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February 10, 2021
Press Release

AF&PA Elects Michael Doss as New Board Chair, Announces Officers at Winter Board of Directors Meeting

CONTACT: Tim Ebner

(202) 463-2436, comm@afandpa.org

WASHINGTON — The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today announced the election of Graphic Packaging International, LLC, President and CEO Michael Doss as the new AF&PA Board Chair and released its 2021 slate of AF&PA Board Officers. Paper and wood product industry leaders participated in the association's Winter Board of Directors Meeting, which took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we continue to navigate challenges during the pandemic, we can clearly see the essential role the U.S. paper and wood products industry has played to manufacture items of critical need,” Doss said. “Our industry produces essential and sustainable goods, such as paperboard and containerboard, as well as tissue products and paper bags. We also cannot forget about the work across the value chain - from sustainable forest management to safe, responsible manufacturing practices and innovations that allow our industry to use more recovered fiber. I’m excited to be part of an industry that exemplifies the circular economy, American jobs and a brighter future.”

AF&PA President and CEO Heidi Brock said, “The paper and wood products industry has been strengthened by its focus on safety, adaptability, resolve and hard work during this pandemic. Our industry has remained essential because our people making sustainable products are essential. That commitment to sustainability guides our business practices.

As we prepare to soon release 2030 sustainability goals, the progress we have made as part of our Better Practices Better Planet 2020 initiative will continue this year and in the decade ahead. I look forward to working alongside Michael Doss and AF&PA’s Board Officers.”

Additional elected officers include: Christian Fischer, President and CEO, Georgia-Pacific LLC (First Vice Chair); Brian McPheely, Global CEO, Pratt Industries, Inc. (Second Vice Chair); and Mark Sutton Chairman and CEO, International Paper will serve as Immediate Past Chair.

The AF&PA Board of Directors consists of top industry leaders who represent a broad spectrum of companies in the paper and wood products manufacturing sector.

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance public policies that foster economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for a vital sector that makes the essential paper and packaging products Americans use every day. The U.S. forest products industry employs more than 925,000 people, largely in rural America, and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 44 states. Our industry accounts for approximately 4.7% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufacturing more than $435 billion in products annually. AF&PA member companies are significant producers and users of renewable biomass energy and are committed to making sustainable products for a sustainable future through the industry’s decades-long initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2030.