All indications were that this biennial show both met and exceeded expectations of attendees and exhibitors. According to Dave White, president of the Eastern Coatings Federation, the show had both record booths and record attendance with 143 tabletop exhibitors and approximately 1,400 attendees.

 

From what we have heard it has been a great show,” said White. “We are very excited and looking forward to a great show in 2021.”

 

“The Eastern Coatings Show has become a must-attend event,” noted Rick Mazzariello of Enrichem Specialties. “It offers an excellent opportunity for regional producers and end-users of coatings, adhesives and inks to get first-hand knowledge of the newest technologies, products, equipment and services in the industry. Atlantic City is an excellent venue for this event with excellent meeting facilities, lodging, restaurants and entertainment. Planning has already begun for the next Eastern Coatings Show in 2021.”

 

“The Eastern Coatings Show provides a very unique forum that allows regional manufacturers to send multiple employees across different experience levels to participate in the event,” said Loyd Burcham, R&D Group Leader at Stonhard. “At Stonhard we sent six people spanning R&D management (full conference/board member), highly experienced chemists (full conference and/or show floor), intermediate chemists (show floor and short course), and even a recently hired R&D chemist with only one month of experience (short course). There is high value for all of these different tiers of experience, both in terms of technical information and networking opportunities.  The proceeds from the ECS also benefit the organizing societies and fund additional technical symposia and scholarships at the local level.

"The ECS is an opportunity not to be missed!”

 

Highlights of the Eastern Coatings Show were the presentation of awards and a panel discussion.

 

The Rick Mazzariello Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Samuel E. Firestone, the founder of Norstone. “I was surprised and elated by being recognized by the industry,” said Firestone, who started his career in the industry at American Cyanamid in 1953, and founded Norstone in 1982.

The Pflaumer Brothers Awards for Innovation was given to the two best technical presentations at the Eastern Coatings Show. 

The Outstanding Paper was awarded to Jacob Shevrin of Evonik, who presented on "Enhanced Corrosion Resistance of Waterborne, VOC-Free Coatings with Novel Bipodal Silane Additives."


The Most Outstanding Paper was presented to Mengfei Huang of Universe of Massachusetts, who presented on "Methylene Malonate for High-Performance Coatings." 

Dale Pritchett, publisher of Coatings World and Ink World, moderated a panel on “Strategic Innovation – Solving Unmet Needs,” which featured Dr. Brian Makowski, director of product innovation for Sherwin-Williams; Shiona Stewart, industry marketing manager Transportation, Industrial, Furniture & Floor Coatings, Dispersions, Resins and Additives North America at BASF; and Howard Killilea, global technical director for EPS.

Stewart, industry marketing manager Transportation, Industrial, Furniture & Floor Coatings, Dispersions, Resins and Additives North America at BASF, said that working closely with customers is key to successful innovation.

 

“My responsibility is understanding the unmet needs in a variety of coatings spaces – such as how do we develop technologies that make the coating more functional and have the coating do more for our customers,” Stewart said. “We listen to our customers and try very hard to understand what their pain points are, how they differentiate themselves within their industries and focus our innovation efforts on developing products that ultimately deliver quantifiable value to meet their needs.”

 

Stewart talked about the issues with raw material supply and availability and said that it is essential to have backup plans ready.  “We have to understand very early on if we are selecting raw materials that could potentially be problematic from a supply standpoint and determine if that is truly the best option.,” Stewart noted. “It’s helped us to improve our development process because we are now bringing different people to the table much earlier on in the development cycle to provide input on raw material selection.”

 

Hosted by the Philadelphia Society for Coatings Technology, the New England Society for Coatings Technology and the Metropolitan New York Coatings Association, the Eastern Coatings Show is intended to offer educational and technical presentations to create an understanding of the theory, the science, the manufacturing and the marketing of coatings to highlight the improvement of coatings performance and functionality beyond traditional expectations. The Eastern Coatings Show was established in 2013 and the proceeds from the show go back to the three associations that organize the event.  It is through those organizations that scholarships are awarded yearly to incoming and current undergraduate students. The funds also go towards initiatives such as mentorship programs – all aimed at supporting the next generation and growth through education.