Published 01/26/2026

Mentorship, milestones and what's new for CW

As CW brand VP Jeff Sloan departs for new horizons, editor-in-chief Scott Francis reflects on leadership, a stellar team and service to the composites industry.

Editorial

Scott Francis

Editor-In-Chief, Gardner Business Media

The wheel keeps on turning, as they say. My career at Gardner Business Media (GBM) has been filled with unexpected changes and opportunities that I never imagined when I first stepped in the door as a digital editor for CompositesWorld (CW) — I quickly found myself in a senior editor role, then as an editor-in-chief for a sister brand within the company and then returning to become editor-in-chief for CW in 2023.

Through it all I had a mentor — Jeff Sloan, former CW editor-in-chief, publisher/brand VP and most recently, VP of content for GBM. Jeff has been my boss, my teacher, my sounding board — my Yoda — for much of my time here. Even when I left my CW job to take the editorial reins at Products Finishing, Jeff and I talked openly about careers and my hope that things I learned would perhaps one day allow me to contribute to CW in new ways. Always patient, Jeff listened first and then offered a thoughtful answer that usually prompted new ideas and gave me even more to think about.

So, when Jeff told me he was pursuing new avenues outside of GBM, I was sad. But, as we all know, there are seasons for everything, and I am looking forward to the work he will accomplish in his new role with JEC. Anyone who has spent time with Jeff over the years knows that the guiding star in his career has always been serving the composites industry. So, ultimately this move will mean greater things for the community and I’m confident that his relationship with CW will continue in new ways. CW and JEC have equally had a long, collaborative relationship and I anticipate these will also continue to evolve — as they say, all ships rise with the tide.

Jeff spent more than nearly two decades leading CW and helping to grow the brand into the trusted source of information for the global composites manufacturing industry that it has become. During that time, the CW team and its industry relationships have flourished. I’ve said before that this editorial team contains the most hardworking, dedicated, creative and fastidious people that I’ve ever worked with. And, like Jeff, they are passionate serving the composites industry. Senior technical editor Ginger Gardiner knows the composites industry inside and out and does such an amazing job of helping us always ask the right questions. Technical editor Hannah Mason amazes me with her ability to tell stories that are not only well-researched and incredibly in-depth, but also full of fresh perspective, bringing readability to highly technical topics. Senior managing editor Grace Stubbins keeps an incredible amount of projects on track, and is quite possibly the most organized and productive person I know. In addition, our network has blessed us with fantastic contributing writers who bring even more insights and value to our readers.

Every day, I’m reminded of how good this team is at what they do. One of the most important jobs of any good leader is to find and mentor their successors so that the good work can continue. That’s another thing we owe to Mr. Sloan.

At the start of 2026, I find myself looking at the composites landscape and thinking about CW’s place in it and what’s next. We are certainly living in interesting times. During the past couple years, through the lens of CW, I’ve witnessed the post-COVID recovery efforts of numerous manufacturing sectors, the development of new innovations targeting next-generation aerospace programs, the evolution of new aircraft prototypes with the burgeoning urban air mobility market, innovations enabling automotive electrification, the explosion of a new era of space exploration and so much more. Where these trends will take us remains to be seen, but one thing is clear — composites are a key material solution that make emerging technologies possible and they will continue to reshape the manufacturing landscape. As we look to the new year and the years ahead, the composites industry has so many stories to tell — and CW will be here to help tell them.