March 2010 Vol. 237 No. 3

Business Meetings & Events

The National Association Of Pipe Coating Applicators Aims To Spark A Search For Technical Solutions

The National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators (NAPCA) stepped up the pace of its activities during 2009 as it concentrated its attention on technical information development and delivery.

The association grew by several measures at a deliberate pace as its leaders laid the groundwork for its future success.

While delivering benefits to the worldwide pipeline and energy industries, NAPCA extended its influence by continuing to encourage the better instincts of its members as they sought to produce exceptional work in safe and healthful environments while encouraging consensus in areas of general concern.

Objectives
The Association’s objectives, business standards and ethics are: “The Association shall seek to promote the general welfare of the plant pipe coating application industry; to stimulate the use of plant-applied pipe coating and related materials; to standardize and improve specifications and materials; to aid consumers and manufacturers in their coating material research; to cooperate with other industries and organizations; to disseminate information to the members of the plant-applied pipe coating application industry, its customers and the public; and to encourage high standards of workmanship and business ethics in the plant pipe coating industry and particularly among its members, such business standards and ethics to include, but not be limited to, the following:

• To conduct business using good business practices so as not to commit any misrepresentation to a customer or anyone else;
• To abide by the customer and/or NAPCA specifications applicable to each job;
• To conduct one’s business with financial responsibility;
• To not deviate from the high standards of performance generally accepted in the plant pipe coating industry.”

Current Officers
Officers are Merry L. Brumbaugh, President; Brendan Ryan, Vice President; and
Ryan Norris, Secretary/Treasurer. Merritt B. Chastain, III, is Managing Director and General Counsel. Brumbaugh is Vice President, Tubular Products, L.B. Foster Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Ryan is Vice President/General Manager USA, Bredero Shaw (a ShawCor Company), Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and Norris manages Inside Sales for Dura-Bond Coating, Inc., Export, Pennsylvania.

Board Of Trustees
Trustees serving along with the officers are:

• Don Barder, President and Chief Operating Officer, Liberty Coating Company, LLC, Morrisville, Pennsylvania;
• Richard F. Brunst, Jr., President, Western Pipe Coaters & Engineers, Inc., Orem, Utah;
• Gary Brown, President, Commercial Coating Services International, Ltd., Conroe, Texas;
• George D. Stoddard, President, Mobile Pipe Wrappers & Coaters, Inc., Adelanto, California.

Advisory Trustees
Advisory Trustee and Associate Member Chairman is Joseph Hoffman, Hoffman Blast II by Circle R Industries, Inc., Wylie, Texas.

Advisory Trustee and International Member Chairman is Giovanni Portesan, Socotherm Americas, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Managing Director
L.B. Irish (now deceased) served as the Association’s managing director from 1967 until April 1979 when Merritt B. Chastain, Jr., assumed the duties and served until his retirement at the end of 2008. Chastain also represented NAPCA as its General Counsel from 1971 to the end of 2008.

The new Managing Director and General Counsel is Merritt B. Chastain, III. He took office on January 1, 2009, following a year of working in tandem with the outgoing Managing Director. Merritt B. Chastain, III is Partner – Labor and Employment, Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, Houston, Texas.

Recommended Specifications
A complete list of current recommended NAPCA specifications, covering a broad range of plant-applied coatings, a recommended practice for surface cleanliness of pipe received at the coating plant and other matters appears on the Association’s web page at http://www.napca.com/napca_specifications.cfm.