Aluminum Extruders Council recognizes Rand Baldwin with distinguished service award

The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) presented Rand Baldwin, AEC President, its coveted Distinguished Service Award during the Volunteer Recognition Banquet on March 20, 2014 at the AEC Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference held in Coral Gables, Florida . Rick Merluzzi, AEC Chairman, said, “In light of the dramatic turnaround in our industry through industry promotion and successful execution of our China trade agenda managed by the AEC, we wanted to recognize Rand’s leadership and dedication with the AEC’s most prestigious award.” This award is the highest honor given to an individual whose work through the years has earned special recognition by AEC membership. The presentation of the Distinguished Service Award was unique in that it had never been presented to an individual outside of an AEC member company. “The AEC Executive Committee felt that Rand’s contribution to the Council went above and beyond and we wanted to recognize his efforts. He has become one of us, an AEC member, and is just as devoted and committed to the Council’s success as we are,” said Merluzzi.

A clearly surprised and emotional Rand Baldwin, who has been President of the AEC since 2000, accepted the award, and from the podium told the audience, “I can’t tell you how much these means to me. To be recognized in this way… here tonight… is simply more than I can express in words.” The audience responded to Rand’s thank you with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes.

Earlier in the event Baldwin recounted the difficult but successful journey that the aluminum extrusion industry, and the AEC, had made over the recent past. He noted that, five years ago, shipments had fallen to levels not seen in decades. Chinese extruders were dumping massive volumes into the U.S. market using unfair trade practices, and the industry struggled to promote its virtues to a manufacturing base looking for new solutions. In the ensuing five years, the AEC, under Baldwin’s leadership, developed an Industry Promotion initiative that has produced thousands of inquiries for its members, successfully launched a trade petition against Chinese extruders that resulted in a dramatic decrease in imports into the U.S. market, and grown membership in the AEC by 25 percent.

Also during the awards ceremony two members were recognized with AEC’s Volunteer of the Year Award. Guy Charpentier, Marketing Manager for Bonnell Aluminum in Newnan, Georgia, was recognized for his work as Chairman of the Building & Construction Industry Promotion Committee, and Richard Dickson, Director Customer Technical Support-Hydro Aluminum Metals USA, Zeeland, Michigan, was recognized for his work on the Die and Tooling Business Excellence Committee. Both members have been actively involved in the AEC for years.