The Vinyl Institute (VI) recently incorporated a self-funded business council, the Vinyl Institute of Canada, to unite efforts for the industry in North America.

The group—originally a subset of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association called the Vinyl Council of Canada—requested to become a council under the VI umbrella as a way to focus its advocacy efforts.

“They felt that the alignment with the Vinyl Institute in the U.S. would provide them with a lot more focus on the issues from the standpoint of the industry’s vinyl product segment that we both deal with,” VI President Dick Doyle said.

The American association permits companies involved in the vinyl industry to create business councils within VI, which then allow affiliated members and nonmembers to join in the group’s advocacy programs. The Canadian organization wanted to follow this same structure to become part of the Vinyl Institute.

The issues don’t stop at the border either way so what’s important in the U.S. is also important in Canada.

Heads of both organizations agree that this change is a good one, as it came during major shifts in the global plastics economy and will help better represent the needs of the industry. The Canadian group, which recently held its first board meeting, has added four new members since its induction.

“The vote to propel this alignment was a unanimous vote by members on both sides of the border; clearly an indication that this alignment is not only timely, but is very much a desired outcome for all of our members across North America,” Vinyl Institute of Canada Chairman Veso Sobot said in a statement.

The partnership allows the Canadian vinyl group to financially support itself while collaborating with VI in its work on issues related to trade, chemicals, rail transportation, and water infrastructure, Doyle said.

“The issues don’t stop at the border either way so what’s important in the U.S. is also important in Canada,” he said. “Collaboratively we can work to not only broaden the markets … but also focus on legislative and regulatory issues as well as codes and standards that impact all aspects of vinyl operations both in the U.S. and Canada.”

“It’s not limited to the U.S. or Canada,” he continued. “Many of the standards we deal with are global standards.”

Even though VI chairs the Global Vinyl Council, which brings together vinyl-related associations worldwide for advocacy and promotion efforts, this is the first time the American organization has gone global itself.

“It gives the companies that have an interest in a specific area—in our case Canada—the opportunity to come together,” Doyle said. “But they know they have the support, the administrative support, overhead support, everything else, and a good alignment on the issues between our two organizations.”

(iStock/Thinkstock)