Regional coatings societies across the United States play a crucial role in guiding professionals who are new to the field. In this article, Q&As with participating societies highlight the resources, industry knowledge, and networking opportunities that they offer to support students interested in STEM fields and early-career professionals in the coatings industry. Following these perspectives is a list of coatings societies nationwide with information on how to connect with these local industry groups.
Q&A responses may have been edited for length and clarity. To submit your society’s news to CoatingsTech, email publications@paint.org with “Society news” in the subject line.
Q&As: Perspectives from Coatings Societies and Councils
Cleveland Coatings Society
Q: Where is your organization located, and who is eligible to join?
A: Currently, the Cleveland Coatings Society (CCS) is mainly made up of members in Northeast and Northwest Ohio. It includes early-career professionals and seasoned experts. We are starting a new initiative to include both undergraduate and graduate students.
Biennially, there is a new Great Lakes Coatings Conference beginning in June 2025, which will be hosted by the University of Michigan. This is a collaborative effort among the CCS, Detroit Societies, Chicago, and a few others in the Great Lakes Region.
Find out more about 2025’s Great Lakes Coating Conference, Western Coatings Show, and Eastern Coatings Show.
Q: What opportunities do you offer new members, particularly those early in their careers?
A: There are a few large networking events as well as monthly technical meetings. Again, there is a push to reach out to the many local universities in the greater Akron-Cleveland area to include students.
Q: What are some of the key activities your organization highlights throughout the year?
A: CCS holds the annual Sink or Swim event, which includes a golf scramble followed by two days of formulation presentations by experts along with a tabletop show for vendors. In addition, there are also technical presentations held monthly at a local university. Barbara Varone serves as the Scholarship chair. Currently, we award eight $1,000 annual scholarships based on students’ grades, recommendations, and having a parent who is an active CCS participant.
Q: What can young professionals expect to gain from joining your society?
A: Younger members of CCS will find a supportive community where they can develop their skills, build a professional network, and find mentors who can help guide their careers. Through access to events, and leadership opportunities, they can stay informed on developments in the field while shaping the future of the profession.
Q: Where can potential members find more information?
A: Visit the CCS website at clevelandcoatingssociety.org or contact Barbara Varone, CCS Scholarship Chair, at varone@kowa.com.
Los Angeles Society of Coatings Technology (LASCT)
Q: Where is your organization located, and who is eligible to join?
A: Anyone based in the Southern California area interested or involved with coatings development, marketing, and manufacturing can join. This includes students, young professionals, and seasoned veterans.
Q: What opportunities do you offer new members, particularly those early in their careers?
A: We offer monthly networking dinners, charity events such as golf outings, social events such as brewery tours and baseball games, and technical discussions with industry leaders.
Q: What are some of the key activities your organization highlights throughout the year?
A: LASCT awards scholarships for qualified high school students seeking education in STEM fields and industries associated with coatings. We also award scholarships for undergraduates. For undergraduates who are interested in learning more about coatings R&D and manufacturing, we offer “shadow-a-chemist” opportunities.
Q: What can young professionals expect to gain from joining your society?
A: LASCT offers a supportive and collaborative environment where individuals can connect with like-minded professionals in their respective fields to grow their knowledge and engage with the Southern California coatings community.
Q: Where can potential members find more information?
A: LASCT.org
Metropolitan New York Coatings Association (MNYCA)
Q: Where is your organization located, and who is eligible to join?
A: Our organization is based in New Jersey. Membership is open to companies in the coatings industry that have a presence in the Metropolitan New York area.
Q: What opportunities do you offer new members, particularly those early in their careers?
A: We provide a variety of opportunities to help new members establish themselves in the industry. These include informational talks, job postings, and networking events throughout the year.
Q: What are some of the key activities your organization highlights throughout the year?
A: Our annual activities include technical forums where presenters discuss relevant topics of interest to today’s professionals. We also host a variety of events aimed at bringing members together for social and networking opportunities, such as a golf outing, minor league baseball game, a holiday party, and an annual board meeting. In addition, we are proud to award scholarships to high school students entering college and current college students.
Q: What can young professionals expect to gain from joining your society?
A: Younger members will have the opportunity to network with a variety of individuals in the coatings industry, from fellow younger members to seasoned professionals. They will also have access to valuable information through our technical forums.
Q: Where can potential members find more information?
A: Please visit www.mnyca.org for more information.
Pittsburgh Society for Coatings Technology
Q: Where is your organization located, and who is eligible to join?
A: Our organization is based in Pittsburgh, PA. Membership is open to anyone interested in coatings sciences. We have members that are students, employees of coatings companies, employees of coatings suppliers and retirees.
