“This is the first time in our 88-year-long history that SOCMA has changed its name,” said SOCMA Board Chairman Charlie Hinnant. “By formally reflecting the sector of the industry we’ve successfully represented for many years already, we can better help the industry and the public at large understand what our organization and members are all about. I’m pleased to be a part of this modernization.”
Since its founding, SOCMA’s overall charter has been to serve the synthetic organic chemical industry, despite recent decades of achievements in service to the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. The adopted bylaw changes, in addition to updating SOCMA’s name, formally broaden the scope of SOCMA’s activity to reflect service to the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. All categories of SOCMA membership are now available to companies involved in batch, custom and specialty rather than just synthetic organic chemical manufacturing.
“When we look at our accomplishments over the last 20 years, we can proudly say we have moved forward the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry,” Hinnant said at the March meeting. “We have done this by creating Informex; by creating and bringing along many small batch chemical manufacturers in ChemStewards and we created the specialty batch chemical manufacturing sector under the EPA’s sector strategies program.”
These concerns about the stated focus of SOCMA’s efforts led the organization’s Board of Governors to propose a bylaw change to the general membership. SOCMA’s work has and will continue to reflect its three strategic directions. These are:
- Accelerate members’ growth by maximizing commercial and networking opportunities.
- Increasing public confidence in the chemical industry.
- Influence the passage of rational laws and regulations that allow members to operate in a productive manner as good corporate citizens.
