1956-2016 1956 1957 1958 years timeline.p… · was in dire straits. the as-sociation owed $5,100...

A HISTORY OF PLASTICS

19561956-2016

SEPTEMBER 22The First official United Plastic Distributors Asso-ciation meeting is spear-headed by Paul Davis of Plastics Manufacturing and Supply Corporation in Dayton, OH.

SEPTEMBER 20Initiation fee decreases to $100 to encourage growth.

MARCHThe first Barbie Doll is unveiled by Mattel at American International Toy Fair.

OCTOBER 23Annual Convention held in Kansas City with only 12 delegates

JanuaryPresident Bradford Nicholson solicited permission to seek ad-ministrative help for the association.

The bamboo hoop exer-cise ring is reinvented as the plastic Hula Hoop by Knerr & Medlin, Wham-O-Toy Company.

The first production of polycarbonates by Bayer and General Electric.

Lego patents its stud and block coupling system and produces toys of cellulose acetate, later Ac-rylonitrile-butadiene-sty-rene polymer.

The first production of polypropylene by Monte-catini using Ziegler-Natta catalysts.

Annual dues cost $25.Annual dues increase to $50.

The first president of UPDA is Leo T. Kruskamp

Membership growth has reached 19 members.

The Reliant Regal 111 is the first commercially successful all glass-rein-forced plastic bodied car to go on sale. DuPont files patents for first acetals.

Articles of Incorporation Committee recommends material suppliers be allowed to become allied members.

First draft of the Stan-dard Materials List is presented. It was a list of materials generally stocked by members, with each member de-tailing which materials they stock and materials they would be willing to supply.

OCTOBER 13Second meeting to draw up corporation’s char-ter, establish the bylaws and appoint committee members. Bylaws asked for $500 initiation fee for founding and new members.

DECEMBER 19The new UPDA logo is debuted.

June 29The first annual conven-tion in Dayton, Ohio.

1957 19581956

1959

JULY 22The first Standard Ma-terials List is published. Each member received 100 copies of the 10-page book with addition-al copies available for $0.07.

FEBRUARY 16Association’s first staff present at the Executive Board Meeting were Man-aging Director Minita Wetcott and Executive Assistant Muriel Collie. Management fees were $4,200 a year.

August 26-28Annual Convention held in Bellmawr, New Jer-sey. President Joe Tatum welcomed attendees with a steak cookout at his home.

Allied members were admitted with dues of $250 per year. A.L. Hyde Company was the first to join UPDA as an allied member.

DuPont launches poly-imide films and varnishes

The UPDA Code of Eth-ics is approved.

Postal codes were first used in 1963. UPDA en-couraged all members to notify the office of their new postal codes so they could be included in the membership directory.

Stub Rohne is elected president.

UPDA had been out-spending its income and was in dire straits. The as-sociation owed $5,100 to its management compa-ny, Storms and Westcott. The board negotiated a reduction of $1,000 in return for its immediate payment. UPDA mem-bers who graciously loaned the money were AAA Brands; Aetna Plas-tics Corporation; Allied Plastics of Minneapolis, Inc.; Baker Plastics, Inc.; Dayton Plastics, Inc.; Engineered Plastics & Supply Company; Hya-line Plastics Corporation, Modern Plastics & Glass Company; Plastic Suppli-ers; SEPSCO, Inc.; Transil-wrap Company, Inc.

The Projects Develop-ment Committee de-scribed the format and content for the new Salesman’s Handbook. It would be an expanded version of the Standard Materials List but would also contain information of the most common plastic materials available for distribution.

Silicone gel breast im-plants pioneered success-fully

NOVEMBER 25The UPDA is official-ly incorporated as a non-profit corporation of Pennsylvania.

DECEMBER 10The first newsletter, U.P.D.A. Reporter, debuts.

SEPTEMBER 29Fourth Annual Conven-tion held in Cincinnati with 25 delegates. Speak-ers were drawn from the membership and includ-ed topics like “Direct Mail and How it Can Help You”. First UPDA Award for Meritorious Service to the Industry presented to the A.L. Hyde Company.

JUNE 7-9Annual Convention held in New York City. Regis-tration costs were $15 per delegate. Honorary mem-berships were created for retired individuals who significantly contributed to the plastics distribu-tion industry.

