US ACC members fall to 139, group cuts 43 jobs

12 January 2004 23:57  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--The American Chemistry Council (ACC) said Monday it has eliminated 43 staff positions, a 22.5% reduction of its workforce, to meet its reduced budget for this year.

A spokesman for Arlington, Virginia-based ACC also confirmed that the number of member chemicals firms has fallen to 139, a reduction of nearly 10% from the 154-member count cited by ACC officials in September last year.

There have been several high-profile defections from the ACC, including announcements last year by Huntsman, Lyondell and ChevronPhillips Chemical (CPChem) that they were quitting the ACC effective at the end of 2003.

The ACC spokesman declined to say which additional member firms have since left the group.

In October last year ACC announced a reduced operating budget of $51.3m (Euro40m) for 2004, a 15% reduction from the group's 2003 budget of $60m. While ACC's 2003 budget had been set at $60m, the trade group took in only $52m.

The 43 job cuts were completed at the end of December, the spokesman said.

Formerly known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), the ACC is one of the oldest trade groups in the US. When the group celebrated its 125^th anniversary in late 1997, its corporate members numbered about 200. Its reduced membership of 139 firms, which in part reflects consolidation in the industry, represents a 30% decline from its 1997 strength.

Separately today, the ACC announced that vice president and general counsel David Zoll is retiring, effective the end of this month.

Noting Zoll's 25 years of service in the chemicals industry, ACC president and chief executive Greg Lebedev said: "I ask the entire industry to join me in thanking David for his excellent service as our senior lawyer and association executive through many different eras of industry advocacy."

Lebedev was quoted as saying that Zoll is being retained by ACC on a consultative basis for a few months to develop and implement a special project on environmental mediation training.

By: Joe Kamalick
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