The Rubber Initiative – Next-Generation Executive Leadership

Akron, OH – The Rubber Division, ACS announces a new leadership course will take place at GPS: The Rubber Initiative® – Next-Generation Executive Leadership. The course will be held on Wednesday, September 30; 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Breakfast pastries, coffee, tea and lunch included.

The rubber industry promotes its best technical people into management and rarely prepares them for the shift. This full-day workshop closes that gap. Two operators who have run businesses in the industry teach it; every framework tested under real pressure. You work on your own business alongside industry peers and leave with four practical templates and a 90-day action plan you can use on Monday.

The day, in four working sessions:
Formulating a Sustainable Business: turn supply, regulatory and customer pressure into competitive advantage.
Next-Generation Leadership: make the shifts from technical expert to leader, including how to lead with AI in the room.
Leading Innovation & R&D: back the winners, cut the projects draining your lab, and speed commercialization.
Strategy into Rhythm: choose where you will win, then build the weekly rhythm that delivers it.

You leave with four practical templates populated with your own numbers, a 90-day action plan, and a peer group of industry leaders facing the same shift.

Who it’s for:
Executives and senior managers in rubber and polymer manufacturing, compounding and testing
General managers, technical directors, R&D and operations leaders, and future leaders in succession
Whether you are stepping into your first executive role or sharpening decades of experience.

Instructors: Operators who understand the industry from inside – Michael Clayton (Executive Chair, IRCO) and Dr Matthew Thornton (Secretary-General, IRCO), co-founders of The Rubber Initiative®.

Learn more at https://gps2026.events.rubber.org/events/scheduleOfEvents2