Just Imagine

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Just imagine that you are a Vice President-General Manager of a paper mill, a lumber mill and other related operations and are asked: "Is it okay if we bring 110 college students plus 30 adults to tour your paper mill on a federal holiday?"And, oh yes, would you also agree to feed them lunch and would you mind sitting on a mill manager's round table on a Saturday at TAPPI's 13th annual Student Summit?"

How would you have answered the question? If you were Bruce Hoffman, Vice President and General Manager KapStone Charleston Kraft, LLC, you would have said "yes."

On Monday January 18, 2010, TAPPI's 13th annual Student Summit finished up with a tour of KapStone's Charleston, SC, paper mill.

As busy as they are, the following KapStone employees took time out of their schedules to accommodate around 130 of our group from TAPPI's Student Summit:

• Bruce Hoffman -- Vice President & General Manager
• Tim Keneally -- President, KapStone Kraft Paper Corporation
• Ann Elish -- Operations Manager
• Larry Cobb -- Public Affairs & Communications Manager
• Sherry Dixon -- Health & Safety Manager
• Courtney Smyth -- Communications Coordinator
• Donna Hansen & crew -- Utility/Labor/Cartage Supervisor
• Drivers -- David Himmel, Gene Barnett, Craig Todd, Johnny Hardee, Alice Mueller, Greg Ackerman, Ardith Rossignol, Taylor Yarboro, Mickey Butler
• Guides -- Joe Kovarik, Tim Covell, Steve Baughman, Kathleen Pizarro, Curt Ledbetter, Duane Mummert, Greg Burns, Jim Koches, Louis Manigault
• Stations -- Richard Gnegy, Andrew Mohr, Phil Ramsey, Bill Helwig, Gary Smiley, Dan Toeppner, Wes Kosin, Andres Navia, Albert Newton
• Security Personnel

On behalf of all of the attendees and TAPPI, I wanted to thank all of you for your hospitality during our visit. Your willingness to help guide the future of our industry is appreciated.

KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation was formed in 2005 to effect a business combination with a suitable operating business in the paper, packaging, forest products and related industries. On June 23, 2006, KapStone Paper, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, KapStone Kraft Paper Corporation, agreed to purchase the Kraft Papers business from International Paper Company. The unbleached Kraft paper mill acquired is located in Roanoke Rapids, NC. On July 1, 2008, KapStone purchased the Charleston Kraft Business from MeadWestvaco, which consists of a paper mill in North Charleston, SC; an on-site cogeneration facility; a lumber mill in Summerville, SC; and five chip mills. This acquisition added two paper grades to its portfolio, saturating Kraft (DuraSorb®) and Kraftpak®.

KapStone Paper offers a wide variety of grades that provide best-in-class uniformity, strength and specialized performance characteristics. They are a world leader in production of Saturating Kraft utilized by the decorative laminate industry.

For more information on KapStone, please go to www.kapstonepaper.com.

For more information on TAPPI, please go to www.tappi.org.

There are two types of people in our industry; TAPPI members and those who should be.

Until next time -- Larry