MassPlastics Show Bends With The Times
The 2009 MassPlastics trade show held Wednesday and Thursday in Fitchburg was billed as the largest plastics trade show in the Northeast. The show was a bit smaller than usual this year, but many participants said it still did the job of connecting buyers and sellers.
"It's very confined, very scaled back," said Glen Frohring, vice president of sales and marketing at Absolute Haitian Corp. in Worcester, which sells injection molding machinery.
Frohring said his company, like many others, reduced its investment in MassPlastics this year because of the down economy, but still wanted to have a presence.
The show, produced by the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and held at the Courtyard by Marriot trade center in Fitchburg, featured about 100 exhibitors, from the local area and across the country. Show manager Dick Quinlan said the show was about 30 percent smaller than usual, in terms of both exhibitors and visitors. But he said that's better than many similar shows elsewhere have done.
And Quinlan said organizers this year made a special effort to draw in the people exhibitors most wanted to reach.
"We wanted people who were decision-makers, or at least influencers," he said.
Ron Perkins, president of Hunter Plastics Inc. in Sterling, said he thought that effort succeeded.
"All these people are coming here to spend money," he said.
In general, the plastics industry has been having a rough year. Nick Schott, who was at the show representing the plastics engineering program at UMass Lowell, said the program usually places all its graduates in jobs in the industry the summer after they graduate. This year, he said, at least half are still looking.
Still, Perkins said Hunter has seen some success lately, despite the general malaise, because it sells used equipment. He said some large manufacturers that generally only buy new have been looking for bargains.
"They're trying to save a penny, and they're buying from us," he said.
Larry Kerivan of Roehr Tool Corp. in Hudson said the company's fortunes have been improving over the past few quarters. One reason, he said, is that its customers have found they can't put off capital purchases any longer.
"Everyone has been living off their inventories," he said.
Kerivan said another reason for the upturn is probably that some of Roehr's competitors have gone out of business, so customers are forced to find new suppliers for whatever needs they have.
Lewis Iadarola, president of Plastic Solutions Inc. in Charlton, said his company has been finding success selling energy-efficient machinery to manufacturers that can get help from their utility companies to offset the expense. He said the recession may actually be pushing some of his customers to make new investments.
"They all have to be more productive," he said. "If they just sit back, the writing's on the wall for them."
Scenes From The 2009 MassPlastics Show In Fitchburg
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