FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Barry Eisenberg
Tel: (202) 974-5210
beisenberg@plasticsindustry.org

SPI PROMOTES MELISSA HOCKSTAD TO VICE PRESIDENT, MATERIAL SUPPLIERS COUNCIL

Washington, DC (June 12, 2008)—The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) announced the promotion of Melissa Hockstad to vice president, Material Suppliers Council. SPI is the major trade association of the plastics industry, representing some 1,100 companies in all areas of plastics manufacturing.

"Since joining SPI in June 2006 as senior technical director, new and existing technologies, Melissa has done excellent work for our members and the plastics industry by providing technical expertise on plastics-related science issues, emerging and existing technologies and codes and standards development," said SPI President and CEO William R. Carteaux. "Her promotion to this vice president position reflects our recognition of her excellence, and our confidence in her ability to lead the charge in meeting the needs of our members in the material supplier sector." In 2007, SPI realigned its membership governance structure to place greater emphasis on the three major sectors of the industry: equipment, material suppliers and processors.

Lynne Harris, SPIs senior vice president and chief science and technology officer, who also previously served as vice president of the Materials Suppliers Council, will continue his oversight responsibility role for all polymer chemistry and plastics-related science issues and technical activities. Additionally, Harris will be more involved with special projects, serving as a senior advisor to Carteaux on day-to-day plastics industry issues.

Among her varied responsibilities, Hockstad has been instrumental in managing SPI's Bioplastics Council, launching the nascent Nanotechnology Group, lending technical expertise to a variety of Bio-Process Systems Alliance and Fluoropolymers Division projects and serving on the staff committee that is planning "Sustain'08: Plastics Business Summit," a new conference scheduled for November.

An experienced engineer and successful association professional, Hockstad came to SPI from the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, (SOCMA) where she served as Performance Improvement Director and led the association's environmental, health, safety and security program. Prior to SOCMA, she was a senior engineer at Basell Polyolefins (now LyondellBasell) where she focused on new product development. Hockstad holds a M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Penn State and a B.S. in Engineering Science from the University of Virginia.

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Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.1 million workers and provides nearly $379 billion in annual shipments. Visit www.plasticsindustry.org.

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