ITA Lauds Industry Visionary and Pioneer

Industry visionary and pioneer James Paddock, who worked to establish a reliable international supply chain for the titanium industry and helped sustain and enlighten the domestic market through his support of a fledgling trade association, is the recipient of the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Titanium Association (ITA; Northglenn, CO). ITA leadership will present Paddock with the award at the TITANIUM USA 2017 conference and exhibition being held October 8-11 in Hollywood, FL.

“It’s a tremendous honor to have been chosen for this award,” Paddock said. “The titanium industry has certainly provided a challenging and rewarding career for me, and I’m honored to have worked with so many talented and dedicated people during my time in the industry. I look forward to attending the conference and honoring many of those great relationships that made this award possible for me.”

Paddock, who has spent more than 40 years in the industry, is best known for his leadership of Titanium Industries Inc. (Rockaway, NJ), a global supplier of specialty metals for the aerospace, industrial, medical and energy markets. Founded in 1972, the company operates in facilities and sales offices around the world. Paddock’s son Brett, the current president and chief executive officer of Titanium Industries, is a former president of the ITA’s board of directors.

Thomas Deming, the manager of safety, security and compliance for Titanium Industries, wrote in his nomination form that “through his innovation and foresight, Jim Paddock pioneered titanium distribution and significantly impacted the development of the overall titanium industry.”

Deming recalled that Paddock, throughout the early years of his career doing business with major producers of titanium parts, “was relentlessly focused” on quality and material traceability. “Jim believed there was a need for a global sales force to promote and educate companies on the advantages of titanium and understood that small businesses and startups could not afford the risk and cost of holding inventory while growing their businesses but also needed material quickly and economically,” Deming continued. “For these reasons, Jim implemented the concept of having multiple global facilities, inventory, and expertise in close proximity to the global customer base; a new concept to the titanium industry, which allowed these emerging markets and customers much greater access to their specific titanium product needs.”

“There are only a few people in the titanium industry that I would refer to as icons. Paddock is indeed one of them,” said Frank L. Perryman, the president and chief executive officer of Perryman Co. (Houston, PA), in his nominating letter. He credited Paddock’s stewardship with sustaining the International Titanium Association during its early years. “In the late 1980s, the then-called Titanium Development Association was on the verge of failure. Paddock saw the need for an association that focused on the use and promotion of titanium. Titanium Industries was one of the members who offered to loan the association the funds to continue through the hard period. This led to the formation of the International Titanium Association.”

Established in 1984, ITA membership now includes over 200 organizations and 1,500 individual members.

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