Forest Products Leadership Alliance
to Promote Professional Development:

Building the Management and Leadership Skills for the Industry

ATLANTA, GA.--November 22, 2004—Several key paper industry organizations have banded together to announce the creation of the Forest Products Leadership Alliance (FPLA).   The purpose of this new alliance is to take a leadership role in providing professional development options for our industry in the areas of management and leadership skills. 

CPBIS, the Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies, PIMA, the Paper Industry Management Association, NPTA Alliance, the National Paper Trade Association, and PPERA, The Pulp and Paper Education and Research Alliance have created this new Leadership Alliance to provide management and leadership oriented education and training for everyone throughout the forest products supply chain from the stump to the shelf. 

Harry Cullinan, PPERA president noted, “this is a new way to look at our industry by providing a new partnership that will serve a key management and leadership skills development role for the forest products industry”.  “Harnessing the great resources of all of these organizations will benefit the industry in new ways,” said PIMA president, Ralph Feck.  “Many companies have membership in multiple groups. This is a strategy to improve service to all,” added NPTA Alliance president, Bill Frohlich.

The FPLA is intended to build across time on existing systems and relationships  shared among CPBIS, PIMA, NPTA and a number of other key industry organizations, such as Oregon State University and North Carolina State University.  Jim McNutt, CPBIS executive director added that “this new Leadership Alliance will build on each organization’s strengths to create synergies aimed at developing and delivering management, leadership, and other ‘soft skills’ education and training that is required by our forest products industry to remain competitive in today’s global economy”.   

The Forest Products Leadership Alliance -- FPLA --will create curriculum and certificate programs to provide our members the skills that they will need to meet the leadership and management skills needs of the industry for the 21st century. 

About CPBIS: The Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies (CPBIS) is a globally recognized and industry-valued academic center, creating knowledge and tools that support paper industry decision-makers and producing interdisciplinary graduates who contribute to the long-term success of the paper industry. CPBIS is cosponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and the paper industry via formal relationships with numerous companies and key industry organizations such as the Paper Industry Management Association (PIMA), the Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI), the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC), and the National Paper Trade Association (NPTA) and others.

About NPTA: The NPTA Alliance, founded in 1903, service the interests of the paper, packaging and supplies distribution channel through the US, Canada and a dozen foreign countries.  NPTA members benefit from tracking of industry trends, benchmarks, education, communication programs and networking.

About PIMA: The Paper Industry Management Association (PIMA) is the premier association for management professionals in the paper and pulp industry. Our purpose is to contribute to the strength of the international pulp and paper community by providing the means for our members to address relevant industry issues and to develop their management and leadership skills.

About PPERA: The Pulp and Paper Education and Research Alliance (PPERA) is an alliance of universities with programs which are individually distinctive but which are similar in being committed to the advancement of the North American pulp, paper and allied industries.