1962

19611960

1963


APRIL 19-20Disenfranchised with their service, the board votes to replace Storms and Westcott with Joseph L. Koach & Associates as the new executive director.

MARCH 17UPDA hosted a mem-bership promotional meeting in Los Angeles to recruit West Coast distributors.

FEBRUARY 5-6At the board meeting and due to concern that some members were not truly independent, the UPDA board clarified that dis-tributor members owned by manufacturers were not eligible to be active members. Instead, anoth-er category was created, associate member.

JUNE The New UPDA logo is unveiled.

August 5-7The 10th Annual Con-vention was held in At-lanta, Georgia. UPDA was now up to 53 members.

JUNEAn official UPDA profile was released. The average distributor:• Had a total gross sales

volume of $500,000• Had a 4-percent prof-

it after taxes• Sold acrylic, nylon

and polytetraflureth-ylene (PTFE)

• Owned one truck for delivery

• Had 15 full-time em-ployees

• Had a building of 10,000 square feet

• Had an inventory of $75,000

• Extended normal credit terms of 30 days

The Sales Promotion Committee released a 100-page sales training manual with 12 units or study including guide-lines for hiring new sales personnel. The com-mittee also published a Salesman’s Compensa-tion Survey. Twenty-one members and nonmem-bers responded with the following:• Gross annual

sales: $120,000 to $1,500,000

• Number of salesmen: 0 to 9

• Sales volume per salesman: $50,000 to 400,000

• Payment: 65% sala-ried, 35% commis-sion

• Average salary: $7,200

• Furnished a car: 75%

JULY A revamped newslet-ter debuts as the Plas-ti-Gram.

The first GI Joe is released.

An unofficial industry profile was conducted from 20 members, rep-resenting total sales of $13,444,000:• Median gross sales:

$571,000• Average number of

employees: 15• Average number of

inside/outside sales-men: 3/3

• Six companies had sales managers

Spring: Cost of Doing Business Survey pub-lished from 1965 data.

Blow molding of fuel tanks introduced

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ‘Blow’ chair designed by Scolari, De Pas and Loma-zzifor manufactured by Zanotta

I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you lis-tening? Plastics. There’s a great future in plas-tics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

- Mr. McGuire in “The Graduate”

19641965 1966

1967

Kevlar is first developed by Stephanie Kwolek, a chemist working for DuPont.

“

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1968

1970

1971 1972

1973

1974

1969

AUGUST 4-6A record 135 delegates attend the convention in San Francisco.

AUGUST 10-1230 exhibitors participated in the first NAPD expo.

SEPTEMBER 1Joseph Koach sold his firm to the Bostrom Man-agement Corporation, resulting in new manage-ment for the association.

July 25-28The first meeting of the Advisory Board took place during the Annual Convention. This select board of three manufac-turers entrusted to speak with the Board of Direc-tors ensured representa-tion of allied members in the association. March 15-16

The first regional meeting was held in Indianapolis for those who couldn’t spare the expense of traveling to the Annual Convention. Forty-three delegates attended.

October 14Plastics Shutdown Possible article published

January 29A failure to provide financial reports by Bostrom Management Corporation meant the association was far out-spending its revenues, and it needed to be dealt with urgently. The board meeting went until 12:30 a.m., and at the end, they created a Budget and Fi-nance Committee whose sole responsibility was to oversee the association’s finances. While a deficit of $14,094 was owed to Bostrom, even after writing off more than $3,000 due to their lack of financial reporting, the Board proposed that the association was only liable for half of that. The association would pay back the amount owed, provided there was a 15-percent membership growth rate, within five years and interest free. Bostrom agreed to the terms.

The Plastics Purchasing Guide, a booklet listing NAPD manufacturer members’ products, stan-dards and specifications, debuted.

UPDA membership was up to 71 members.

Plaques were given to member companies to hang in their lobbies to increase NAPD’s presence

The association added a trade press category to its membership.

Membership was up to 107 members.

Neil Armstrong plants a nylon flag on the moon.

UPDA becomes National Association of Plastics Distributors and unveils a new logo.

The Membership Com-mittee employed a new strategy for member growth — recruit the supplier and then ask the supplier to recruit its distributors. It eliminated the awkwardness of dis-tributors recruiting their competitors. With that strategy, membership increased 14 percent to 76 members.


1975

1976

1977

1978

January 26The Board voted to ter-minate the contract with Bostrom Management Corporation.

MARCH 7Raymond Cruse of Rohm and Haas Company, a NAPD member, was announced as the next executive director. He ended 1974 within bud-get, something his prede-cessors had been unable to do

September 21-24The Annual Convention in Osage Beach, Missouri, smashed attendance re-cords with 246 delegates. Piping distributors and manufacturers held a spe-cial meeting at the con-vention and agreed they would work to bring more piping companies into the association.

September 11-15Delegates numbered 347 at the Annual Convention in Coronado, California. A social trip on Saturday night was a trip to Tijua-na.

November 19At the Executive Commit-tee’s first meeting, there was discussion that there was not adequate leader-ship representation for the three major business lines of NAPD — sheet, rod and tube; pipe, valves and fittings; and raw materials for reinforced plastics. The committee decided that the chairman of the pipers would be invited to attend its next meeting.

Polyaryletheretherketone (PEEK) was first prepared by ICI Petrochemicals and Plastics.

NAPD finished 1976 with a surplus of $7,700, raising its net worth to $33,500. Kruse was awarded another raise for his success, bringing his salary to $25,000.

The NAPD Electronic Data Processing Commit-tee surveyed members to compile a list of EDP equipment and programs members were using. The survey showed 13 members used in-house equipment and 13 other members used service bureaus.

Regional meetings were held in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles with 129 delegates attending those meetings.

May 19Piping members held a special fly-in meeting in Chicago where prospec-tive piping companies were asked to become members. They agreed on the contingency that a “Pipers” special interest group would be formed.

January 23The Board created a Prod-uct Safety Committee. Its first project was research-ing information on fed-eral regulations covering concentration or airborne asbestos fiber. OSHA had just issued regulations limiting the amount of asbestos fiber in the air.

JanuaryKruse reported in the Plas-ti-Gram that the associa-tion’s net worth had more than doubled — from $12,000 to $25,000 — in just one year.

Membership grew to 149 members

The Rubik’s cube was invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik, a Hungarian architect, who wanted a working model to help explain three-dimensional geometry.

Kruse set a goal to estab-lish a surplus of at least six months of operating expenses. At the end of the year, revenues of $45,500 and expenses of $36,260 put him about halfway there. The Board rewarded him for his hard work with a 10-per-cent raise on his salary of $20,000.

President Donald Leuthold, Fiberchem Inc., established the Executive Committee as one of his first orders of business. The committee would be comprised of the four officers, four immedi-ate past presidents and the executive director. This committee would meet independently of the board and provide guidance and long-term planning for the associ-ation.



The Executive Com-mittee proposed what would become the IAPD Charitable Scholarship Program.

Raymond Kruse an-nounced his plan to retire in 1983, and the Board appointed John Meyer as chairman for the Exec-utive Director Search Committee.

In the past decade, the association had grown from a nearly bankrupt position with about 75 members to a financial-ly healthy organization with more than 230 member companies. NAPD’s net worth was $54,000.

The second edition of the Training Manual for Inside and Outside Salesmen was completed and sold for $1.50 per copy. It was a best seller. By November, 500 copies had been sold and sent to members.

Membership grew to 213 members by the end of the year.

Introduction of first com-mercial mobile phones

First PVC-U double glazed windows installed.

First production of linear low density polyethylene.

NAPD celebrated its 25 anniversary.

The NAPD Scholarship Program awarded its first $1,000 scholarship to James Fezio, who was studying plastics engineer-ing at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

September 17-20Record attendance of 401 guests, which also meant profits of $12,000, at the Annual Convention led to enough surplus for the Board to invest up to $20,000 in treasury notes and CDs. Those earnings grew to become a signif-icant source of revenue for the association.

AugustNAPD attracts its second member outside the United States and Cana-da. Ray Kruse comment-ed, “Perhaps we should consider changing our name to the Internation-al Association of Plastics Distributors, Inc.” NAPD did, but not for another 12 years

September 13-16Another record conven-tion with 450 guests. John Meyer of Meyer Ma-terials, Inc., and Andrew Busber of Pena-Plas Com-pany were recognized as the first Men-of-the-Year for their contributions to NAPD.

September 25-28Despite it being a re-cession year with the convention industry down 33 percent, NAPD convention attendance was up 10 percent from the previous year with 494 attendees.

JUNEThe U.S. Department of Commerce recognized the plastics distribution industry with its own Standard Industrial Clas-sification (SIC Code), SIC 5162. It was approved by the U.S. Office of Man-agement and Budget in 1987.

1979 1980 1981

January 29The founders of UPDA/NAPD were recognized as candidates for honor-ary membership. The 10 individuals were:• Robert Baker, Baker

Plastics, Inc.• Jack Barron, J.E. Bar-

ron Plastics, Inc.*• Paul Davis, Aetna

Plastics Corporation*• Leo Kruskamp, Day-

ton Plastics, Inc.• L. Don Lamb, Hya-

line Plastics Corpo-ration

• Parker Morris, Parker Morris Associates^

• Bradford Nicholson, Gladwin Plastics of Atlanta

• John Pernik, Dayton Plastics, Inc.^

• Richard Schreder, Airmate Company

• G. Dudley Ward, Plas-tics Center, Inc.

To be awarded honor-ary membership, which would provide free dues and convention registra-tion, the bylaws stated they must be living and retired.

* No longer living; not eligible.^ Still in industry; not eligible.


NAPD ended the year with 283 members, making 1981 its strongest recruit-ment year yet.

The First artificial heart made mainly of polyure-thane is implanted in a human.

The slim plastic Swatch watch was made of 51 mainly plastic compo-nents.

NAPD moved to a sales-based dues structure with allied members paying dues based on their annu-al sales versus a flat fee.

The Board approved an investment reserve policy of 50 percent of the annu-al budget.

SEPTEMBER 29-October 3The Product Education Committee sponsored a contest for members at the Annual Convention to identify 20 non-labeled samples. Gary Derethik, PLASTIConsultants, Inc., successfully identified 19 of the 20 samples to win.

FebruaryThe Board approved Wagner’s request to lease office space. The move was immediate to Over-land Park, Kansas, and in-cluded hiring a part-time secretary.

ICI Petrochemicals and Plastics and Bayer launch PEEK, PPS (polyphenyene sulphide), and PES (poly-ether sulphone).

NAPD members approved adding manufacturers’ representatives as a new category. The first to join was Paul Gardner, Gard-ner Associates, Inc.

NAPD investigated “I Love Plastics” memo pads and bumper stickers to combat negative environ-mental publicity

Ray Kruse was honored for his 10 years of service to the association and was made an honorary mem-ber.

Carol Wagner was an-nounced as the new executive director, which also meant a move of the NAPD headquarters to Leawood, Kansas. She took over on the last day of the convention.

The Board unanimously approved a verbal report, her name kept confiden-tial to protect her current employment, for a new executive director. She would come on in May to work with Kruse and be caught up to speed before taking over com-pletely after the Annual Convention in 1983.

February 11-12At the Winter Confer-ence, the Membership Committee discussed adding manufacturers’ representatives as a new membership category. The NAPD membership would be surveyed to determine if there was general agreement.

September 22-25Business dress was dis-couraged at the Annual Convention for the first time with, “If you wear a tie, you stand a chance of having it cut off at the throat.” The convention also brought back table tops, which had been absent for a number of years.

DECEMBERWagner requested that the Board lease office space, rather than using her home. It would af-ford NAPD a more profes-sional image as well as provide space for office equipment and part-time staff.

1982

1983

1984


Two new awards debuted at the convention, one recognizing companies who had been members five years or longer and another called the Good Egg Award for those who have worked hard for the association that year. The Man-of-the-Year Award was also renamed the Award of Merit.

The headquarters moved locations, doubling its of-fice space, to accommo-date two new employees.

The NAPD headquarters received a personal com-puter with accounting software for $4,000 and two ads in The NAPD Magazine.

The Scholarship Com-mittee awarded three scholarships, with two being awarded to chil-dren of NAPD member employees.

NAPD offered members a discount of 20 percent for a new fax machine. If 24 members took the offer, NAPD headquar-ters would receive one as well.

The Introduction of triangular recycling sym-bols relating to plastics.

The first Fun Run, sponsored by YES at the Annual Convention, had 40 participants

Members approved a bylaws change to add specific criteria for distributor members, including performing for three or more NAPD manufacturer members. The change also included adding related product and machinery manu-facturers. The first two members to join under the new criteria were Atwell Industries, Inc., and Laramy Products Company, Inc.

NAPD approved adding “related products and ma-chinery manufacturers” to its membership categories.

JuneNAPD Statement of Policy for Distributors and Man-ufacturers, approved by the Board, was sent to the members.

JanuaryNAPD Statement of Pol-icy for Distributors and Manufacturers, approved by the Board, was sent to the members.

AprilNAPD released a new Acrylic Advantage video, available to members for $150. The 22-minute vid-eo explained how acrylic sheet was made and its many applications.

AugustNAPD’s first magazine was published .

September 10-14Paul Davis was post-hu-mously recognized as the founding father of the as-sociation at the conven-tion. Gary Davis accept-ed the award on behalf of his father. The Award of Merit was renamed the Paul Davis Award of Merit in his honor.

OctoberThe NAPD Magazine published the first Manu-facturers’ Source Guide

FebruaryNAPD presents a re-vamped logo to celebrate the association’s 30-year anniversary.

The Young Executives’ Society (YES) was created to encourage leadership development of the next generation’s managers.

1985

1986

1987

1988


NAPD publishes the first Introduction to plastics, still one of the best ways to learn about materials and their properties.

Bud Grusin, Atlas Fibre Company, was awarded the very first Pacesetter Award.

First light-emitting polymers (polyethyne) discovered in Cambridge

May 4The Executive Commit-tee agreed to honor the association’s past presi-dents with green jackets to symbolize the accom-plishment of serving NAPD. The jackets would debut at the 1991 Annual Convention.

September 12-16At the age of 36, Michael Hill, Meyer Plastics, Inc., became the youngest association president when he took over at the Annual Convention.

May 18The Canadian Common Interest Group held its first meeting in Toronto.

October 16-20NAPD officially establish-es the NAPD Charitable Scholarship Founda-tion during the Board Meeting at the Annual Convention. Previously, scholarships had been funded through a sepa-rate NAPD fund.

October 9-13The membership voted to change the name of the association to the International Association of Plastics Distributors as 11 percent of its mem-bers were from outside the U.S. and Canada. A new logo debuted as a result.

April 26-28April 26-28: NAPD sponsored a five-day distribution workshop at Texas A&M and 26 NAPD members attended.

The NAPD was becoming more and more global with members from Aus-tralia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Re-public, England, Germa-ny, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Sweden.

More scholarship funds meant NAPD was able to offer seven scholarships, six to members and one to a nonmember.

The Scholarship Com-mittee awarded another eight scholarships of $1,250 each. Over the past 10 years, the as-sociation had awarded $36,000 to deserving students.

Sentry Insurance was added as an affiliate pro-gram, with IAPD earning a royalty for insurance written for its members. It would go on to be one of the most profitable affinity programs for the association.

IAPD is awarded the In-novative Environmental Award for the first time at the Annual Conven-tion to Nagle Company.

NovemberJanet Thill joined NAPD as the NAPD director of publications. Her more than 22 years of service made her the longest running NAPD employ-ee.

1989

19901991

1992


1993

1994

1995

19961997

1998

1999

Escalating rent led to the relocation of the IAPD offices to Leawood, Kansas.

IAPD and ASTM commit-tees worked to lay the foundation for the two organizations to develop standards of thicknesses, gauges, tolerances, etc., for semi-finished plastics products manufactured by IAPD manufacturers and sold through the IAPD distribution net-work.

The Manufacturers’ Rep-resentatives Committee held two “Selling Me-chanical Plastics” semi-nars. One was recorded to produce a videotape for sale. Committee Chair Jim Harrington agreed to license the content to IAPD for $1 so that it could be provided to members.

Executive Director Carol Wagner announced her plan to retire at the end of the next year at the same meeting.

President Dave Huston looked toward techno-logical growth for the association, including an IAPD presence on the World Wide Web. The concept of the internet was still new to most IAPD members, and so it required patience while members gained experi-ence.

IAPD launched its first web site at www.iapd.org.

IAPD also established the Mark Huston Me-morial Fund in honor of Dave and his wife Cindy Huston’s son who had unexpectedly died the year before.

August: Deborah Hamlin was named the new ex-ecutive director, to take over from Carol Wagner after the Annual Con-vention.

The IAPD Charitable Scholarship Foundation established its third me-morial scholarship fund in honor of Jerry Thur-ston, former president of DSM Engineering Plastic Products, Inc.

In order to recruit more distributor members, IAPD invested $7,500 to hire a telemarketing group to recruit new members using lists from Dun and Bradstreet and the Yellow Pages. It was found that only 25 com-panies met the criteria to be an IAPD member. While the campaign was not successful, it showed just how much of a hold IAPD already had with distribution companies.

October 9-13A live auction was held during the Annual Con-vention to raise money for the IAPD Charitable Scholarship Foundation. The event raised $17,000.

June 23-24In honor of the passing of IAPD Past President Dwight Cope, Cope Plas-tics, Inc., the Executive Committee established an annual scholarship in his name.

April 17IAPD held the Mission 2000 strategic planning session to provide the vision and strategic direc-tion for IAPD out to 2007

IAPD created a lending library of more than 200 items which allowed members to have access to many resource materi-als for the cost of mailing them.

IAPD launched e-plastics.org in order to help con-nect members searching for specific materials and members trying to sell excess materials.

At the convention, Graeme Fraser, Redwood Plastics Corporation, was named the first non-U.S. president for the associ-ation.


2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

IAPD commissioned a readership preference survey of The IAPD Mag-azine against competing magazines and journals. IAPD’s magazine was rated first in all categories except industry news by mem-bers and nonmembers. The Editorial Committee decided to begin accepting nonmember news in order to improve that category

At the end of the millen-nium, IAPD membership stood at 406 companies.

The IAPD Magazine re-ceived a complete redesign

Iapd.org was relaunched with more resources, and the magazine also got a site of its own.

IAPD introduced a new rate structure for distrib-utors’ dues based upon sales. The change brought better parity in rates between distributors and manufacturers.

IAPD launched the IAPD Plastics Primer — Volume II: Industrial Pipe, Valves and Fittings.

With Laird Plastics join-ing IAPD, the association represented all the major players in the industry, a first for the association.

The Source Guide went online, allowing mem-bers and nonmembers to search for companies and materials anywhere.

SUMMERIAPD launched the IAPD Plastics Certificate Pro-gram, a test to help fa-miliarize or re-familiarize employees with a wide variety of plastic mate-rials, applications and markets.

September 8-12The Annual Convention offered a special PVF track, including a talk on new materials designed to educate the engineer-ing community, as well as a tour of Mandalay Bay and its aquatic fea-tures.

The IAPD Education Com-mittee introduced two new training products — The IAPD Plastics Primer and the IAPD Thermoplastics Rectangle.

The Annual Convention was to take place Sept. 12-16 in Nashville, Tennessee, but the events of Sept. 11 made that impossible. Airports were closed and immediate travel restric-tions were in effect. IAPD staff, officers and many attendees were already in attendance and with no way to get home. The convention was resched-uled for Nov. 28 to Dec. 2. Attendance was low, but many members attended to support the association and the industry.

The Education Committee began the development of The Plastics Primer, a Pow-erPoint presentation that could be used by members to educate their salespeo-ple.

The first IAPD Midwest Charitable Golf Tourna-ment was held in India-napolis, Indiana.


June 21The Sixth Annual John R. Memorial Charitable Golf Tournament raised a record $7,500.

Deborah Hamlin an-nounced she would not be renewing her contract at the end of 2006.

Hamlin was asked to candidly assess the asso-ciation in her last year. In remarks to the Board, she noted that the budget of IAPD is tighter every year. Company consoli-dation continues to affect the available member-ship base. She suggested opening the membership to a broader group and transitioning to an in-dustry-centric association versus a distributor-cen-tric association.

The IAPD Charitable Scholarship Foundation was renamed to the IAPD Charitable Foundation to include educational programs for IAPD.

The History Task Force celebrated 50 years of the association with a special commemorative book given to convention attendees, The First 50 Years. Ralph Meyer, Meyer Plastics, Inc., chair of the committee, was instru-mental in its production.

July The newly formed Change Committee met in Kansas City to discuss the future direction and formation of the associ-ation.

AugustExhibit booths increase from an average of 60 to 79 resulting from bring-ing sales in-house

SeptemberChange Committee recommendations are presented to the member-ship at the convention.

OctoberRevised bylaws are sent to members via email ballot

NovemberMarketing Committee is launched and works with staff on plans for website, logo and other projects

DecemberAssociation changes its name to the Internation-al Association of Plastics Distribution

JulySusan Avery joined IAPD as the new Executive Di-rector.

JulyAdvertising sales turn-around with the new in-house sales.

JanuaryOnline advertising sales is launched.

FebruaryThe Environmental Com-mittee is launched (sepa-rated from the Marketing Committee); IAPD debuts its new logo; IAPD begins its search for new offices

AprilIAPD launches a Strategic Plan Task Force

MayIAPD launches its new website.

JuneMarketing Committee and staff sends an RFP out to market research firms to conduct a study on the engineering audience.

AugustThe Environmental Issues Committee completed its Environmental definitions and reducing your carbon footprint documents.

2006

20072008

2005IAPD surveyed its mem-bers on the single most important factor facing their company. The number one issue was profitability. Finding and keeping good people was a close second

Russ Consentino, James Harrington and George Southard presented the first IAPD Plastics Ap-plications Seminar in Orlando, Florida.


NovemberThe Exhibition Task Force recommendations are approved (strategy approved in May and final model approved in November – the first Expo is to launch in 2010 in Indianapolis); IAPD launches the Internation-al Strategy Task Force.

OctoberEducation Committee launches the Level II of the Plastics Certificate Course.

NovemberThe Environmental Com-mittee finalizes its first Environmental Member Survey; IAPD HQ launches phase one of its associa-tion management software upgrade, which included a new members’ only area.

DecemberIAPD’s volunteer numbers are the highest with the launching of the new com-mittees and task forces; Strategic Planning Task Force presents the IAPD Strategic Plan; Marketing Committee completes the Market Insight Study.

September The U.S. stock market tanks and enters a reces-sion; The Environmental Committee launches its first Annual Convention session with a record number of attendees for the panel session; IAPD ap-proves its new reserve pol-icy, establishing building, strategic, technology and operating reserve funds; IAPD’s Annual Conven-tion had a record number of booths (81 booths) and great showing of one-day passes (101), as well as a record number raised in sponsorships of $41,000– overall attendance num-bers are almost at levels from 2001; IAPD purchas-es its new headquarters building in Overland Park, Kansas

2009

2010

2011

Boeing 787 (nicknames ‘Boeing’s Plastic Dream’) comes into service, its skin is made up of 100% Plastic composites with plastic making up 50% of all materials in the plane.

The Marketing Com-mittee meets in KC to develop the association’s marketing plans.

JuneIAPD launches its month-ly webinars; Two new awards were launched: the Environmental Awards and the Education Cir-cle of Champions; IAPD launches its current web-site, with a new look and brand, searchability and shopping cart technology.

JulyIAPD’s holds its first webi-nar has 111 attendees.

JanuaryThe IAPD Charitable Foundation launches the electronic version of the scholarship application.

JanuaryIAPD News, a monthly members’ only e-newslet-ter debuts

AprilIAPD launches the on-line Buyers’ Guide on the website; IAPD launches an online resource area on website to include maga-zine and webinar archives and access to other IAPD offerings.

MayIAPD launches two ad-ditional regional golf outings (Northeast and Southwest).

MayIAPD launches efforts to raise $50K for a Closing Party to replace Suite Night for the convention; Marketing efforts to the engineering community ramp up to promote the Expo.

SeptemberThe first Plastics Expo debuted. 101 booths were sold. A total of 876 (high-est since the early 2000’s) attended the convention and expo (219 attended the Expo-only, of which 148 were non-members. 243 non-members had pre-registered).

FebruaryTechnical Advisory Com-mittee hosts its inaugural meeting.

AugustThe Industry Research Committee launches the Manufacturers’ Market Sizing Study.


JulyIAPD negotiates agree-ment with SPE Philadel-phia section to hold a meeting at IAPD’s Expo.

AugustThe Future Leaders Pro-gram is launched.

DecemberIAPD’s LinkedIn group surpasses the 1,000 mem-ber mark; Excellence in Sales Certificate Program launches.

JanuaryIAPD bylaws vote passes, which changed the proces-sor category name to fabri-cator and added a new full membership category for recyclers.

FebruaryTop 24 Market Pieces are debuted on the IAPD web-site; HillStaffer is contract-ed as IAPD’s government relations firm.

MarchIAPD invited to the inau-gural meeting of the Plas-tics Association Leaders (PAL) coalition. This group is the vision that IAPD had been working on for the past couple of years with SPI and ACC.

JanuaryEC decides to reformat the structure of the Leader-ship Summit Strategy Session to a Leadership Session facilitated by the EC to deliver the strate-gic priorities; a history of major milestones since the acceptance of the Change Committee Recommen-dations; a mapping of priorities, committees/staff and initiatives; and an outlook on the future of the association initiatives and their relationship to the strategic priorities.

AprilThe digital version of The IAPD Magazine is launched; The EC begins to work with committee chairs on implementing the term limits and new committee scopes.

MayTop 24 Market pieces are offered as customizable of-ferings for members’ uses; Two additional regional golf outings are added: Canadian and Northwest tournaments.

JuneThe Excellence in Sales Certificate Program ex-ceeds 100+ participants.

SeptemberThe new Manufacturer and Distributor Councils meet at the annual con-vention.

February The IAPD Magazine debuts the new version of the magazine, changing the look and feel, as well as the content strategy. It includes bonus features, including video demon-strations.

MarchIAPD launches the new Plastics Design Contest ap-plication to be held during the upcoming IAPD Annu-al Convention and Plastics Showcase in October.

The first recycler joins IAPD.

JulyIAPD launches the new Plastics Design Contest ap-plication to be held during the upcoming IAPD Annu-al Convention and Plastics Showcase in October.

OctoberGeneral Session Keynote speaker at Annual Con-vention, Sam Richter, rat-ed by attendees as highest ever, almost a perfect 10. One attendee told IAPD staff that his presentation had saved his company $300,000 a year.

2012

2013


MarchGuy Plastics (ww.youtube.com/user/TheIAPDTV) de-buts to share news about IAPD to IAPD members.

Launch of PVF plastics certificate course

MarchLaunch of new website

MayThe Leadership Summit’s theme is “IAPD 2020”, in which goals were set for what IAPD is to look like in the next 5 years.

MayThe Leadership Summit focuses on leadership development training and is introduced to Heather Christie’s DISC assess-ment.

OctoberNew IAPD president, Kevin Short extends chal-lenges for the upcoming year to IAPD committees during the annual conven-tion held in Chicago, IL.

• Environmental Committee is chal-lenged to compare and contrast the plastics industry to the metals industry from a green standpoint.

• Education Commit-tee is challenged to make sure sales team understands and communicates the facts and figures that demonstrate the supe-riority of plastics over glass.

• GR Committee is challenged to storm Capitol Hill with their message to advocate locally on behalf of plastics in our commu-nities.

• Marketing Commit-tee is challenged to create better outreach to emerging workforce & strive to position the plastics industry ahead of metals, glass, & paper as a truly rewarding career.

• The Distributors and Manufacturer Coun-cils are challenged to attack unchartered waters by focused on turning IAPD member-ship into a commercial weapon as the market-place comes to un-derstand that certain levels of competence and behaviors will be exhibited by all mem-bers.

Women in Plastics group is formed and announced at convention.

Scientists discover a bacteria that biodegrades polyethylene terephalate, a plastic used to make many common items in-cluding water bottles and frozen dinner containers, in as little as 6 weeks. This could have many positive implications for the future of recycling plastic and protecting our coastlines and environ-ment.

The Distributors and Manufacturer Councils answered this challenge by creating a minimum competencies and ex-pectations document for each group:

Distributors Council• Stocking inventory

Commitment• Staff Skill Level &

Development • Organizational Stan-

dards• New Product Devel-

opment • Joint Marketing • Industry, Sales & Mar-

ket Leadership• Open Communica-

tion• Strategic Supplier

Relationships

Manufacturers Council• Open Communica-

tion• Strategic Distributor

Relationships• Organizational Stan-

dards• Commitment to Staff

Skill and Training with Distribution Partners

• Distribution Channel

OctoberWe are looking forward to this year’s annual con-vention in Phoenix, AZ. See you there!

2014

2015

2016

1956-2016 1956 1957 1958 years timeline.p… · was in dire straits. the as-sociation owed $5,100...

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