Meetings are typically held the second Tuesday, October-April.

March Meeting

The meeting on Tuesday, March 10th (11:30am-1:30pm) will be hosted by BASF-Construction Products in Shakopee, MN MAP.  The meeting will consist of lunch and a presentation by Laura Kovach of Emerald Kalama.  Cost of the lunch is $18 for NWSCT members and $20 for non-members if registration is made by/before Friday, March 6th ($20/$25 if registering later).

Agenda

10:30 am:  Board Meeting

11:30 am - 12:00 Noon:  Lunch
12:00 Noon - 12:10 pm:  Business Meeting/Executive Board Nominations
12:10 pm - 12:55 pm:  Presentation by Laura Kovach (biography below) of Emerald Kalama on new multifunctional coalescent technology (abstract below)

Registration for the meeting is through the NWSCT website:

Click Here to Register and Pay Online.
OR contact Jeff Hodges (jeffh@boehlechem.com) if you plan to attend the meeting but will not be paying via PayPal so that an accurate head count can be provided to the caterer.  We look forward to seeing you.

Abstract:
Emerald Kalama Chemical has developed a new multifunctional coalescent technology to address challenges in the industry of improving key coatings properties while reducing the VOC values of waterborne latex coating formulations.  Environmental regulatory groups continue to lower VOC limits in coatings.  Traditional low vapor pressure coalescents can lower VOC values and improve gloss values and scrub resistance.  However, there is a trade-off.  Block resistance, hardness development, and dirt pickup resistance can be challenging to achieve with these materials in low PVC formulations.  Emerald’s new low VOC  multifunctional coalescent technology increases coalescent efficiency, hardness development, dirt pickup resistance, and block resistance even over that achieved with commonly used high VOC coalescents.  Additional formula additives are also being explored for improving flash rust and corrosion performance for waterborne coating applications.

Biography:

Laura J. Kovach
Education - B.S. Chemical Engineering and MBA.
Started career in thermoplastic polyurethanes with positions in operations, technical service, and account management.  Moved to commercial roles for Dispersion PVC and then to Coatings Resins (Solvent & Waterborne) products.  Current position is Business Development with Emerald Kalama Chemical with focus on introducing new product and applications for coalescents, dibenzoate plasticizers, and chemical intermediate technologies.

Scholarship Program

We have launched a Scholarship program that will award individual scholarships to an active member of the NWSCT in good standing OR the son, daughter OR grandchild of an active member of the NWSCT in good standing.  Applications are available at monthly meetings and on our website (Scholarship Program page).  The deadline to register is May 1st.