Plastics Pioneers Association Adds Three to Membership Roster

The Plastics Pioneers Association (PPA), McHenry, Ill.,  this month announced that three new members have been selected to join the organization.

The new inductees, announced at the group’s fall meeting this month in Pittsburgh, are:

Mark Bruner: Bruner has been in the plastics industry since 1972 and retired this July after 43 years of service to the industry, most recently as president of O’Neill Color and Compounding Corp. He has worked in a variety of positions for several well-established materials companies, including Shell Chemical, where he held various sales positions and won multiple sales awards; Huntsman Chemical, where he rose to the position of president of the PS Division; Albis North America, where he was president and CEO: Muehlstein Compounded Products, where he was general manager; and O’Neill, which he joined in 2010.  

Throughout his career Bruner has been involved with industry associations such as the Society of the Plastics Industry, the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), and the American Plastics Council. While at Huntsman Mark served on the SPI’s board of directors. He was also a member of the executive committee of the SPI’s Polymeric Resin Producers Division.

At SPE, Bruner has been a part of the South Texas Section, and a member of the International Polyolefins Conference Committee. All told, Mark has been an SPE member for 25 years, and has spoken and numerous section meetings and technical conferences organized by the group. He has also presented papers at AMI’s Thermoplastic Concentrate Conference on four different occasions. The three officially joined the group during its bi-annual meeting, held Oct. 11-14 in Pittsburgh.

Clare LaVerne Goldsberry: Goldsberry has been writing and reporting about plastics in various capacities since 1982. Beginning that year and through 1986, she worked in marketing and public relations for The Tech Group, then from 1986 to 1989 was the marketing and sales manager for Mid-West Mold.

Goldsberry started her career in plastics journalism with Plastics News in 1989. In 1996, she joined Injection Molding Magazine, now part of the PlasticsToday.com digital news group, where she is still a regular contributor. In the course of her journalism career, she has written thousands of articles related to plastics.

Throughout her career Goldsberry has been involved with SPE, SPI, and the American Mold Builders’ Association. She was the editor of SPE’s Arizona Section newsletter from 1983 to 1995, and from 1986-1987 was the section president. She was the public relations chairman of SPI’s Western Section conference in 1993, and has served AMBA in various public relations capacities for the last 12 years.

Goldsberry is the author of six books related to the field of injection molding and moldmaking, including a three-book series offering tips on how molders and moldmakers can improve their sales and marketing efforts. She is also the author of Purchasing an Injection Mold: A Buyer’s Guide, and So You Think You Have a Great Idea? Designing and Getting Your Plastic Part Manufactured and to Market.

Goldsberry is also a plastics industry advocate, often speaking at high schools and grade schools about the industry and its value in society.

Phil Shoemaker: Shoemaker has been involved in plastics since 1982, when he joined HMC as a process technician. After HMC was sold in 1994, Phil embarked on a 20-year journey that resulted in him becoming one of the world’s foremost authorities on pelletizing technology.

He joined Rieter as sales manager 1995, where he was responsible for the sales of compounding lines, and ultimately rose to the position of vice president of the Pelletizing Machinery Department. The Pelletizing Department was responsible for the sales, service, and aftermarket business of Automatik GmbH in Grossostheim, Germany.