Kickstart: Signing up petrochemical recruits

Petrochemical companies near Freeport, Texas, are about to have their biggest job fair ever.

More than 250 high school seniors have signed up for the seventh annual Brazoria County Petrochemical Council's Career Signing Day, a record for the event. The students will be able to interview with up to four companies during a March 25 session, featuring firms offering careers in professions such as welding, pipefitting and construction.

In 2024, BCPC saw 112 students accept job offers resulting from those interviews. Students accepted in the program can begin full-time careers immediately after graduation, the trade group said.

Students must submit a letter of recommendation, school transcripts and personal essay before they are allowed to participate in interviews.

"With a growing demand for a skilled workforce, Career Signing Day serves as a vital bridge between education and industry," Aaron Ennis, BCPC signing day chair, said in a news release. "This program provides life-changing opportunities for students while strengthening our region's workforce with highly trained professionals."

Diversity and inclusion efforts have been the target of some pretty intense rhetoric lately, but let's be clear about something: Expanding your platform in search of employees, customers and partners is a good thing. Nobody is out there praising the values of being stagnant.

Employees that feel wanted and welcomed are more likely to stay and recruit others. If they feel their ideas are valued, then they are more likely to contribute proposals to improve production or save money.

"Everyone needs to feel like they're all on the same team," as Angela Elsey, president of mold base and tooling component supplier PCS Co., put it during the Plastics News Executive Forum. "And that culture drives customer satisfaction."

With that said, Plastics News will publish its annual diversity issue on April 21. We're accepting tips and ideas of companies and specific projects to cover for the 2025 edition.

Head over to www.plasticsnews.com/DiversityIssue to fill out a survey to help us cover this important issue. The deadline for submissions is March 31.

Mattress maker Purple Innovation Inc. may be putting at least part of itself up for sale.

The Utah-based company said March 13 that its board of directors "has initiated a review of strategic alternatives for the company following inbound expressions of interest" and that those opportunities include, but are not limited to, "a sale, merger or other strategic or financial distraction."

The company, which uses urethanes and what it terms a proprietary "hyper-elastic polymer" in its mattresses, had been adjusting its operations to adapt to lower demand after sales skyrocketed early in the COVID-19 pandemic. That included a 2024 decision to consolidate manufacturing in McDonough, Ga., while shutting down sites in Salt Lake City and Grantsville, Utah.

Apparently, those efforts have yielded results. Purple returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2024, which positions it for a strong negotiating platform in any M&A talks.