March 2025

In This Issue:

• Registration Open For PFA Spring Meeting In St. Petersburg; Speaker Roster Filling Up
• Crowell and Sullivan To Be Inducted Into Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame
• Attending The Receptions In St. Petersburg? Please RSVP
• PFA Unveils New Video On Flexible Polyurethane Foam Production
• Sustainability Committee Providing Benefit to PFA Members
• Mark McBride Assumes Chair Of PFA's Technical Committee
• New Administration Puts Regulatory Policies in Flux
• New Locations on Deck For Upcoming Conferences

Registration Open For PFA Spring Meeting In St. Petersburg

Conference Speakers to Discuss Automotive and Mattress Markets, Supply Chains and Tariffs

Our Industry Issues session will feature a great lineup of presenters and topics. In that Wednesday afternoon program, we hear from representatives of the major end use markets for flexible polyurethane foam, and explore regulatory, tariff and supply chain challenges. Mike A. Jackson will join us from MEMA, the association that represents auto manufacturers and tier suppliers. Expect Mike to discuss regulatory developments and the potential impact of tariffs in a highly developed supply chain rooted across North America.

The mattress industry is the largest consumer market for flexible foam, and we have been fortunate to regularly hear from our friends at ISPA and the Mattress Recycling Council. This year, we welcome a first-time guest from LiquiDonate, a supplier of software to assist mattress producers and retailers with an outlet for their excess inventory and unsellable returns. The technology matches these companies with schools and nonprofits serving people in need. LiquiDonate provides an efficient and cost-saving system to manage the logistics and documentation for such donations, minimizing inventory and waste, helping the community and enhancing company image. LiquiDonate’s Director of Growth Peter Harten will share the company's story during the Industry Issues session. Harten has sustainability experience in a range of industries.

On Wednesday afternoon, we cover not only FPF end markets, but also cross-cutting manufacturing topics such as technology and supply chains. In May, we will combine those themes into a single presentation. David Simchi-Levi, a professor at MIT, will discuss how AI and Large Language Models are being used to optimize supply chains. Dr. Simchi-Levi is one of the top thought leaders in supply chain management and business analytics. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of Management Science, a journal of data and decision science.

Take a look at the meeting web page, where you can stay up to date on the program and schedule, reserve your rooms and register for the conference: www.pfa.org/2025-spring-meeting.



Sponsorship Opportunities Available

Want to highlight your organization's role in the polyurethane foam industry? How about before the industry's most influential decisionmakers? Sponsorship of a reception or meeting segment can provide your company with onsite signage, website presence and live remarks at the conference. And opportunities are available this Spring and Fall, beginning at just $2,500. Contact Russ Batson (rbatson@pfa.org), Executive Director, for more information.

Crowell And Sullivan To Be Inducted Into the FPF Hall Of Fame

Instrumental In The Development of The CertiPUR-US® Program

At the May meeting, two long-term industry pioneers will be inducted into the Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame. Mike Crowell and Helen Sullivan, from the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Inc. (AFPF) will be recognized for their decades of work.

Mike Crowell has served as the AFPF’s Executive Director for the last 10 years. Under Crowell’s leadership, participation in the CertiPUR-US® certification program has expanded from 29 foam producers in five countries to more than 100 foam producers in 17 countries, now encompassing much of the foam supplied to the U.S. bedding and upholstered furniture markets. His commitment to maintaining the program’s rigorous standards as a dynamic document, continuously updated to reflect new safety and environmental regulations, has ensured its ongoing relevance.

The CertiPUR-US® certification program has a well-earned reputation for integrity among stakeholders within the bedding and upholstered furniture sector and consumers. Last May, Crowell was honored with the organization’s Outstanding Leadership Award, and retired as Executive Director at the end of 2024.

Crowell’s distinguished career includes more than 40 years of senior management experience in the flexible polyurethane foam industry, spanning technical, manufacturing, sales and marketing positions. Before taking the helm at the AFPF, he served as vice president of marketing and sales for Flexible Foam Products. He previously was vice president of automotive sales for Foamex International (now known as FXI).

Helen Sullivan’s relationship with flexible polyurethane foam really started in 1983 as the advertising agency account manager for the Better Sleep Council of the then National Bedding Manufacturer’s Association (now ISPA). From 1983 to 1993, under Helen’s creative leadership, the Better Sleep Council was tremendously successful in reducing the replacement cycle of mattresses and in creating a market for ultra-premium bedding. “May is Better Sleep Month” was Helen’s brainchild, and along with other public relations efforts, significantly increased mattress sales.

