Chemical Industry Summit Press Conference

November 9, 2007
Pittsburgh

Press conference audio: 16:39
Q&A session audio: 7:03

Chemical company executives, legislators gather to create solutions for industry issues

Several chemical industry executives engaged a captive audience of legislators at a Chemical Industry Summit hosted by LANXESS Corp. President and CEO Randy Dearth.

Dearth hosted the assembly of his peers, including Greg Babe, Bayer MaterialScience; Greg Wilkinson, Nova Chemicals; Bernie Sullivan, PPG; and Mark Finch, BASF.

The state's congressional delegation included representatives from U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Robert Casey’s offices, as well as personnel from the offices of Reps. Jason Altmire, Mike Doyle, and Tim Murphy.

"What's important about this summit is that you have the people that can literally affect change in the room with you," said Dearth. "It's an open discussion, where we can speak candidly about the issues facing our industry."

Together, the group explored legislative and regulatory initiatives for the chemical industry and successfully identified solutions to issues including energy, security, climate change, and rail transportation.

Summit participants initiated the process of bridging the gap between where the chemical industry stands today and where it is headed in the future. Right now, the U.S. chemical market is the largest in the world, accounting for 22% of the total world chemical population. By focusing in on everything that is dynamic about the chemical landscape, the synergy created in the Summit will allow the U.S. as a whole to remain competitive in the industry.

"My fear is that one day we'll wake up and realize that the American chemical businesses are operating in a completely new landscape, one in which it is more difficult to compete," Dearth said. "I don't want that for my employees, my industry or my country."