SOCMA President Moves On

SOCMA President and CEO Lawrence D. Sloan Leaving Association for Professional Society

Attention SOCMA Members,
After seven years as SOCMA President and CEO, Larry Sloan will be leaving the association in mid-October to accept a position with the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the premier association of occupational hygienists and environmental health and safety professionals.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working at SOCMA and representing the specialty chemical industry here in Washington,” Sloan said. “The caliber of professionals with whom I’ve fostered relationships in our membership as well as with my fellow trade association executives is second to none. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to lead this first-rate organization.”

“Mr. Sloan has been a dedicated leader for SOCMA, and we wish him success in his future endeavors,” said Charles “Chuck” Bennett, Vice Chairman of Dixie Chemical and Chair of SOCMA’s Board of Governors. Under Sloan’s direction, SOCMA has continued to transform as a member-driven organization by focusing on our three core pillars of value – Membership, Government Relations and Networking – which support member business growth and ChemStewards/operational excellence activities aimed at improving environmental, health, safety and security efforts and operational best practices.

“Mr. Sloan has been an effective steward of the SOCMA business activities by enacting board-driven initiatives to right size the organization and enhance the association’s financial condition,” said J. Steel Hutchinson, President and CEO of GFS Chemicals and Past Chair of SOCMA’s Board of Governors. “With efficiencies in staffing and the pending move to Crystal City, VA, next year, SOCMA is within reach of the board’s strategic goal to provide a stable financial foundation that will benefit its membership for years to come.”

Under Sloan’s direction and years of dedicated effort from the SOCMA staff, our association has seen numerous advocacy wins, including Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform, multi-year reauthorization of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), permanent extension of the R&D Tax Credit, and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) authorization process now structured to better reflect the rules in the House of Representatives. Our hardworking SOCMA staff has an excellent reputation with federal regulatory agencies, and the association is clearly a respected voice in Washington.

SOCMA membership retention has also been strengthened during Sloan’s tenure through extensive outreach by the SOCMA staff and our active Board of Governors. And new member programs, such as regional meetings built around the plant operational excellence concept, are helping us further deliver added value to employees at all levels of our membership. The deep and practical reach of SOCMA’s programs to our members’ employees at all levels has served in strengthening our value proposition well beyond the C-suite.

With an eye toward the future, SOCMA will immediately begin a formal search for a new President and CEO. “The timing is right for a fresh new CEO with a fresh ‘set of eyes’ to take SOCMA to the next level,” Bennett said. “More than ever the fine and specialty batch chemical industry, ranging from small family businesses to large multinational companies, is relying on SOCMA to represent its interests in a tumultuous regulatory environment. The next CEO will inherit a trade association well-positioned for success as SOCMA approaches its centennial celebration in 2021.”