In 1995, Helen was invited to submit a proposal for a joint program of the Society of the Plastics Industry and the Polyurethane Foam Association that would increase awareness for the benefits of flexible polyurethane foam. She ran that program successfully for several years. She then transitioned into Communications Counsel for PFA, and was involved with fire prevention initiatives, crisis communications, flame retardant issues, PFA meetings, and much more (including creating the Fast Read Newsletter).

In 2007, Helen began consulting through her own business with the formative organization that became the CertiPUR-US® program, and in 2015 began working on the program full time.

By building a program worthy of the public’s trust, Helen and Mike played a key role in transforming the flexible polyurethane foam, bedding and furniture industries.

The induction ceremony will take place during the General Business Meeting on Thursday, May 22.

Attending The Receptions At PFA's May Meeting? Please RSVP.

There are two receptions at the Spring meeting, both free to meeting attendees. The Tuesday evening Welcome Reception is sponsored by the CertiPUR-US® Program, and the Thursday evening Closing Reception is where the winner of the Herman Stone Award for Technical Excellence is announced.

While both receptions are free to meeting attendees, we do request that you RSVP if you plan to attend. This allows us to better estimate food and drink quantities and manage our costs. You can RSVP on our Spring Meeting Page: www.pfa.org/2025-spring-meeting.

Thanks very much for your help.

PFA Unveils New Video On Flexible Polyurethane Foam Production

PFA recently completed a new video on how flexible polyurethane foam is made to help people outside the industry understand FPF and its many applications in their daily lives.

The approximately seven-minute video includes an introduction to foam, a segment on foam production covering slabstock and molded foams, and a segment on how foams are evaluated, including a description of the CertiPUR-US® program.

The video is available on the PFA website under www.pfa.org/video, and can be shared freely.

Thanks to the many PFA members and other organizations who helped make this new communications tool possible.

PFA Sustainability Committee Expands Activities

Since it was created last year, PFA's Sustainability Committee has been expanding its scope of work. Committee members have been very successful at recruiting speakers on sustainability topics for PFA meetings, including for the St. Petersburg conference in May. They are also digging deeper into the topics they identified as most important, including foam recycling methods and bio-based raw materials.

In addition, the panel has reviewed draft documents on sustainability topics from other organizations and provided guidance to PFA staff on any needed responses.

Currently, the Committee is working with PFA Communications Staff to update PFA literature and website content so it reflects the most recent industry technologies and best practices.

Chairman Andrew Kee (Wanhua) will be updating his peers and responding to questions at the upcoming conference.

Mark McBride Takes Over Chair of PFA Technical Committee

Mark McBride of BASF has been elected Technical Committee Chair for PFA. He takes over for Bobby Bush, Jr., who is stepping away after five decades of service to the flexible polyurethane foam industry.

McBride is the Flexible Slabstock Foam Technology Lead at BASF's Wyandotte, Michigan site. After completing his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, McBride began working for BASF in 2016. He completed his MBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.

Mark is the lead technical contact for customers and drives the development of new innovations in flexible polyurethane foam formulations.

Having served on the panel for several years, McBride has smoothly stepped into Chair position, and will be a great asset as the flexible foam industry tackles a number of projects in the coming months. He will be updating May conference attendees about the committee's activities.

Federal Regulatory Policies in Flux

The Trump Administration has proposed a broad list of regulatory changes encompassing environmental standards, agency staffing, and climate policy. The details and fate of these proposals will be covered extensively in national media and trade publications.

At this early point, we will make a few observations based on the decades of experience that PFA staff and outside counsel have with the federal regulatory process. We'll begin with the caution that announced regulatory changes may not always benefit manufacturers. A few factors to consider:

Regulatory Realities: Will Proposed Changes Stick?

A number of the proposed changes to regulatory policy will face legal challenges. Some will be struck down as contrary to the statutes they operate under, or requiring Congressional changes to those laws. Others will fail on procedural grounds. Under federal laws governing agencies, regulations must be established or revised through a process of fact finding and public comment. In court, many of the revisions under discussion will suffer from the perception that they were White House-driven rather than developed by agency personnel under required procedures.

Stability in Question: How Long Will New Policies Last?

Even if implemented, looser regulations may not endure. Future administrations could reverse course, leaving manufacturers wary of adapting to policies that shift with political tides. Businesses crave stability, and executives may hesitate to overhaul operations amid such uncertainty.

Economic Calculus: Do Changes Pay Off? 

