Alex Beaumont, 35
Vice President
Beaumont Technologies Inc.
Alex Beaumont graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in plastics engineering and technology. During school, he held internships at Rehrig Pacific Co., a manufacturer and distributor of plastic pallets and containers, as well as Beaumont Technologies Inc. and Plastikon Industries Inc. Beaumont also had a co-op at Bausch and Lomb in Rochester, N.Y.
Following graduation, he joined Flambeau Inc. as a project engineer in Madison, Ga., before transferring to the headquarters in Baraboo, Wis. After a few years at Flambeau, he started working at Beaumont as an account manager in tech sales, then was promoted to director of business development and eventually vice president.
Erie, Pa.-based Beaumont Technologies, a plastics engineering firm for the injection molding industry, is the inventor of the MeltFlipper and Therma-flo. The company was founded by his father, John Beaumont, who still works there. Alex Beaumont's wife, Mandy, also works there in the marketing department.
Alex Beaumont was nominated by Russ Broome, senior director of business development for the Plastics Industry Association.
Plastics News: What emerging technology or market most interests you?
Beaumont: 3D printing. It is growing quickly and I don't see it going away anytime soon. With that, we have to learn it and adapt to it where it makes sense. We really don't have an option.
Q: What about the plastics industry surprises you?
Beaumont: The biggest thing that continues to surprise me is the lack of plastics engineers there are in this industry. We recently found a statistic that compared the amount of plastics engineers that graduate each year vs. the amount of plastic companies there are out there. The results showed that only one in every 52 plastic companies actually have a degreed plastic engineer. That's 1.9 percent! That's crazy to me.
Q: What is your philosophy related to plastics and sustainability? What steps have you taken to improve plastics' sustainability, either in work, your community or personal life?
Beaumont: My philosophy related to plastics and sustainability is that we need to keep educating ourselves and others how to recycle properly. We can't get rid of plastics so we have to figure out a way to make them easier to recycle and I am confident we will get there. Steps I have taken to improve plastics' sustainability is trying to stay on top of all that is being done. I've found the best way to do that is by staying involved with the Plastics Industry Association as they are at the for front of this fight so supporting them is important to me and our company.
Q: What job do you really want to have in the future?
Beaumont: The job I eventually want to have in the future is being the president of Beaumont. I'm proud of what my father created and look forward to continuing to grow this company while keeping the same family orientated culture we have had since the beginning.
After that, I hopefully get to be a Grandpa. To be able to sit back and see your kids grown up into successful people with their own families would be quite the blessing.