SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association (SPI) and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) established a shared membership option for students preparing to enter the plastics industry workforce. SPI President and CEO William Carteaux and SPE CEO Willem De Vos announced the membership option at NPE2015: The International Plastics Showcase during the FLiP N’ Sip Young Professionals Reception, hosted by SPI’s Future Leaders in Plastics (FLiP) and SPE’s Next Generation Advisory Board (NGAB).

“SPI created the FLiP group to engage the next generation of plastics leaders and provide young professionals in the plastics industry the exposure, education, and resources they need to advance themselves, along with the plastics manufacturing industry. This student membership option, undertaken in partnership with SPE, gets right to the heart of FLiP’s mission,” Carteaux said. “By allowing students [memberships] on the brink of entering the plastics industry workforce, we can get them involved with all of SPI’s outreach, advocacy, and educational opportunities, priming them for success in plastics and strengthening our industry starting at its roots.”

“SPE has always believed that the development of plastics professionals begins the moment they step into the classroom to learn about plastics,” De Vos added, “but we also know that their development doesn’t end with graduation. That’s why our existing student membership option gives students full professional membership benefits and extends into their first year in the workforce.

“The SPE NGAB was created to ensure student members remain connected to our industry network after graduation, as well as making SPE look attractive to young professionals, a little comparable to FLiP from SPI. Partnering with SPI will make it easier for students to take advantage of all the things our organizations, and our existing industry leaders, have to offer and make them poised for a lengthy, successful career in plastics.”

Under SPI and SPE’s agreement, students looking to become an SPE student member will have the option to do so for free if they also join SPI as an e-member. The student’s membership dues would be waived, and SPI and SPE would share the membership cost for each student who takes advantage of this offer. By offsetting the cost of membership, both SPI and SPE hope to make it easier for students to take advantage of each organization’s respective educational and networking opportunities, while expanding opportunities for plastics students and young professionals who, due to financial hardship, might’ve been reluctant to participate.

SPE hopes to attract 2,000 new student members with the deal, De Vos said, and to keep them around after they are no longer students. “We also need to persuade student members to remain with us when they enter the world of work. Currently 98% of our student members let their membership lapse when they start work,” he said. “We need to bridge this gap.”

Note: A portion of this text was supplied by SPI and used with permission.