FPA will complete a strategic planning process this month, which will help guide the association into the future. The plan focuses on activities within the association’s four key goals—protection, promotion, information, and connection. Protection is the work that FPA does to advance the industry through representation to government and regulatory bodies. Promotion raises public and customer awareness of the benefits, contributions, and advantages of flexible packaging. The trusted information and education the FPA provides its members through benchmarking, forums, and research equips individual companies with the insight needed to grow their businesses. And, FPA’s events and networking activities connect members and the supply chain to address individual company needs, as well as industry challenges and opportunities.
The Board planning process, which took place early in the new year, involved breaking out each of these core goals into individual actions and metrics; taking a look at what the association was already doing within these pillars; and determining where it should focus going forward. A number of the recommended actions will involve workgroups over the rest of the year, which will continue to inform FPA as we determine the exact metrics to employ for the future. This process includes a thorough review of our industry research and data programs. For example, is FPA’s “State of the Flexible Packaging Industry” report—a staple of our annual information to the membership—still asking the right questions and gathering relevant information as our industry’s markets have grown and flexible packaging has innovated and changed? And, how can we make the report more interactive, tying it in with other FPA data and insights, as well as analysis from our research partners? Another issue is our continued and expanded advocacy, particularly with activities surrounding extended producer responsibility and other policy mechanisms of a circular economy for flexible packaging. We need to continue to enable FPA to be in the best position to protect the industry and ensure a strong voice at the table for implementation of these policy options at both the state and federal levels.
These and other ongoing activities will round out the strategic planning process and ensure that we meet the next generation of our metrics for these goals. If you are a converter in the flexible packaging industry or a supplier to the industry and are not a member, I encourage you to join now. In addition to benefitting from regulatory and legislative staff to compliment your own workforce, you and your teams will have access to valuable industry analysis and intelligence and peer-to-peer interactions. In order for your business to be stronger and the entire industry to prosper, everyone should have a seat at the table, and FPA provides that opportunity. Now is the time to make your voice heard and help us shape the future of flexible packaging in the U.S. for many years to come.
Alison Keane, Esq., IOM, CAE
President and CEO
Flexible Packaging Association