PCI Membership

As one of the principles of Miami-based FAMIS Inc., and a relative newbie to the powder coating industry, it has been very refreshing to find such a warm and supportive environment centralized around The Powder Coating Institute (PCI).

Our company participates in PCI’s education committee, which sponsored 20 Hands-on Workshops in 2015 as well as numerous Webinars. While at PCI’s annual meeting in September, I learned that a Roadshow Program is underway as well an individual certification program for applicators.

Getting educated about various aspects of the industry is imperative, and this is where membership definitely has its benefits. Now is the time to educate ourselves as regulation and compliance become more relevant nationwide. Only a few years ago, outside of California it was a rare day when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their content in coatings was a topic of discussion. Today, with the formation of the 13-state Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States (which is currently looking to add more states)—along with other organizations such as the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium (LADCO), Florida Division of Air Resource Management and the Illinois Pollution Control Board—VOC regulation and monitoring is here to stay. I have learned that powder coating is an ideal method to help reduce ground level ozone.

Education is just one of the many benefits that PCI membership offers. As a single-source supplier to any size powder coater, we realized that we need to be engaged, informed and supportive to the powder coating industry as a whole, and being a member of PCI is the best way to do just that.