A new management and sales team is taking over at Plastics Machinery Magazine to complete the integration of the magazine into Endeavor Business Media, one of the country’s largest trade publishing companies.
John DiPaola, VP and group publisher of Endeavor’s manufacturing group, is also the publisher of PMM. Endeavor’s manufacturing group, which includes PMM, consists of 10 brands and associated websites and events, including the well-known IndustryWeek.
From 2014 to early 2018, DiPaola was a VP and group publisher with Babcox Media, where he led a digital transformation for 15 of the company’s brands.
From 1988 to 2014, he was a VP and group publisher at Penton Media Inc., where he was responsible for its Manufacturing & Supply Chain Group.
DiPaola will be based in Endeavor’s new office in Independence, Ohio.
He is replacing Tony Eagan and J.A. Lewellen, who served as co-publishers. They were the principal founders of PMM. Eagan is retiring, while Lewellen is leaving the company but has not yet announced his plans.
“The PMM brand has a strong connection with the plastics industry marketplace,” DiPaola said. “We are committed to growing the brand by adding new products for advertisers and new ways for readers to receive this valuable content.”
Ben Stauss is the new associate publisher and will be responsible for advertising sales in the Southeast, South central, western Great Lakes and western U.S. regions.
Stauss was business development manager for PennWell Publishing from 2015 to 2018 and a senior market strategist with ST Media Group International from 2006 to 2015. He has more than 16 years of media sales experience.
He will work from his home office in Cincinnati.
Bill Rodman is the new regional sales manager responsible for the eastern Great Lakes, New England and mid-Atlantic regions.
Rodman was a regional sales manager for Endeavor’s New Equipment Digest and Material Handling & Logistics from 2018 to 2020. He was with Crain Communications for two years prior to that.
Rodman has extensive plastics industry experience from his time as a regional sales manager at Plastics News (1989-1993) and Plastics Technology magazine (1993-2004).
Rodman will work out of the Independence office.
Travis Hessman is the group editorial director responsible for content in all of Endeavor’s Manufacturing Group publications and websites.
Hessman has been editor-in-chief of IndustryWeek since 2018 and New Equipment Digest since 2015. He was an associate editor at IndustryWeek from 2012 to 2015.
He also will work from Endeavor’s Independence office.
The team also will be responsible for Plastics Recycling magazine and the Journal of Blow Molding.
Telephone numbers and email addresses for all four are in the staff list on the right side of this page.
In addition to PMM, the Endeavor Manufacturing Group includes IndustryWeek, EHS Today, New Equipment Digest, Material Handling & Logistics, Foundry Management & Technology, Forging and American Machinist.
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Endeavor produces 66 publications, 59 events and 77 websites with nearly 600 employees based in 19 offices around the U.S. It acquired PMM in October 2018.
Ron Shinn, editor
Ron Shinn | Editor
Editor Ron Shinn is a co-founder of Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing and has been covering the plastics industry for more than 35 years. He leads the editorial team, directs coverage and sets the editorial calendar. He also writes features, including the Talking Points column and On the Factory Floor, and covers recycling and sustainability for PMM and Plastics Recycling.
