Contact: Richard Sturgis, SPI South
(864) 239-2939 ext. 2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PLASTICS INDUSTRY LEADER RECOGNIZED FOR OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP AND DEDICATION

Greenville, S.C. (October 27, 2000) – Richard Averette, president of Precision Southeast, Myrtle Beach, S.C., recently received the prestigious SPI Southern Region Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes outstanding dedication to the promotion of the plastics industry's growth in the South. Averette was recognized for his leadership and participation in industry associations and in his community, according to officials of The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI), who presented Averette with the award during the SPI Film and Bag Federation/SPI South Joint Conference 2000 awards dinner held in Lake Lanier, Ga. on October 19, 2000.

"Dick sets a fine example of how plastic industry executives can be instrumental in improving the quality of education, while promoting and advancing the needs of the plastics industry," said SPI Southern Region Vice Chairman Todd Bennett, United Southern Industries.

Averette served as chairman of the South Carolina Plastics Industry Leadership Group, which worked in partnership with the state to develop a plastic industry workforce training strategy for South Carolina. Averette worked closely with legislators and other officials to educate them about the plastics industry's needs, discussions which ultimately led to the development of the Plastics Learning Network (PLN), a unique satellite-based distance learning initiative. Today, hundreds of workers in South Carolina and throughout the U.S. have benefited from PLN training courses.

Recognizing the need to reach out to educators to promote student interest in plastics careers, Averette has hosted numerous tours of his company's plant for teachers and students. Up to 150 visitors annually learn first hand about plastics injection molding during these tours. In addition, since 1998 Averette has sponsored two visits per year of the National Plastics Center and Museum's PlastiVan to local communities, providing an exciting opportunity for learning through this unique mobile plastics science lab.

Locally, Averette has been the director of the Waccamaw HUB for Best Practices for Teaching Math and Science since 1995, and is presently a member of the Governor's Math and Science Advisory Board and the Horry/Georgetown Economic Board.

Averette has spent 37 years working in the plastics industry, spending the majority of his career at two companies: Styrex Industries Injection Molding and Precision Southeast. He has been a prominent and active member of SPI since 1972, serving on many task groups, committees and boards. He is currently chairman of SPI's Southern Region. Averette has also been a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers since 1969, and has twice been president of SPE's Virginia/Carolina Section. He also helped launch SPE's scholarship program.

Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. is the trade association represents the 4th largest manufacturing industry in the United States. SPI's 1,700 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw material suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.5 million workers and has $304 billion in annual shipments.

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