidents Ray Burns and Jeff Somple; Berry Plastics Chairman, CEO and President Ira Boots; and Innovative Injection Technologies President Bob Janeczko.
The usually media-shy Pete Henning, chairman, CEO and president of Plano Molding Co. in Plano, Ill., came out of his shell to participate on the panel offering resin-buying tips.
Jim Bob Carpenter (left), Bradenton, Fla.-based executive VP of global sourcing for Canada’s Intertape Polymer, consulted with Garland Strong, president of Resin Technologies Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, during a lull in the action.
Julie Minbiole, daughter-in-law of E-Beam Services Inc. President Paul Minbiole, stuck her neck out to feed greenery to a tall friend during Sunday's behind-the-scenes tour at the San Diego Zoo.
Sanjay Moolji, general manager of polymer exports for India’s Reliance Industries Ltd., got up close and personal with this slobbering, furry-cheeked camel during the Forum’s “behind the scenes” excursion to the San Diego Zoo. They’ll never believe this back in Mumbai!