For domestic manufacturers, the economics of regulatory shifts hinge on practical realities. A key consideration is the useful life and cost of plant and equipment. Facilities that have financed and installed more energy efficient and less polluting technologies may find that undoing those changes is more costly than can be justified by cheaper production.

Changes to the regulation of products could face inertia from design and supply chain changes made to meet prior regulatory standards. Current model year cars, for example, were greenlit three to five years ago and reflect the mileage and emissions targets established by the Obama Administration years before that. Changes in those targets now could at best be reflected in automobiles produced 3 to 5 years from now, running into the previously noted uncertainty about the future political and regulatory climate. And many products are sold into a global marketplace in which other nations' standards for safety and sustainability are not subject to changes announced in Washington. Some firms will decline to surrender hard-won market share overseas in order to lower the costs of products sold domestically.

Legal and Reputational Risks: Beyond Federal Policy

More favorable federal policies don’t insulate companies from state laws, hostile plaintiffs’ attorneys, or public scrutiny. Leadership must weigh potential cost savings against litigation risks or potential reputational damage. Reversing course on emission controls or product features presents particular risks, because the feasibility of these technologies or practices was demonstrated pre-2025. This could complicate arguments in environmental or product liability cases, or in dialogues with community leaders or consumers, that such compliance levels are unreasonable.

New Locations on Deck for Upcoming Conferences

The next few conferences will take us to carefully vetted properties in some large, dynamic U.S. cities.

This Fall (November 4-6), PFA will host our gathering at the Omni in downtown Austin, TX, so be ready for good music, great food, and a vibrant tech city atmosphere. In an era when many hotels and restaurants have struggled to keep staff, this property impressed us with excellent managers, cooks and servers.

In the Spring of 2026, industry participants will travel to Pittsburgh to meet at the Omni William Penn, May 19-21. The historic hotel is downtown and within walking distance of many restaurants and museums, and PNC Park, where MLB's Pirates play. Most of our gatherings will take place on the 17th floor of this stately building, providing attendees with great views of these attractions.

In the Fall of 2026, PFA heads to Dallas, TX (November 3-5) and the Adolphus Autograph Hotel. The hotel was built by beer magnate Adolphus Busch in 1912 based on a German castle. Trip Advisor currently ranks it as #2 out of 217 Dallas hotels. Take in fascinating historical artifacts in the hotel, including a piano in the lobby that was supposed to have been on the Titanic but didn't make it for the voyage (it still plays beautifully).

Beyond 2026, staff has been in talks with and visiting properties in Nashville, the Houston area, and Florida. With recent indications of softening economic conditions in the travel and hospitality industries, there could be some opportunities to book highly desirable locations. PFA executive director Russ Batson indicates that several favorable contracts were negotiated during the pandemic, when hotel bookings plummeted. We may have good news to report in May.

Call For Papers: Spring Technical Program

Abstract Deadline: April 1, 2025

The Polyurethane Foam Association is accepting proposals for technical presentations for its Fall Technical Program, May 22, at the Vinoy Autograph in St. Petersburg, FL.

Authors must submit an abstract with request for presentation. Presentations must not exceed 25 minutes in length. A slide presentation and recording will become part of PFA’s online information library. In addition, presenters are welcome to submit a written paper.

The Paper Selection Process

To be eligible for presentation, papers must have a non-commercial focus and specifically address topics related to slabstock or molded flexible polyurethane production, raw material developments, environmental performance, occupational safety, product evaluation, novel commercial applications, or production control, and be based on actual production applications.

The deadline for submitting an abstract for proposed presentation is April 1, 2025.

To submit a proposal or for more information, please contact Russ Batson by email (rbatson@pfa.org) or telephone (865.657.9840). Based on a program that includes at least 6 technical papers, the presentations will be scored to compete for a $500 Technical Excellence Award provided by the Herman Stone Family Endowment.

Call For Nominations: Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall Of Fame

PFA's Executive Committee welcomes nominations of individuals and companies for Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame recognition.

Induction is an honor bestowed upon individuals and companies who have made significant contributions to the North American FPF industry. Hall of Fame members have distinguished themselves through technical innovations, marketing success, entrepreneurial achievements, and have made other significant contributions to industry and their communities.

To be eligible for consideration, an individual must have been employed by a flexible polyurethane foam manufacturer. Supplier companies also are eligible for consideration if they have successfully commercialized important products and technologies that have helped shape the North American FPF industry.

The Flexible Polyurethane Foam Hall of Fame nomination form is available online, along with the biographies of current Hall of Fame members.

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