Domtar’s Kathy Collins capitalizes on 25 years of industry experience as she guides the company’s Rothschild Mill in her home state of Wisconsin, USA. There she leads 400 men and women manufacturing about 136,000 tons of printing papers each year, amid all the challenges that papermakers face.

She has tackled them head-on, at a local and national level. The team at the Rothschild Mill recently completed a continuous improvement project that saved the mill more than $1 million in 2015 by reducing cull losses and operational downtime,

"We are very proud of the results our Paper Unit has achieved," Collins said. "The power in continuous improvement, is really about engaging the people closest to the work, getting their ideas on how to make improvements, and giving them the opportunity to make the process run better."

Additionally, she represented Domtar and the broader paper industry in January, testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The hearing focused on the U.S. Postal Service, whose future is important to the paper industry.

"The forest products industry accounts for approximately 4.5% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufactures approximately $200 billion in products annually, and employs nearly 900,000 men and women," she said. "The industry meets a payroll of approximately $50 billion annually and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 47 states. We are an integral part of the fabric and economies of the communities in which we operate, many of which are in rural areas where similar job and economic opportunities do not exist."

She noted that one-third, or $6 billion, of the communications papers manufactured by the industry are delivered through the postal service, and she urged senators to seek solutions to ensure the Postal Service’s long-term viability.

For these and other significant achievements, Kathy Collins has been recognized by TAPPI’s Women’s Leadership Committee as an influential woman within the pulp and paper industry.