Crowell and Sullivan Inducted Into Corridor of Fame » BedTimes Journal

Michael Crowell and Helen Sullivan had been inducted into the Versatile Polyurethane Foam Corridor of Fame on the spring Polyurethane Foam Affiliation assembly, Could 20-22, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Crowell and Sullivan had been honored for his or her work with the CertiPUR-US foam certification program, which has remodeled the versatile polyurethane foam, bedding and furnishings industries and considerably contributed to safer and extra sustainable properties throughout America, in response to a information launch.

Sullivan is the primary girl inducted into the corridor of fame, marking a historic milestone for the trade.

“There isn’t a doubt that Sullivan and Crowell’s management of the now extremely acknowledged and revered CertiPUR-US program has had a optimistic and lasting influence on the polyurethane foam trade globally,” mentioned Russ Batson, government director of the PFA, which organizes the corridor of fame. 

Crowell served because the CertiPUR-US program’s government director for the previous 10 years. His dedication to sustaining this system’s rigorous requirements as a dynamic doc, repeatedly up to date to mirror new security and environmental laws, has ensured its ongoing relevance, the discharge mentioned. He was honored with the group’s Excellent Management Award and retired as government director on the finish of 2024. 

Crowell’s profession consists of greater than 40 years of senior administration expertise within the versatile polyurethane foam trade, spanning technical, manufacturing, gross sales and advertising and marketing positions. Earlier than taking the helm on the Alliance for Versatile Polyurethane Foam, the nonprofit that administers the CertiPUR-US program, he served as vp of selling and gross sales for Versatile Foam Merchandise. He beforehand was vp of automotive gross sales for Foamex Worldwide (now generally known as FXI). 

Sullivan’s reference to polyurethanes started in 1983 as an promoting and public relations company account supervisor for the Worldwide Sleep Merchandise Affiliation’s Higher Sleep Council. Throughout her decade-long tenure, she was influential in reshaping shopper conduct, shortening the mattress substitute cycle and serving to to ascertain a marketplace for ultra-premium bedding, in response to the discharge. Her creation of the now-iconic “Could Is Higher Sleep Month” marketing campaign considerably boosted mattress gross sales and elevated the usage of polyurethane foam. This system earned Sullivan two of her three Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil awards. 

In 1995, Sullivan headed a PFA-led advertising and marketing initiative geared toward elevating consciousness of the advantages of versatile polyurethane foam. She later served as communications counsel for the PFA, the place she labored with affiliation management on complicated points similar to fireplace prevention, disaster communications and flame-retardant insurance policies.

Her most enduring contribution to the polyurethane foam trade got here by her work with the CertiPUR-US program. As model supervisor, communications strategist and steady enchancment officer, she helped develop this system from its inception right into a globally acknowledged customary for foam security and efficiency, the discharge mentioned. 

Sullivan crafted the CertiPUR-US program’s memorable tagline — “foams that really feel good and you’ll be ok with” — and developed its distinctive branding and promotional methods. She additionally performed a key position in designing the supply-chain record-keeping programs that underpin this system’s credibility. 

Greater than 100 foam producers worldwide provide licensed foam by this system to greater than 1,000 firms and types, overlaying a major share of froth used within the U.S. bedding and upholstered furnishings industries. 

The Versatile Polyurethane Foam Corridor of Fame acknowledges people and corporations who’ve considerably contributed to the expansion and betterment of the North American versatile polyurethane foam trade. Awardees are nominated by their friends and elected by the PFA awards committee.