Two leading organizations in the plastics industry have announced plans to merge, hoping to bolster advocacy messaging and improve workforce development.

On October 2 the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), a trade group representing manufacturers, announced that it would merge with the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), a membership organization. Under the arrangement, SPE would keep its branding while serving as the 501(c)(3) foundation of PLASTICS.

PLASTICS President and CEO Matt Seaholm said the two organizations had collaborated in the past, but conversations around a possible merger accelerated late last year. In early 2025, the two groups formed a task force made up of six members of each of their respective boards to discuss the idea. For PLASTICS, access to the workforce development training that SPE has been experienced in was a key factor.

“Our board of directors adopted a strategic vision to create a sustainable plastics industry, and one part of sustainability is an available workforce,” Seaholm said. ”We were looking at more tools for workforce development, more educational offerings. We do a little bit of it, but SPE does it better.”

SPE CEO Patrick Farrey, CAE, said the virtue of the merger is that it preserves the distinct missions of the organizations while supporting the industry as a whole.

“We’re not taking two things and trying to meld them into one, but instead serving the industry holistically, by serving the people and the companies in the business together,” he said.

One area beyond education where the combined organizations will dedicate its energy is around the public image of the industry, Farrey said. “Plastics is one of those industries that has some challenges from the consumer end of things,” he said. “Having an amplified voice that includes both technical experts as well as policymakers, I think, strengthens our position when we’re making those kinds of statements.”

Under the new arrangement, Seaholm will serve as the association’s CEO; Farrey will maintain his leadership role at SPE, now a division of PLASTICS, and serve as the Chief Integration Officer for the merged organization. Farrey also noted that aside from canceling contracts with some outside vendors for redundant activities such as accounting, the merged organization has no plans to cut staffing resources. “This is not a coming together for financial purposes—it’s really coming together around mission, which we think will drive additional profitability from both organizations,” he said.

Seaholm advised association executives considering a merger to look at places of value alignment and clear value for members. “The goal is staying true to your mission, your vision, whatever strategy you have for your organization,” he said. “If this is going to distract from it, and it’s going to reduce the value for your members. It’s probably not the right thing to do.”

Similarly, Farrey advised leaders to look for areas of alignment as well as opportunity. “One of the very early exercises we did was a very simple Venn diagram to see what were the areas of overlap,” he said. “There was not a great deal of redundancy between the programs and services of the two organizations. So that was all new space. That was all opportunity.”