Sappi Fine Paper North America Announces New Leadership at its Cloquet and Somerset Mills

BOSTON, Jan. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Sappi Fine Paper North America announced that Rick Dwyer and Mike Haws have been appointed as the new managing directors of the Cloquet Mill in Cloquet, Minn. and Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, Maine, respectively. As managing directors, each will be responsible for overseeing the safety performance, productivity and cost management of the integrated pulp and coated fine paper mills. Sappi also announced the appointment of Mike Schultz as managing director of the upcoming $170M capital project to convert Cloquet's pulp mill from hardwood kraft pulp to produce chemical cellulose, the largest capital investment in Cloquet since the 1990's.

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"We are very excited to announce the appointments of Rick Dwyer and Mike Haws as managing directors of our Cloquet and Somerset Mills and Mike Schultz as managing director of the pulp mill conversion," said John Donahue, vice president of manufacturing, Sappi Fine Paper North America. "Dwyer, Haws and Schultz bring an expertise and leadership that is critical to operating our world-class coated fine paper and pulp mills safely and sustainably. Managing a large-scale manufacturing site like Cloquet and Somerset is no easy task. I am confident our mills, under their direction, will maintain the highest standard of performance," added Donahue. 

Rick Dwyer brings over 34 years of paper industry experience to his new role as managing director of the Cloquet Mill. At Sappi, he has consistently demonstrated his manufacturing leadership. With Dwyer's focus on customers, in his new position at Cloquet, he will continue to support the mill on quality and operating improvements. Most recently, he played an important role in the work leading to the Sappi Limited Board's approval of the Cloquet Mill's upcoming capital project on chemical cellulose. Prior to this project, he served as managing director of the Muskegon Mill. Before joining Sappi, Dwyer held positions at International Paper and Fox River Paper.

For the upcoming conversion of Cloquet's pulp mill to chemical cellulose, Dwyer will work closely with Mike Schultz, the newly appointed managing director of this highly strategic project. With over 20 years of experience at the Cloquet Mill, including his previous roles as managing director and pulp production manager, Schultz brings extensive experience in pulping and project leadership to this initiative.

Mike Haws joins Sappi Fine Paper North America as managing director of the Somerset Mill with over 26 years of experience in the paper industry. Previously, he served as vice president of operations at Verso Paper's Bucksport Mill during which the mill notably improved its safety and paper machine performance. His experience includes serving as manager of operational services at International Paper's Jay Mill and holding manufacturing roles with Champion International and St. Regis Paper. 

Haws' predecessor, Fred Oettinger, will be retiring from Sappi at the end of this month after an impressive 36-year career in the paper industry of which he spent the past five years running the Somerset pulp and paper mill. Under Oettinger's leadership, the Somerset Mill increased paper machine operational machine efficiency and successfully rebuilt the wet end of Paper Machine Number 1. He was also responsible for significantly reducing the mill's dependence on oil and rebuilding the recovery boiler, which resulted in significant energy and pulp production improvements.

About Sappi Fine Paper North America
Sappi Fine Paper North America, known for innovation and quality, is a preeminent North American producer of coated fine and release papers and market pulp headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its coated fine papers, with highly recognized brand names such as McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are used in premium magazines, catalogs, books and high-end print advertising. The company is also the world's leading supplier of release papers for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries, including the globally recognized Ultracast brand. Sappi's release papers provide the surface aesthetics for synthetic fabrics used in footwear, clothing, upholstery and accessories, as well as the textures for decorative laminates found in kitchens, baths, flooring and other decorative surfaces. An integrated pulp and paper producer, with state-of-the-art pulp mills, Sappi is the third largest seller of hardwood pulp in North America.

Sappi Fine Paper North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited, a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with manufacturing operations on four continents in eight countries, sales offices in 35 countries, and customers in over 100 countries around the world. For more information, visit: www.sappi.com/na.

For further information:
Amy Olson
Corporate Communications Manager
Sappi Fine Paper North America
Tel 617.423.5409
Fax 617.368.6580
[email protected] 

SOURCE Sappi Fine Paper North America

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