PCA Separates Chairman and CEO Roles, Names Kowlzan CEO

Print this article | Send to Colleague

Packaging Corp. of America (PCA), Lake Forest, Ill., USA, reports that effective today (July 1), it is separating the roles of chairman of the board and CEO into two positions. Paul T. Stecko, who remains as chairman and an executive officer of the company, relinquishes his role as CEO to Mark W. Kowlzan, who has also been named to the company's board of directors.

As executive chairman, Stecko will focus primarily on major strategic issues and initiatives as well as other important board and shareholder matters. In this regard, he has entered into a new employment agreement with the company which includes financial incentives requiring that he remain with the company until June 30, 2013, to achieve.

Prior to being named CEO, Kowlzan served PCA for the past 10 years as senior VP-Containerboard with responsibility for the company's containerboard mill operations. He joined PCA in 1996 and has more than 25 years of experience in the paper and forest products industry, serving in a wide variety of technical, manufacturing, and leadership positions. PCA is the fifth largest producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the U.S. with sales of $2.15 billion in 2009. It operates four paper mills and 68 corrugated product plants in 26 states across the country.