Sam Cottrill

Amid mounting concerns of the law's impact on the global supply chain, the European Commission has proposed delaying the implementation of EUDR by 12 months.

The new regulation is a "gargantuan task" for the complex natural rubber supply chain, according to industry experts. Just how will this game-changing legislation affect the NR industry?

Natural rubber is one of the world's most critical natural resources with more than 50,000 different products dependent on the commodity. It also is the most fragile.

Tina Darnell, sales director at Chardon Custom Polymers, is on track to chair the ACS Rubber Division in 2028, and she'll be only the third woman to hold this position. Here, she answers some questions from a recent WORD Conversation from the division.

Sussex IM President and CEO Megan Tzanoukakis spoke at last year's Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum, where she broke down six ways to earn the respect and trust of your colleagues.

Growing up helping her parents run a family grain and cattle farm, Jennifer Braaten learned early in life how rewarding hard work can be as well as how to be courageous and mentally tough.

"It was a lot of fun to grow up that way, and it taught me good work ethic," she said.

Braaten demonstrates this work ethic every day as manager of customer service and logistics at Cancarb Ltd. in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Customer service and logistics is the "center pivoting point" of the company, she said, comparing the work she does to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. "Everything kind of crosses through customer service to get our goods delivered."

Braaten has worked at Cancarb for 15 years. Within this career, she considers her greatest accomplishment so far to be her role in developing a partnership between the trucking company Paul Brandt Trucking and a local food bank that was struggling to pay shipping costs for food and supplies.

"We've supplied them with over 15,000 pounds of additional food in the last five months that they would have had to pay (shipping) for out of their budget," Braaten said.

With 26 years in the rubber industry, Tina Darnell has been involved in aerospace, custom mixing, tires and automotive, with roles ranging from working as a chemist in manufacturing to R&D, processing and sales.

Today, Darnell is the sales director at Chardon Custom Polymers in Chardon, Ohio, where she has worked for the past two years.

Throughout her career, Darnell also has dedicated her time to countless local rubber groups, including the ACS Rubber Division and its committees. She currently serves as secretary of the division and is on track for chair succession in 2028.

When she's not working or volunteering her time to the rubber industry, Darnell gives back to her community.

She has maintained a friendship of over 20 years from when she served as a Big Sister through the Big Brother Big Sister program, volunteers for her local Veterans of Foreign War and American Legion posts and serves on the board of the American Legion Auxiliary.

"My husband and father are both veterans, and we have extended family that are active military," Darnell said. "It is important to me and my family that veterans are recognized for their sacrifices and have access to resources that they earned while serving."

As founder and president of Simko North America L.L.C. of Colorado Springs, Whitney Luckett is described as a "transformative force" in the rubber supply chain for her work bridging North American companies with suppliers from around the globe.

Luckett has kept her fingers on the pulse of the rubber supply chain for over three decades after transitioning to the industry from Cargill in 1988. She founded her first woman-led business in 2013 before starting Simko in 2017—which now boasts $60 million annually in raw materials for tire manufacturers and auto makers.

Growing Simko into the business it is today, she said, is one of her greatest accomplishments in her career. But if you ask her what she's most proud of, it's the works she's done to support other women, professionally and personally, and giving back to her community.

As a member of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Luckett serves as a Colorado forum leader for WBEC-West, where she supports and mentors women in business.

In the community, Luckett's impact involves inviting music lovers to her home for the past 20 years with a Friend's House Concerts series, supporting women experiencing domestic violence by volunteering with TESSA of Colorado Springs, and providing a safe home for Ukrainian refugees—with whom she also started the non-profit Ukraine Power, which brings humanitarian aid to war-torn regions of Ukraine.

Some of the top innovators and contributors across the rubber industry received due recognition last month during the ACS Rubber Division's Spring Technical Meeting.

Zeon Chemicals L.P. ensures its employees are valued, supported and return home safely every day. It's this foundation of mutual 'RESPECT'—based off the company's core values—that makes Zeon one of Rubber News' Best Places to Work.

Uth GmbH is making its mark in the U.S. with the launch of its subsidiary Uth North America Inc. in Charlotte, N.C.

When it comes to the development of nonpneumatic tires, Kumho believes in starting small. Micro, even. That's why the South Korean tire maker is targeting micro-mobility in for the commercialization of NPT.

Following a four-year statutory review, President Biden is raising tariffs on Chinese imports on a wide range of markets to "protect American workers and American companies from China's unfair trade practices."

Guayule and TKS dandelion currently are the two most promising natural rubber alternatives to hevea. These potential crops, however, face several challenges before they reach commercial viability.