User:Romtobbins/American Coatings Association

The American Coatings Association (ACA) is a nonprofit, member-supported organization representing professionals in the paint and coatings industry. The ACA was founded on November 1, 1933 when the American Paint and Varnish Manufacturers Association and the National Paint, Oil and Varnish Association united to become the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association, eventually being renamed the American Coatings Association. Both the scholarly Journal of Coatings Technology and Research and the industry trade magazine CoatingsTech are published by ACA. The ACA's Washington, D.C. headquarters is housed in the Brodhead-Bell-Morton Mansion, which was once occupied by Alexander Graham Bell.

Origins
Though many local and regional paint clubs existed prior to the association's formation, the first organized national meeting of paint and varnish manufacturers occurred on Sept. 11, 1888 in Saratoga, NY. Meeting delegates decided to call their organization the National Paint, Oil and Varnish Association of the United States. Paint manufacturers created separate organizations but still remained members of the national association. Examples of these organizations included the Paint Grinders Association of the U.S. and the American Paint and Varnish Manufacturers Association, the latter of which subsequently merged with the national association to form the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association.



On Nov. 9, 1971, the members of the new association voted to change the name to the National Paint and Coatings Association (NPCA). The new name extended the influence of the organization to the entire coatings industry. Finally, the NPCA and the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technologies (FSCT) united to form the American Coatings Association

Purpose
The ACA works on the local, state, and federal levels to advance the needs of its members. Through its positions on legislative, judicial, and regulatory issues, the organization tries to ensure that the industry is fairly considered. With 225 member companies and 400 individual members, it is the world's largest coatings society(?). The ACA holds two national meetings per year covering the fields of paint and coatings, in addition to sponsoring smaller technical conferences throughout the year.

PaintCare
On July 1, 2010, ACA launched the non-profit PaintCare program in cooperation with the state of Oregon. This not-for-profit program manages the reuse, recycling, and disposal of leftover paint. About 30 collection centers have been established in paint stores across the state with another 60 centers scheduled to open in 2010 (UPDATE THESE NUMBERS).

Coatings Care
Coatings Care is a program designed by ACA to assist paint and coatings industry companies with managing their environmental, security, safety, and health responsibilities. The program instructs companies on how to safeguard the environment, protect worker and community health and safety, and ensure facility security while maintaining the economic health of their businesses. A further goal of the program is to enhance sustainability and the safe selection, handling, use, and disposal of chemical components in paint products. The program has been implemented in several countries throughout the world.

Five guidance documents, including The Transportation and Distribution Guide and the Product Stewardship Guide, direct companies on the environmental, security, safety, and health aspects of distribution, product manufacturing, and community relations.

Publications and Resources
One way the ACA keeps its members apprised of changes in the paint and coatings industry is through its various publications, including the trade publication Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, the magazine CoatingsTech, and the newsletter Coatings Today.

Journal of Coatings Technology and Research
The Journal of Coatings Technology and Research (also known as JCTR) features peer-reviewed original research papers and technical reviews by top academics and paint and coatings experts. Published both in print and electronic formats in partnership with Springer Science+Business Media LLC and the Oil and Colour Chemists' Association, it is distributed six times per year and has been published as its own free-standing publication since _________. Before its current form, JCTR was combined with the magazine CoatingsTech and was variously called the Journal of Coatings Technology and, before that, the Journal of Paint Technology.

CoatingsTech
The monthly magazine CoatingsTech is the main membership publication of the ACA. It highlights emerging technology, new materials, business information, activities, and legislative and regulatory proceedings related to the paint and coatings industry.

Coatings Today
The twice-monthly e-mail newsletter Coatings Today provides ACA members with current business news, information on association activities, and regulatory issues impacting the industry. Several articles each month are written by ACA staff in various departments who are experts in their fields.

Paint & Coatings Cybrary
The Paint & Coatings Cybrary is a search engine that gives association members access to information such as material safety data sheets, technical data sheets, and starting point formulations, as well as the ability to communicate online with multiple raw material suppliers. In addition, members can do full text searches for articles both in current ACA publications and earlier publications, such as The Journal of Coatings Technology.