CPIA announces 2007 award winners

To coincide with the 50-year anniversary of the Plast-Ex show, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) will honour a larger number of industry veterans this year. The association will celebrate the achievements of 10 leaders and achievers at the annual awards ceremony and dinner on April 30 in Toronto.

Manfred Lupke, the chairman and CEO of Concord, Ont.-based Corma Inc., has been named the Leader of the Year. Lupke founded the corrugated plastic pipe equipment manufacturer more than 30 years ago, and the business now sells in 80 markets.

Corma operates out of a 100,000 square foot facility in Concord, and an additional 20,000 square foot facility in Forest, Ont. The family-owned and managed business employs 180 people, and conducts more than 70 per cent of its business outside the US and Canadian markets.

The CPIA will also hand out four Life Achievement Awards, and the winners will join an elite group of only nine other individuals who have won the award since its inception in 1986. Life Achievement Award winners are considered true pioneers in the Canadian plastics landscape.

This years Life Achievement Award winners are Robert Barrett, president of Toronto, Ont.-based rigid plastic packaging supplier Polytainers Inc.; Lorne Berggren, CEO of Berg Chilling and Mould-tek Industries Inc.; Jobst Gellert, founder of hot runner company Mold-Masters; and Mike Schmidt, founder of the ABC Group.

The associations CanPlast Awards will also honour five industry leaders who have been active in associations and committees throughout the sector.

This years CanPlast Awards will include an honour for Paul Clark, retired vice president of research for Calgary, Alta.-based Nova Chemicals. The polymer chemist and industry consultant was a former chair of the CPIA.

The other CanPlast Award recipients are Dave Douse, a former vice president of sales for Pliant Corporation who has been active in several CPIA committees and councils; Andrew Rush, vice president of operations for Brite Manufacturing and chair of the Canadian Natural Composites Council; Dennis Shanley, a now-retired industry specialist with Industry Canada who has actively supported the moldmaking and machinery sectors; and Bill Wybenga, technical director of Brampton Engineering and a long-time volunteer with the CPIA.

For additional information about the awards or the April 30 dinner, visit the CPIA Awards website.