Business View Magazine - August 2016 21
A passionate advocate works to close the deal on plastics
There is a seminal scene in The Graduate, Dustin Hoff-
man’s 1967 breakout movie about an aimless young
man named Benjamin who is contemplating his un-
certain future during an uncertain time in his life. At a
college graduation party thrown for him by his parents,
Benjamin is confronted by a helpful friend of the fam-
ily who wants to give him some very sage advice. The
dialogue goes as follows:
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one
word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think
about it. Will you think about it?
Of course, in the movie, “plastics” is the last thing that
Benjamin does wind up thinking about. But in the real
world, Mr. McGuire’s prescient counsel to his young
protégé actually turns out to be entirely and substan-
tially correct – there is a great future in plastics.
At least that is an opinion enthusiastically shared by
Tony Radoszewski, the President of the Plastics Pipe
Institute (PPI), the Dallas, Texas-based organization
that is the major trade association representing all
segments of the plastic piping industry. And as one of
