SFIC update

Who would suspect a late 2004 update on the Surface Finishing Industry Council (SFIC) still needs to include a message reinforcing the importance and benefits of industry trade association consolidation? Nevertheless, this is reality. Recently, much correspondence opposing any degree of industry consolidation has received wide distribution. Regrettably, much of this correspondence is based on misinformation or incomplete information. While this is almost certainly unintentional, it doesn't change the fact that this incorrect information has affected the opinions and attitudes of a significant number of people whose support is needed for our industry to move forward. Here are the facts: slumping business conditions and various acquisitions on the supplier side have caused a significant - perhaps dangerous is a better word to use - drop in the membership of ALL THREE trade associations. This, in turn, has created the economic pressures that have precipitated the group discussions in which consolidation has been discussed. Nevertheless, AESF, NAME and MFSA are not slated to become a single association in the near future.