Q: What opportunities do you offer new members, particularly those early in their careers?
A: From September through May, we offer a monthly opportunity to meet and network with local coatings professionals. The monthly technical talks offer insight into a variety of coatings topics. Meetings are also occasionally held at local companies to gain a better understanding of what role they play in the coatings industry. Members with college-age children can also apply for scholarship opportunities.
Q: What are some of the key activities your organization highlights throughout the year?
A: We have a golf outing, six technical dinners, a holiday party, and a spring social event every year.
Q: What can young professionals expect to gain from joining your society?
A: They can expect to create business relationships with professionals from all segments of the coatings industry. They will also gain knowledge of local companies and emerging coatings technologies during monthly technical dinners. We also offer multiple social events every year.
Q: Where can potential members find more information?
A: We publish a monthly newsletter that outlines all our events along with other societies’ activities. Our website is www.paintsociety.com
Industrial Advisory Council (IAC) for Cal Poly’s Western Coatings Technology Center
Q: Where is your organization located, and who is eligible to join?
A: The Western Coatings Technology Center (WCTC) is located within Bailey College of Science and Mathematics of California Polytechnic State University. The center receives advice and support from industry experts through its Industrial Advisory Council (IAC). The IAC leads various activities to attract talents and provide professional guidance and support to the students such as fundraising, student internships and mentorship, and create new innovations and sustainability initiatives with our industry. The IAC meets twice a year at Cal Poly to lead and organize different events to advocate and strengthen the mission of WCTC.
Companies and professionals from the chemical industry are welcome to participate in the IAC meetings and events.
The WCTC comprises nearly 5,000 square feet of industry-funded, dedicated research and innovation space and facilities that include the Behr Process Polymer Synthesis Laboratory, an Instrumental Analysis Laboratory, the Dunn-Edwards Coatings Formulation Laboratory, and the Stanley W. Ekstrom Research Laboratory.
Q: What opportunities do you offer new members, particularly those early in their careers?
A: For the professionals who are early in their careers, Cal Poly offers two intensive industry short courses, one in the winter and another in the summer. The short courses are taught by our industry experts in a wide range of disciplines such as Chemistry, Physics, Polymer Science, Material Science, Colloid and Interfacial Science, Color and Appearance, and Rheology that can be applied to coatings, adhesives, inks, and other polymers and coatings related industry. Attendees of the short courses will learn the newest advances of our industry with reinforcement of principles from real world examples. In addition, participants will benefit from discussions of VOC and air quality aspects of coatings by experts in both industry and government regulatory agencies to meet industry’s sustainability goals.
Q: What are some of the key activities your organization highlights throughout the year?
A: Our industry professionals in the polymers and coatings field provide career guidance, technical, and professional advice to students in IAC meetings and organized events. They work closely together to lead different initiatives through meaningful and rewarding experience. Key activities include industry-student career panel discussions, focused career fairs, internships, industry fundraising events, and other social interactions such as lunches and dinners. The Student Engagement Committee of the IAC launched “Shadow-a-Chemist Day” in the summer of 2017. In this activity, companies host students for a day to shadow an industrial chemist or technologist.
Q: What can young professionals expect to gain from participating in IAC events?
A: Participants in the IAC events will have the opportunities to help mentoring the next generations of scientists and engineers by promoting our industry. While inspiring new innovations, and providing guidance to the Cal Poly students, companies can also recruit future talents. Companies can also broaden industry connections, and cultivate new professional and business partnerships.
Q: Where can potential members find more information?
A: wctc.calpoly.edu/content/about/home
Find Your Local Connection
Chicago Paint & Coatings Association
• director@chicagopaint.org
• chicagopaint.org
Chicago Society for Coatings Technology
• chicagocoatings.org/online-membership-application
• chicagocoatings.org
Cleveland Coatings Society
• support@clevelandcoatingssociety.org
• clevelandcoatingssociety.org
Golden Gate Society for Coatings Technology
• ggsct@earthlink.net
• ggsct.com
Los Angeles Society for Coatings Technology
• lasct@earthlink.net
• lasct.org
Metropolitan New York Coatings Association
• patty.paletto@mnyca.org
• www.mnyca.org
Pacific Northwest Society for Coatings Technology
• pnwsct.org/about-us/contact-us
• pnwsct.org
Pittsburgh Society for Coatings Technology
• membership@paintsociety.org
• paintsociety.com
Southern Society for Coatings Technology
• southerncoatings.org/contact.htm
• southerncoatings.org
St. Louis Paint & Coatings Society
• info@slpcs.org
• slpcs.org/
Technical Coatings Society of New England
• nesct.org