|
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
June 21, 2004
Volume 82, Number 25
p. 3
|
|
| |
ACC's Value Proposition
|
|
| |
RUDY M. BAUM
Editor-in-chief |
|
| |
|
|
| |
The American Chemistry Council’s general membership meeting held annually at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., is an event steeped in tradition. The meeting unfolds over three days according to a schedule well known to all participants, from Wednesday’s opening reception to Thursday’s business meeting, shotgun golf tournament, and banquet to Friday’s closing session.
 This year’s meeting, held June 9–11, hewed to the script. The familiarity of the setting and of the rhythm of the event, however, could not disguise the fact that ACC is an organization in a profound state of flux. The abrupt departure of President and CEO Gregori Lebedev on May 31 after only 18 months on the job is but the most recent manifestation of turmoil within ACC. According to insiders, the 2002 merger with the American Plastics Council has not been executed well, and synergies between the two organizations have never been fully realized. In 2003 and so far this year, three major chemical companies—Huntsman, Lyondell, and Chevron Phillips—as well as several smaller companies, resigned their membership in ACC, taking with them a significant chunk of annual dues.
In his comments to the business meeting, ACC Chairman Raj L. Gupta, who is chairman and CEO of Rohm and Haas, acknowledged the challenges facing the organization. “I must be frank. This has been a difficult year for us,” he said. “We have seen some colleagues leave. And those of us who have remained have begun to ask ourselves some hard questions about what role this trade association should play” in the difficult environment facing the chemical industry.
At a breakfast with reporters preceding the business meeting, Gupta and ACC Vice Chairman Jeffrey M. Lipton, who is CEO of Nova Chemicals, focused on what ACC needs to do to increase the value of the organization to members. Gupta said ACC is focusing on four areas of importance to all member companies: addressing human health issues through the Long-Range Research Initiative (LRI), tackling the persistently high cost of natural gas, influencing legislation governing the security of U.S. chemical facilities, and continuing to foster Responsible Care.
ACC has coherent positions on all four areas of concern cited by Gupta. I don’t necessarily agree with all of ACC’s positions, but I respect the organization’s efforts to communicate them to a variety of audiences, ranging from member companies’ own employees to people living near chemical plants; local, state, and federal lawmakers and regulators; and the general public.
In the case of natural gas, for example, Gupta observed that every $1.00-per-million-Btu increase in natural gas prices results in $4.2 billion in additional costs to the U.S. chemical industry. ACC’s strategy on natural gas is twofold, Lipton told reporters. ACC advocates increasing the supply of natural gas through greater exploration and production in the U.S. The organization also wants to cut demand for gas through conservation and natural gas replacement. Lipton said ACC aims to build a coalition of consumers hurt by high natural gas prices.
ACC also has compelling stories to tell about its efforts on Responsible Care and LRI, and it has effective spokespersons to tell those stories (C&EN, June 7, page 24). At the business meeting, Fran Keeth, president and CEO of Shell Chemical, presented annual awards to members for their performance under Responsible Care and discussed integration of the program with other ACC initiatives. Also at the meeting, Nance Dicciani, president and CEO of Honeywell Specialty Materials, outlined the goals and structure of LRI, which will fund about $23 million worth of independent research in 2004 to develop improved methods for evaluating chemical risk, identify groups vulnerable to exposure to chemicals, and seek to understand the behavior of chemicals in the environment.
In its upcoming “essential2” campaign, to which ACC is committing up to $20 million in 2005 to improve the chemical industry’s image, the organization should take advantage of articulate spokespersons such as Gupta, Keeth, Dicciani, and incoming ACC President and CEO Thomas E. Reilly Jr. to deliver its message.
Thanks for reading.
Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2004 |
|
|
|
|
