Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 9

97 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 9 that use our products and by protecting our planet. Sustainability is really a core of ACI as an organization.” With more than 120 member companies, membership of the Institute is divided into categories. Companies whose products would be found in households, hospitals, schools, and restaurants, would fit the formulators category, making up a large portion of the total membership. The ingredient supplier category fits those who make anything from fragrances to surfactants that go into a cleaning product. Smaller membership categories include chemical distributors and packaging suppliers. Membership benefits include business-to- business engagements, an important opportunity for many companies. The ACI Convention, held annually in Orlando, Florida, brings hundreds of cleaning product producers and supply chain partners together under one roof for networking, consumer panels, and various presentations. Hockstad shares, “We are very excited that it will be back in person in January 2022 in Orlando, AMER I CAN CLEANING INST I TUTE (AC I ) Florida. Our convention is the most significant business-to-business event for the global cleaning product supply chain, and billions of dollars worth of business can be done in the span of one week.” Advocacy is another advantage to membership, with the Institute’s commitment to representing the industry at both the state and federal levels, and with agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. This engagement ensures that innovation can continue in products and ingredients, backed by scientific leadership. With a third of ACI’s employees having science or engineering backgrounds, Hockstad says, “Science is very much at the heart of ACI as an organization. Other benefits would include the ability to shape industry through participation in ACI through various committees and on our Board of Directors, the opportunity to showcase sustainability, and be part of our sustainability leadership – really helping to drive where the