Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Viewpoint
May 26, 2022 08:26 AM

Changes at the top look promising for Plastics Industry Association

Don Loepp
Editor
Plastics News Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Web-cartoon-may23_i.jpg
    Rich Williams

    The Plastics Industry Association was in a rough spot with the March 25 departure of CEO Tony Radoszewski. But by acting quickly and promoting Matt Seaholm and Glenn Anderson to top posts, the Washington-based trade association has an opportunity to get back on course.

    Plenty of challenges remain. Seaholm, the new CEO, and Anderson, the chief operating officer, need to rebuild a team that's had too much turnover. They need to ensure that the association recovers from the missed NPE2021, which was canceled because of COVID, and put in the advance work to make sure the 2024 show is a big success.

    And they need to find the right balance between defending the industry and working to ensure that plastics are a sustainable part of a more circular economy. Because that's what investors, brand owners and consumers want.

    Many U.S. industry leaders tend to want someone with plastics experience to lead the association. But when it comes to dealing with D.C. decision-makers and other industry allies, there's also an obvious need for the political skills that come from trade association executives.

    Radoszewski, whose tenure started in September 2019, appeared at first to be uniquely qualified for the job. He was coming off a 40-year career in plastics, including stints at Phillips Chemical Co., Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. and 13 years heading the Irving, Texas-based Plastics Pipe Institute.

    He joined the association just weeks after Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. left the group, citing the association's strategy of lobbying for state laws that preempted local bans on plastic bags.

    Radoszewski seemed primed to represent and defend plastics. But his momentum fizzled, bedeviled by restructuring, staff turnover and a pandemic. Not to mention indifference: The global plastics industry was too busy staying open, keeping workers safe and dealing with supply chain chaos to worry about leadership issues at the Plastics Industry Association.

    Now there's an opportunity to get back on track. This transition reminds me of when longtime association President Larry Thomas stepped down in 1999 after a contentious and ultimately failed attempt to merge with the American Plastics Council. The association, then known as the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., was bleeding membership and clout.

    At the time, I argued that SPI needed an energetic, inspirational leader that the industry could rally around. That eventually did happen, but not until six years later, when 45-year-old Bill Carteaux was named president. (And that's not to imply that there was anything wrong with Don Duncan, who held the job in the years between Thomas and Carteaux. Duncan brought stability to the association, even though the effort to merge with APC, which would have given the group a lot more influence in Washington, did fail.)

    In 2005, Carteaux was young, intense and passionate about the industry. He is remembered fondly for leading the association through the Great Recession, and then moving the NPE show to Orlando, Fla., after a streak of 14 straight shows in Chicago.

    Can the association's new leaders duplicate Carteaux's success? In Seaholm and Anderson, the group may have found the right combination of political and industry experience.

    Seaholm has been the association's vice president of government affairs for the past two years and prior to that was the executive director of the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance (yes, the group that was pushing for preemption legislation that drove Coke and Pepsi away from the association — the irony is not lost on us).

    Anderson joined the association in 2020 after a nearly 40-year career in plastics, mostly at U.S.-based machinery maker Milacron. While at Milacron, he was also chairman of the 2018 NPE.

    But they have a lot of work to do: rebuild the association's staff, come up with a growth strategy so it can represent a much larger share of the plastics industry and communicate an enlightened strategy to highlight where plastics fit in the sustainable economy.

     

    Loepp is editor of Plastics News and author of the Plastics Blog. Follow him on Twitter @donloepp.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Successful plastics firms capitalize on opportunity
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    2
    Nova declares force majeure for PE made at Ontario site
    3
    Engineering resin prices close the first quarter with a drop
    4
    Entek picks Terre Haute, Ind., for $1.5B battery separator plant
    5
    Polymer Points Live March 2023: Commodity resin prices rising, but engineering resins see drops
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified