PPA Members In The News

Courtney Asztalos is an accomplished artist in various processes—photography, sound, installation, video, drawing, artist books, and collage. She is also the curator for the Plastics Collection at Syracuse University Library which is sponsored by the PPA.

Alexander (Sandy) Guthrie grew up in a family business that was a pioneer in plastic extrusion. His father founded Sterling Extruder Corp. in 1959 where Guthrie worked summers, joining the business full time in 1978.

Stan Glover's early fascination with the world beyond his hometown in the Finger Lakes region of New York led him on a path that is benefiting plastics machinery and processors in ways they do not realize.

Many of the members of the Plastics Pioneers Association continue to have careers in the plastics industry and contribute to the success of others. Kenneth E. Pawlak, inducted into the Plastics Pioneers Association in 2016, was featured in the September 2020 Plastics Machinery Magazine in the article “Parts designer Pawlak gets results.” Pawlak’s expertise in plastic product design and development…

Rodney (Rod) Roth, one of the founders of R&D Plastics LLC (Hillsboro, OR), passed away on March 25th at the age of 77 after a long battle with cancer. He passed away at his home with his wife, Kim Alford, and close friend and business partner Sal Gonzalez by his side. Rod was a guest speaker at the Plastics Pioneers…

The Plastics Pioneers Association (PPA) is proud to announce that Charles (Charlie) Sears has been posthumously inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame. Charlie became a member of the PPA in 2015, honored for his long career in the plastics industry including numerous management positions for Polymer Machinery, Automated Assemblies and AEC/Nelmor. Charlie and his wife Esther founded Dri-Air Industries,…

Plastic Molding Technology is building value through sustainable practices. Going green is good business for plastic injection molding, and our commitment to sustainability is supported by an integrated approach across all areas of our El Paso operations.

This presentation was given by Bekum at the PPA General Membership meeting in Minnesota. A related story is shown in the July 24th Plastics News posting.

Plastics industry veteran Rick Shaffer has restarted his consulting firm InterTech Rx LC in Chandler, Ariz. Shaffer was most recently managing director of the western region of Westfall Technik Inc., a Las Vegas-based holding company that bought many plastics companies. Shaffer resigned that position in March. His background also includes executive positions at injection press supplier Netstal Machinery Inc. and…

The average age of workers on the floor at Bekum America Corp.'s manufacturing facility has gone down. The German maker of extrusion blow molding machinery credits the workforce age drop — from 55 in 2014 to 42 today — to its apprenticeship program, a four-year, 8,000-hour structured training strategy launched in 1994. The program is registered with the U.S. Department…