Inaugural Great Lakes Coatings Conference Held in Michigan

The Great Lakes Coatings Conference (GLCC) made its debut June 10-12 at the University of Michigan Campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The GLCC is a new biennial event based in the Midwest and led by Coatings Associations in the region. The three-day event had 425 attendees and 44 exhibitors.

The Great Lakes Coating Conference was held in conjunction with a number of Coatings Societies and Associations – Cleveland Coatings Society, Chicago Society for Coatings Technology, Chicago Paint and Coatings Association, Detroit Society for Coatings Technology, Canadian Paint and Coatings Association, Northwestern Society for Coatings Technology, Wisconsin Paint and Coatings Association and Pittsburgh Society for Coatings Technology.

The GLCC also included 21 educational short course tracks featuring 66 speakers.

Cory Sims of Bowling Green State University received Best Paper for their presentation, “Hybrid Organo-Silicon Coatings.” Best Technical Presentation was awarded to Dr. Dehui Han, PhD., senior resin innovation manager at Anderson Development for “Advances in GMA Acrylic Resins: Addressing New Challenges with Novel Approaches.”

The general consensus among both organizers and attendees was that the GLCC was successful. Many attendees were pleasantly surprised by how well run the conference was considering it was the first of its kind. 

“I thought is was an amazing event especially for being the first time,” said Kenneth Kemerer, managing director, CHT USA Inc.  “Participation was more than just the suppliers and I think industry customers attended because they like having everyone in one place instead of attending all the individual smaller regional ‘evening’ events.”

Mike Kelley, chief customer officer at Allied UV also had a positive experience. “It was very well organized. The venue location was great and had a very nice facility. In addition, the networking events were great, and I enjoyed the booth displays and tour of UofM stadium.”

“I had a very positive experience at GLCC,” noted Elizabeth Talaga, category manager at Nippon Paint Automotive Americas.  “You would never have realized it was the first year of the show with how smoothly it ran. I thought the keynote addresses were extremely well done and did a great job speaking not to just the companies in attendance, but also to the individuals themselves representing those companies.

“In my opinion, this was a conference that went deeper than the typical commercial exhibition. Most industry events are geared almost entirely to selling products and getting more customers. In contrast, this event felt like it created space to make meaningful connections, learn for learning’s sake, and also have fun. Those working in procurement, such as myself, are feeling considerable amounts of pressure due to the current global trade landscape. The joyfulness and excitement of this event was a great reminder of the good things our industry has to offer.”

Attendees also noted that the high quality of the presentations and keynote speakers, coupled with supplier networking opportunities, brought added value to the conference.
“GLCC was a welcome improvement from the previous small regional conferences (Sink or Swim),” said Nik Soljaga, PMD R&D Manager, The Sherwin-Williams Company. “The short courses were engaging for the most part and contained enough detailed information.  Other regional conferences force presenters to be too vague which reduces the overall content value.  Attendance was much improved and I felt there was a good mix of senior, intermediate and entry level coatings professionals.  The supplier engagement and breakout sessions were also valuable. Supplier interactions were most valuable for more senior members.  The short courses were educational for individuals newer to industry.

“As a woman in a male-dominated industry, I was thrilled to see two female keynote speakers,” Talaga noted.  “I was even more thrilled that their presentations did not focus on what it’s like to be a woman in the field. It’s a hard line to walk, advocating for equality while avoiding alienating the audience with what often gets perceived as a “lecture” in the worst sense of the word. To see two successful, executive-level women confidently walking the stage, speaking as if there is no gender gap, is what our industry needs. That sense of normalcy is a positive feedback loop that will one day lead to true parity.”

She also found the short courses extremely valuable. “I am a chemist by training, working in a strategic role,” said Talaga “My technical background is sometimes taken for granted, where it is assumed that being a chemist means I know everything there is to know about chemistry. The technologies in our industry are so complex, you could spend decades of study without truly understanding all there is to know. A technical background is just a scaffold or jumping- off point. I thought the short courses did a great job building off this scaffolding, discussing topics in enough depth to be able to orient within relevant conversations but not in such detail as to be inaccessible to non-experts.”

“I found it truly enjoyable,” Talaga added.  “However, looking to future years, I think they are going to need a bigger venue. Talking to my suppliers after the event, many were not aware that it was taking place and expressed interest in participating in the future. The U of M League Building felt perfectly sized for this year’s crowd, but I think the organizers should plan 2027 anticipating significant growth.” 

“Coupling it with the Technical Papers and Short Courses made justifying the time and cost easier and more valuable both for customers to see more suppliers in one place but also for suppliers to see more customers,” noted Kemerer.

“I really loved the GLCC,” said Brooke Zarnosky, chemist at Schneller. “I liked the amount of vendors and overall, I had a very positive experience. What I thought was most valuable was the mix between short courses, talks and time to speak with vendors. I really loved the short courses because they were a lot more technical than typical vendor presentations. And I liked that we were able to find time to speak to people who presented on topics we either wanted to sample or learn more about.”

The goal of the GLCC is to highlight the abundance of paint and coatings and allied industries that are in the Midwest, share innovations and give back to the coatings industry through the non-for-profit Coatings Associations that are dedicating their time and resources to this event.  Event organizers noted that 100% of the profits will be given back to the coatings industry through its Associations and Societies.