Business View Magazine | February 2019

27 presentations by industry experts addressing many different areas of thermoset resin.And then our Deep Dive educational event focuses on a specific area, such as this year’s Additive Manufacturing topic,which is a two day learning event taught by two Virginia Tech professors,Dr. Chris Williams and Dr.Tim Long. BVM: What are the biggest challenges facing your members in the industry? Mongeluzi: “I would say that regulatory is a big issue.A lot of our customers are formulating and selling in the U.S. but also selling into Latin America, Canada, Europe, and the Pacific. So, keeping on top of the global economy and environmental regula- tions attached to the industry is a challenge, espe- cially for smaller companies; along with supply and demand dynamics, and complexities in chemistry that have an impact on rawmaterials.” Atkinson: “Our organization membership includes everyone from suppliers in multi-billion dollar international companies like the Olin Corporation to formulators like Pro-Set Epoxy that are in one location.There is a common set of regulations, but formulators deal with customer-facing regulations, as well.There is a lot of complexity there. Under- standing the whole supply chain, as a formulator, has helped me through the years.There are a lot of mergers and acquisitions going on, so the TRFA has been a good resource that way.” Church: “We don’t have a lobbyist on staff, or representing us, but we work closely with the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and keep our mem- bers informed on those issues. We’ve signed onto amicus briefs, etc. through the ACC, and we’ve