Association Responds to Security Needs as Terrorist Threat Continues, Doyle Says



SEATTLE -- The National Paint & Coatings Association is taking several steps to help association member companies strengthen security safeguards in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and continued threats of further terrorist actions, NPCA President J. Andrew Doyle said during the association's recent annual meeting.

"Keeping our members informed about security measures that they can make in their facilities and communicating information about possible security threats to the chemical products industry has become a high priority," Doyle said at the start of the Annual Meeting in Seattle. To meet the challenge, he said the NPCA has established an internal working team to coordinate efforts related to security. And the association is participating in a security task force of the Council of Chemical Associations, which is serving as a liaison between the federal government and the chemical industry on security-related matters, he said.

The NPCA also has issued alerts on security issues through the association's e-coatings newsletter, Doyle said.

"This is a new and important role for NPCA, but we are committed to making sure our members have the most up-to-date information possible," he said.

The Annual Meeting also featured the presentation of the George Baugh Heckel Award, the NPCA's highest honor, to Laurel Jamison of The Rudd Co. The Paint Manufacturer of the Year Award was presented by PCI magazine to Johnson Paints Inc. of Fort Myers, FL. (See accompanying story.)

The NPCA membership also approved the election of new Chairman Thomas C. Sullivan, RPM Inc., and Vice Chairman/Treasurer Thomas Osborne, Tnemec Co. Inc. Sullivan and Osborne will serve two-year terms.

A stirring keynote address was delivered by James Bradley, the author of the best-selling "Flags of Our Fathers." The book tells the story of Bradley's personal five-year journey to learn more about his father - one of the six men who were pictured in the immortal photograph of soldiers raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima during World War II.

Other notable speakers were Jeffrey Rosenzweig, an international finance expert who also appears as a commentator on CNN; Steve Farber, who offered a passionate view of "extreme leadership"; Claire Raines, on understanding generations at work; Tom Kelley, on the "art of innovation"; and Andrew Lebby, on "mastering growth."

A panel discussion presented by the NPCA's Industry Suppliers Committee focused on consolidation at the supplier level. Panelists included Steve Lustig of CCP, Carla Toth of Eastman Chemical Co. and Peter Lewis of Sun Chemical Corp. And representatives of the noted industry consulting firm Orr & Boss discussed highlights of the NPCA's comprehensive new industry report "U.S. Paint and Coatings Market Analysis (2000-2005)."

Doyle, in other key points during remarks at the Annual Meeting's Opening Session, said:

• Approximately 300 companies are now participating voluntarily in the NPCA's Coatings Care program, with the remaining membership expected to sign on before the end of next year. Companies will be required to subscribe to Coatings Care by Dec. 31, 2002, as a condition of membership in the NPCA;

• The NPCA has finalized a comprehensive revision to its Hazardous Materials Identification System, or HMIS;

• The association is continuing to argue for modifications to a sweeping EPA rulemaking that would drastically limit emissions of hazardous air pollutants from miscellaneous organic chemical processes. The NPCA anticipates that the rule, scheduled to be finalized by next May, will require "a nearly total revamp of certain coatings-facility operations in exchange for very little added environmental benefit"; and

• The NPCA is working to limit the impact of new state and regional regulations on VOCs in architectural and industrial maintenance coatings.

Doyle also urged association member companies to increase their participation in NPCA committee activities, saying "there is no better way to receive value from your membership."

Pollock: NPCA Responds to Lead-Lawsuit Challenge

E. Kears Pollock, who concluded a two-year term as NPCA chairman at the Annual Meeting, addressed the association's continued campaign to respond to lawsuits against the industry and former suppliers of lead-based paint and lead pigments. He said the efforts of the association and the industry to demonstrate its long-term commitment to prevent hazards related to old lead-based paint are showing results.

"We are starting to see indications that our messages are getting through, to the public and the courts," said Pollock, who recently retired as PPG Industries Inc.'s executive vice president. "I am convinced that truth will ultimately overcome misrepresentations and false accusations."

Pollock cited a ruling by a Maryland judge, who said he had seen "no evidence whatsoever of a culpable conspiracy" by the industry involving lead-based paint. "To the contrary," the judge said, the industry's activities "show an inclination...to find the best way to inform consumers about the dangers...".

Pollock also noted that the NPCA had responded positively to the announcement by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) that it planned to file a lead-paint lawsuit against the industry. He said the NPCA was planning to meet with NAACP President Kweisi Mfune "to discuss our mutual goal of reducing lead exposure, and advancing constructive solutions.

"And we also wrote to President Bush, asking that the Administration make the elimination of childhood lead poisoning a national priority, because we believe it is high time that this issue was taken out of the courtroom and placed in the public policy arena, so that everyone's energy and resources can be devoted to protecting children rather than to further enriching the plaintiff's bar."

New Chairman Sullivan Sees Stronger Alliances

Newly elected NPCA Chairman Thomas C. Sullivan, RPM Inc., said a priority for the NPCA is the forging of stronger alliances with other industry organizations "to leverage our resources for the greater good."

He said recent discussions between the NPCA and the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology had indicated that "there now appears to be a clear recognition that the industry's two leading associations can better serve their members by combining resources, coordinating activities, and providing mutual support."

