Sapa Profile Academy in the US

The first Sapa Profile Academy in the US was held in Portland, OR. Over the course of four days, a total of 34 customers participated in 15 professional presentations, plant tours of the Cressona and Mountain Top facilities, conducted a student workshop, and socialized with Sapa employees during two evening events. The goal of the Profile Academy was to create an educational environment in which the properties and diverseness of aluminum were  realized, giving the customer a competitive advantage in their fields.

Throughout the event customer interaction was vast and as a result of the Academy four customer development projects were created. At the conclusion of the event evaluations were completed by the attendees and they were consistently positive, with over 90% of those stating that they would refer the Academy to a colleague. One participant stated:

“I thought everything was done first class. Overall it was a great experience. Thanks to all!”

We would like to thank all of those individuals who took time out of their busy schedules to be a part of the Academy, particularly the Profile Academy team (Joe Lindekugel, Susan DeFalco, Dennis Menzies, Stacey Kaspar, and Alex Cole), all of the presenters, specifically Östen Johansson from Sapa in Sweden, the Sapa sales team who participated along with their customers, and everyone at Sapa Extrusions in Cressona for being a wonderful host.

We are looking forward to continuing this event, building stronger relationships with our customers and teaching participants the benefits of including aluminum in future designs. The next US Profile Academy will take place in April 2010 in Portland, OR.