IMPACT Interview: Tony Revier, Uyemura

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

One of the best parts of IMPACT for me is meeting and getting to know people in our industry that I haven’t met before. While hors d’oeuvres were coming around before the Tuesday evening awards dinner, I found a quiet corner to talk with Uyemura USA President and CEO Tony Revier.

Patty Goldman: We’re nearing the end of the first day at IMPACT, and I want to get your impression of today, Tony.

Revier: I think it’s been terrific. This is my third event. I didn’t get to come last year; I had some other customer issues, but of the three I’ve come to, this is by far the best. This is really a great meeting, and I’ve met a lot of folks. Last night was great, listening and talking with congressman Bill Johnson from Ohio.

Goldman: Yes, he’s the best, one of our industry’s champions.

Revier: I’ve been coming to the Hill for about 20 years, not just with IPC, but also on the metal finishing industry, with the National Association for Surface Finishing (NASF). We do a legislative day once a year too. In all the years that I’ve come, it’s nice now that people here are talking about manufacturing.

Goldman: Do you feel that is new this year?

Revier: Well, it’s been coming, but now of course they’re embracing it big time. We saw that certainly with having a chance to meet with Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA. He’s somebody we can talk to now.

Goldman: He’s asking you for feedback, right? That must be new.

Revier: Absolutely. Before that, I can tell you, we’re in a specialty chemical industry, so we know those guys quite well. When you talked about chemicals with those people in the past, they were not on the favorable side of things. You can see from Scott’s point of view, he’s very open to working with manufacturing, with industry, and really understanding what it is that we’re trying to do and accomplish. One of those things that are holding us back is regulation and over-regulation. The problem is that so many of the people out there, regulators, media, etc., have no clue what we do and that we know how to handle the chemicals we use.

To read the full version of this interview which appeared in the July 2017 issue of The PCB Magazine, click here.