Names in the news: SPI, Berry Plastics, Davis-Standard, Conair, Dickten Masch, Pregis, Emerald Kalama

SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association has hired two experienced trade show professionals to support production of the NPE2015 international plastics exposition. Gene Sanders, SPI's senior vice president of trade shows and conferences announced the hiring of Lori Campbell as director of operations and Brad Williams, as the new director of marketing and sales. Campbell has more than 30 years of experience in the management of shows and conferences. Most recently she was senior director of sales and marketing for Solar Energy Tradeshows LLC. Williams comes to SPI from the National Association of Broadcasters, where he held senior roles supportings its annual convention, the NAB show. NPE2015 will take place March 23-27, 2015 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.  Campbell's responsibilities for NPE2015 will include directing service contractors, working with industry representatives on the Operations Committee, participating in budget preparation, and assisting SPI staff to create and implement design and other show features. Williams will oversee marketing and sales targeting NPE2015 exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees, directing the activities of contractors and SPI staff involved in advertising and other promotion, website development, international sales, media negotiations, and public relations. He will also work with industry representatives on the NPE2015 Marketing and Sales Committee. NPE2012 had 1933 exhibitors, 40% of which came from outside the U.S. The event attracted 55,359 participants, 26% of them international visitors.

Jeff Thompson, Berry Plastics Group's chief legal officer will lead the company's international business development initiatives in his new role as Executive VP - International. Jason Greene will replace Thompson, becoming Berry's executive VP - General Counsel. Greene most recently served as Berry's VP of legal affairs and general counsel. Jon Rich, Chairman and CEO of Berry Plastics, said in a release that these appointments will help the maker of plastic packaging "pursue innovative organic growth opportunities, identify value adding acquisitions, and take steps to grow our business internationally."

Davis-Standard (Pawcatuck, CT) has hired Mark Wodrich as a district sales manager for its blown film products and Carlos Flores as global vice president of marketing. Wodrich will be responsible for blown film sales covering a 16-state territory throughout the Pacific West, Mountain West, Upper Midwest and Arkansas, as well as western Canada. Wodrich has more than 20 years of sales and industry experience coming to the company from blown film extrusion technology supplier Brampton Engineering. Flores will be responsible for developing and leading a global marketing strategy, enhancing the Davis-Standard brand and managing vertical marketing, as well as developing a new end-user market segment strategy. Flores has more than 20 years of commercial experience, most recently role serving as global marketing director for Momentive Performance Materials Inc.

The Conair Group has appointed new product champions for conveying and downstream extrusion, naming Raymond Kelly the conveying product manager and Chris Weinrich the general manager, downstream extrusion. Kelly is returning to Conair, having worked there as electrical/controls manager for 7 years in the 1990s. Since 2000, he has held control and engineering product and project management positions with Innovative Controls, Cannon USA, Bechtel Plant Machinery and IBIS Tec LLC. Weinrich comes to Conair from the former Xaloy where he was the global product and sales manager starting in 2004. Before that, he worked in the Extrusion Division of Milacron LLC for 15 years, holding several positions in technical service and product management.

Dickten Masch Plastics (DMP; Nashotah, WI), a global manufacturing company with facilities in the U.S. and Mexico, has named Kim Korth the company's new president and CEO, replacing Steve Dyer. Korth hails from the automotive industry and has more than 30 years of experience with mid-sized manufacturing firms in a range of industrial segments. Prior to joining DMP, Korth served as president and CEO of Supreme Corp., a publicly traded producer of specialty vehicles. She has also owned and led consulting firm IRN Inc. for almost 30 years. Korth has also been appointed president and CEO of TECHNIPLAS, the new privately held group of plastics-focused manufacturing businesses, comprised of Dickten Masch Plastics, Nyloncraft Inc., and other technical organizations.

Pregis Corp. (Deerfield, IL) has promoted Robert Sepanik to national product manager, a newly-created core business development role. Sepanik will be responsible for creating growth opportunities for the company's entire range of sheet foam and bubble cushioning solutions. Most recently Sepanik was business development manager of the company's European business unit. Prior to that, he held positions in the U.S. as a foam-in-place systems specialist and account manager in the South Central region.

Emerald Kalama Chemical has appointed Antonella Dall'Osto as its EMEA sales manager focusing primarily on Italy and Spain. In this new position, Dall'Osto will be responsible for the company's sales of K-FLEX phthalate-free plasticizers, Purox  benzoic acid and sodium benzoate as well as benzyl alcohol and benzaldehyde, which the company manufactures in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Since 2008 Dall'Osto has held key leadership positions as managing director and president of the board of DSM Composite Resins Italy and manufacturing leader in Europe for DSM's Composite Resin Business. Previosuly, Dall'Osto held a range of technical, operations, commercial and management positions at GE Plastics, ICI Polyurethanes, Rohm and Haas, and Tecniplast. Emerald Kalama Chemical is a business group of Emerald Performance Materials.