Past Events

20th Annual Meeting of the American Flock Association

October 21, 2005, Charleston, South Carolina

The 20th Annual Business Meeting of the AMERICAN FLOCK ASSOCIATION was held on Friday October 21, 2005, at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Charleston, SC. In attendance were 52 members, non-members and guests including representatives of 20 member companies.

AFA Chairman Tom Witham, Spectro Coating Corporation, welcomed the attendees and reviewed the history of the founding of the AFA which grew out of the flock tour in 1984 organized by Joachim Mueller. After organizational meetings in early 1985, the AFA was officially formed at its first membership meeting on October 28, 1985. He told how the AFA acted over the years to promote the image of flock by exhibiting at shows, etc. and how the AFA played an important role in dealing with the health and safety issues that troubled the industry in the 1990’s. He stressed how important it is to continue to work together to promote flock in the face of an increasingly demanding world market.

• In the conference sessions, the following presentations were all well received:

  • Tom Witham, Spectro Coating, “The Challenge of Cheap, Non-performing Micro-denier polyester in the U.S. Upholstered Furniture Industry”

  • Jim Leonard, Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce, “US Government Regulatory and Trade Update”

  • NIOSH, Kay Kreiss, Vinicius Antao, Chris Piacitelli. “Respiratory Health Update”

  • Barry Ripley, American Flock Association, “Fiber-Coating Trends and Potentials in Automotive”

• Membership Meeting

  In addition to the reporting of association activity to the members, Joachim Mueller was elected as an Honorary Member of the AFA in recognition of his key role in the founding and development of the association, and Thomas Witham was re-elected Chairman for the ensuing year.