Jerry Phillips entered the metal finishing industry in 1985 and has designed, fabricated and installed industrial equipment and supplies for electroplating and wastewater treatment systems since entering this industry. He founded Finishing Concepts, Inc. as a supplier to the metal finishing industry in 1999 and is President of the corporation.
He has a Bachelors of Science Degree from Purdue University in Indianapolis. He has earned degrees in Mechanical Engineering Technology and Organizational Leadership and Supervision. His professional certifications include Second Level Certified Electro Finisher (CEF-2) from the AESF Foundation after successfully completing the C.E.F. Intensive Training and Wastewater Treatment Courses. Additionally Jerry is holds a Class B (industrial) and Class II (municipal) Wastewater Operator License in the State of Indiana.
Other present and past activities include former Executive Director of the Indiana Industrial Operators Association, Inc. (IIOA), President and Director of Indianapolis Branch of AESF, National AESF Committee Chair of Branch Services, member of the Pollution Prevention Committee and Founder and Chairman of “Pollution Prevention for Electroplating” Annual Conference at Purdue University (1990 – 2003).
Jerry has been a member of NASF National (previously AESF) since 1985 and served on the National Nominating Committee as well as the National Strategic Goals Program Board of Directors. He has been active in the IIOA since 1995 and sat on the Board of Directors (1997 – 2008) and organized IIOA’s children’s tee shirt decorating activity at the Earth Day Indiana Festival (2002 – present). He also served as the IIOA liaison to the Indiana Water Environment Association (IWEA) and as Industrial Waste Co-Chair and on the Board of Directors for IWEA (2000 – 2003). Additionally, he served on IDEM’s Strategic Goals Program Committee as a representative for AESF and IIOA (1999 – 2003). During SUR/FIN 2010 he served as Session Chair for the Environmental & Safety Sesion #5.
Other professional activities and awards include serving on the Metal Finishing Pollution Prevention Steering Committee for Indiana Clean Manufacturing and Safe Materials Institute (CMTI) (1996 – 1999) and received the Friend of the Institute Award from the Institute (CMTI) in 2000. He was the Founder and Events Director for Tri-Tech Technical Conference (1996) and presented with the Leadership Award (1997) and Corporate Sponsorship Award (2004) by IIOA for his volunteer efforts. His memberships include Community Advisory Group for ThermoSet Corporation (1999 – 2006), National Board of Directors for Strategic Goals Program for Metal Finishers (1999 to 2002), Chemical Coaters Association Inc. (CCAI) (1997-present), American Society of Association Executives, Inc. (ASAE) (1998 – 2000), and the Indiana Society of Association Executives, Inc. (ISAE) (2000 – 2004).
Recent civic activities are Board President of Hemophilia of Indiana (2007), Assistant Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 200 (2005 – 2008) and Dad’s Club President of the John Strange Elementary School PTO (2005 – 2008). Presently Jerry serves as an assistant Scoutmaster and Treasurer for Boy Scout Troop 133 which has 65 Scout members (2009 – present).
Twenty-five (25) years of experience has provided him an opportunity to design and fabricate multiple industrial processing lines and facility upgrades. His underlying interest has always been to create efficient facilities that can maintain low operating cost while meeting production requirements.
A recent major project was to design and oversee installation of an 80,000 square foot facility to buff, plate and powder coat door hardware. This 3-1/2 year project was designed from the ground up including a new building to meet the production equipment requirements in a LEAN manufacturing environment and involved nearly twenty million dollars of equipment.
Additional projects related to energy conservation have included analysis of process exhaust systems and replacement of oversized equipment, custom control systems for exhaust and air make-up systems and custom heating controls for immersion process equipment.