SOCMA launches rebranding with a member focus

SOCMA, a trade association for specialty and fine chemical manufacturers, is launching a “brand refresh” this week intended to highlight changes at the organization since Jennifer Abril became CEO in late 2016.

A veteran of several professional associations, Abril took the job with the goal of making SOCMA’s value to its members more clear. That meant broadening the association’s scope beyond advocacy and chemical stewardship to include having a business impact for members. “The industry values SOCMA as a connector,” Abril says.

As part of the rebrand, the association is dropping its full name, the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates, and will be known just as SOCMA. It is also debuting a new website and logo as well as a new tagline: Solutions for Specialties.

Among SOCMA’s recent business-oriented initiatives is a “lead sheet service”—a sort of match.com for specialty chemicals—that connects members with potential customers. Any company seeking a manufacturing partner can work with SOCMA’s technical team to create a lead sheet detailing its requirements. The team then circulates the sheet to SOCMA members, who can pitch their solutions.

Also new is a conference, SOCMA Week, that will debut in New Orleans Dec. 4–6 and replace the annual dinner that SOCMA held in New York city for 97 years. In keeping with Abril’s desire for SOCMA to be a connector, the conference will include an exhibit space for service providers, more than 15 educational sessions, and several networking events.

For SOCMA, the event is a return to the city where it often held the Informex trade show before selling the event in 2005. SOCMA Week, Abril adds, will complement SOCMA’s participation in the Chemicals America trade show, held in February in Fort Worth, Texas.

Abril credits SOCMA’s new direction for the 6 members the association recruited in 2018 and the 15 that have joined so far this year. “There’s a renewed interest in being part of our community,” she says.