Francis Brady, Not No - But How!

Fran Brady has been involved in the Adhesive Industry for over 35 years. Fran started his career at National Starch & Chemical as a chemist where he was responsible for developing hot melt adhesives for use in packaging and bookbinding applications.

In 1992, Fran was expatriated to National's European Development lab near London England where he spent 5 years as its Technical Product Development Manager. Over his 15 years in the lab, Fran has been granted 6 US and worldwide patents – all in the area of hot melt adhesives. After his European assignment, Fran returned to the Bridgewater headquarters as Director of Purchasing for National's Adhesive business. With its acquisition by Henkel, Fran was given the responsibility of managing Henkel's Global Hot Melt Tackifier Spend. By October 2009, Fran had been given greater responsibility and was directly responsible for Henkel's global Hot Melt raw material spend and strategy - with a corresponding value of over $900,000,000. In 2016, Fran was responsible for the Raw Material integration program for Henkel as part of their acquisition of the Sun Chemical Company (the makers of Snuggle and Wisk).

During all this time, Fran was also the Purchasing Key Account manager for the Industrial Adhesive Business based in Bridgewater NJ. Here he supported the AI Business Leadership Team providing commercial support and advice to the North American business. He also has extensive experience in Market Analysis and research - anticipating future feedstock and petrochemical trends and their impact on the Adhesive market.

After retiring from Henkel after 37 years, Fran is working part time as an independent consultant, providing insights and guidance on the Adhesives market. Fran is currently the volunteer Chairman of the Town of Madison's Conservation Commission and the BYO (Bring Your Own Bag) Madison organization. He is also a member of the town's Sustainable CT Task Force. Fran is a graduate of Boston College with a BS in Chemistry.