TAPPI member Pamela Cowan is proud of her family’s deep roots and rich history in the pulp and paper industry. A third-generation entrepreneur, she has worked in her family’s P&P businesses since the 1980s, with a brief gap in the early 2000s to help run her own telecommunications startup.

Her grandfather, Elijah Cowan, founded E&B Cowan, a consulting firm that constructed many of the North American mills around today. He also invented the once popular Cowan Screen. Like father like son, Pamela’s dad, Wavell Cowan, graduated with a Ph.D. from the Institute of Paper Chemistry and went on to found his own company, Pulmac. He later invented the ZSpan and MasterScreen. Her brother Joff also contributed to the industry’s advancement through the conversion of the Shive Analyzer into the MasterScreen, increasing is functionality to screening stickies.

While she has focused primarily on the financial end of the business , serving as CFO, Pamela was recently also named chief marketing officer. With that change came the need to better understand the industry above and beyond its use of Pulmac equipment. "In sales, my need to connect with the industry was far greater than was previously necessary, and TAPPI has been a great way to do that through conferences, publications (business intelligence), and access to courses," she said. 

Since joining, Pamela now chairs the PIMA Women in Industry Committee. "I’ve always had an interest in women’s issues," she noted. "It can be intimidating to be a woman in a male-dominated field. This committee is here to make women aware that they are not alone, that there is a venue to discuss with other women the unique issues they face.  We provide tools and information through mentoring, webinars, or discussion groups encouraging women to succeed in their careers."

 

Find out more about Pamela by reading this month’s Member Spotlight. Spotlight participants are recommended by fellow members and staff. If you would like to nominate a member, just email us his or her name (or names). We will forward a Spotlight Questionnaire to fill out and return.  

 

We look forward to seeing you in the Spotlight