Other top priorities for the association, he said, include membership retention and recruitment and the creation of a new research and educational foundation. Such a foundation could provide funding for health, safety and environmental research; Coatings Care compliance support and other product-stewardship guidance; graduate and undergraduate scholarships; and industry promotional campaigns. Study of such a foundation is in the planning stages, he said.

NPCA Presents Heckel Award to Laurel Jamison;
Johnson Paints Captures PCI Manufacturer Prize

Laurel H. Jamison, president and chief operating officer of The Rudd Co., received the National Paint & Coatings Association's George Baugh Heckel Award during the NPCA's Annual Meeting in Seattle.

The Heckel award, the NPCA's highest honor, is given to an individual "who has distinguished himself or herself through contributions towards a major industry success or the advancement of an NPCA goal."

"I thought this award was just for old guys," Jamison quipped after accepting the award from NPCA Chairman E. Kears Pollock, who received the award in 1997. Pollock lauded Jamison for her "talent, leadership, determination and tenacity, and willingness to give in the fullest measure to every project." He said the award was "an honor that is so richly deserved" by Jamison.

Jamison has been a member or chairman of several NPCA committees, including the panel that created and guided the milestone Coatings Care program since its inception. She also was instrumental in the Pacific Northwest Paint Council's successful campaign to convince a state recycling task force not to adopt a mandatory program that would force paint manufacturers to take back unused paint and assume responsibility for disposal. Such a program exists in British Columbia, the Canadian neighbor of the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon.

Jamison is a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran and joined The Rudd Co., a Seattle-based coatings manufacturer, after working in a sales capacity for a paint and wallpaper manufacturing company.

Also during the Annual Meeting, Paint & Coatings Industry (PCI) magazine presented the 2001 "Silver Paint Brush" Paint Manufacturer of the Year Award to Johnson Paints Inc., Fort Myers, FL. The award, launched in 1994 by PCI in cooperation with the NPCA, was presented to Johnson Paints in recognition of the company's progressive manufacturing methods, its involvement in community affairs, and its adoption of health, safety, and environmental guidelines outlined by the NPCA's Coatings Care program. The award was announced by David Lurie, Group publisher for PCI.

Johnson Paints, a manufacturer and retailer of architectural paints in South Florida, was featured in a story in the October edition of PCI.

Industry Statesman, Achievement Awards Recognize Service

The NPCA also presented its Industry Statesman Award, recognizing "long and devoted service to the paint and coatings industry," to Douglas W. Huemme, E. Kears Pollock, Louis F. Savelli, Lois Shestack, and Robert A. Simmons.

The Industry Achievement Award, recognizing specific contributions to the industry, also was presented to five individuals during Annual Meeting ceremonies.

Huemme, formerly chairman and CEO of the former Lilly Industries Inc., was NPCA chairman in 1994. He began his coatings-industry career in 1963 and held positions with PPG Industries Inc. and the Whittaker Corp. before joining Lilly. The Valspar Corp. acquired Lilly in 2000.

Pollock retired last year as executive vice president at PPG Industries Inc., where he started as a patent attorney and research engineer and held a series of legal and executive positions during a long career with the company. He was NPCA chairman in 2000-2001 and received the association's highest honor, the George Baugh Heckel Award, in recognition of his leadership role in implementing the association's Coatings Care program.

Savelli, who recently announced his retirement as president of DuPont Performance Coatings, joined the company in 1959 as a chemical engineer and rose to lead DuPont's global coatings business. He was NPCA chairman in 1996-97.

Shestack, a product-stewardship specialist and regulatory chemical control coordinator for Rohm and Haas Co., has been a key contributor to health, safety and environmental initiatives with several NPCA committees.

Simmons, retired vice president of Manufacturing for the TruServ Corp., has been a member of the NPCA board of directors and the Coatings & Research Group. He held a series of management positions with TruServ's coatings and brush and applicator manufacturing businesses.

The Industry Achievement Award was presented to:

• William M. Allanach, Government Marketing manager for Marine Coatings at Akzo Nobel and past chairman of the NPCA Marine Coatings Committee. He has led efforts to expand and enhance the program of the NPCA's highly regarded annual Marine Coatings Conference.

• Larry J. Culver of Eastman Chemical Co., chairman of the NPCA's Management Information Committee's U.S. Paint & Coatings Market Analysis (2000-2005) subcommittee for the past two years. The recently published report features expanded content related to industry market trends and developments, the NPCA says.

• Eric D. DeLoach, Eastman Chemical Co., vice chairman of the NPCA's Industry Suppliers Committee. He is credited with leading efforts to develop highly accurate, timely information on raw-material availability and usage in the coatings industry as reported in the NPCA's Buyers Guide, Raw Materials Index, and Raw Materials Availability Report. He presided over a project to combine the Buyers Guide and the Raw Materials Index into a single online document.

• John S. Milgram, Aexcel Corp., chairman of the NPCA's Owner/Manager Steering Committee. He is given credit for re-energizing the committee with a new mission to provide top-level management in small to mid-sized companies. Under Milgram's direction, the committee increased the frequency of meetings to an annual basis to discuss issues of importance to coatings-company owners and managers.

• John S. Tanner, Ameron International Corp., chairman of the NPCA Marine Coatings Conference. The NPCA said Tanner has helped to expand and enhance the association's annual Marine Coatings Conference with presentations by experts responsible for the specification and procurement of coatings.