Small and medium-sized businesses will be in the Seattle area’s spotlight on Tuesday, June 28, at a lunch-hour event hosted by ASTM International, one of the world’s leading standards organizations. Small businesses, suppliers, government agencies, and others can register free on-site at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue (900 Bellevue Way NE).

The Tuesday panel session is held in conjunction with the June conference of ASTM committees in petroleum, liquid fuels, and lubricants (D02) as well as other areas such as paints and coatings (D01). Altogether, the event attracts more than 1,000 experts and engineers from around the world.

“ASTM International standards are critical for any size business to operate in today’s marketplace,” said Glenn Johnston, Vice President Regulatory Affairs at Gevo Inc., a renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company. “Working in the ASTM committee structure to drive agreement with many different parties with different needs in a product supply chain helps in making the end standard stronger.”

Johnson will be a panelist at the event in room Evergreen Ballroom A of the hotel.  The panel will also include Didier Pigeon, CEO, AD Systems, a designer and manufacturer of lubricant test equipment, and John Fletcher, technical support manager, Elcometer Limited, a manufacturer and supplier of inspection equipment.

The event will be moderated by Leonard Morrissey, a director of technical committee operations for ASTM.

This event is part of ASTM International’s “Year of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME),” launched by the organization’s board chairman Ralph Paroli, Ph.D., director of R&D in Measurement Science and Standards at the National Research Council of Canada.

“Entrepreneurs, small manufacturers, and other SMEs create the majority of private-sector jobs worldwide while accounting for more than half of global GDP,” Paroli said. “It’s time that more of them have opportunities to get involved in creating technical standards that will help them truly thrive.”

For more information about the conference in Bellevue, go to: www.astm.org/MEETINGS. For success stories and other information on the Year of the SME, go to: www.astm.org/sme,
and visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ9kbZ71CbEHGRyxxt7Tj1ZnJq0JKzQNG to see short small business spotlight videos.

More information: Brian Milewski, bmilewsi@astm.org
Media Inquiries: Dan Bergels, tel +1.610.761.9316; dbergels@astm.org

Release #10098