Membership Memo—Exercise Your Membership Muscles
Posted on Tuesday, October 24, 2023
As I began to write today, I started to think about all the years that I have been active in the Powder Coating Institute (PCI). The first thing that dawned on me is the length of time that I have been working with, and promoting, powder coating solutions to the world!
How long you ask? I started my career in powder in 1986 while working for Pratt & Lambert in a sales role. I attended a few Powder Coating trade shows in Cincinnati over the years but was not fully “active” in the association until 2002. The company I was working for at that time had been asking, “Is there any value in keeping our membership with PCI?” Over the next year, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about all that PCI offers to member companies.
Well, it didn’t take long to find the value of being an active member of the Powder Coating Institute! First and foremost is the opportunity member companies have to learn everything and anything about powder coating in a relatively fast period of time. The resources available to members are vast and include a massive network of knowledgeable and experienced people at all levels of the value chain for powder
coating—including raw material suppliers, powder producers, spray gun manufacturers, booth and oven suppliers, consultants, and end users. Additionally, there are active members from each category that regularly attend events sponsored by the PCI, who are eager to share their knowledge to help you build yours.
The events produced by the association, and the network of people involved, provide numerous touchpoints to market your own products and/or services to generate maximum revenue for your company. These include Powder Coating Week, numerous training events, webinars, and our annual meeting.
Finally, the association collectively expends a great deal of time, effort, and money to fulfill our goal of expanding the market for powder coating. This means exploring new markets for the technology, including the massive potential for powder on heat sensitive substrates.
I’ll close by saying the key message to remember is the distinction between joining and being an active member of PCI. Just like a gym membership, you don’t unlock all the benefits to what this association offers by staying away from our meetings and events. Join, engage, and be an active member and you will discover a great return on your investment!
Bob Cregg is business director North America for Covestro LLC.