The Emerging Leadership Council (ELC) of the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) had a busy year, including the work being done by the ELC’s recruitment and leadership development committee.
The committee organized several events, including a speaker series in 2022, that is expected to continue this year. The series officially began in 2021. Speakers for 2022 included:
• Andrew Wheeler, president of Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corporation;
• Dr. Maut Daum, director and professor for the school of packaging at Michigan State University; and
• Ken Swanson, president and CEO of Liquibox, who gave a presentation in July. Liquibox was acquired by Sealed Air Corporation in November.
This year’s speakers shared insights into their career journeys and answered questions from the audience. The speakers painted vivid pictures of the challenges and victories they experienced, how they work with and motivate people, and the need to explore uncertainty or take risks.
Because of the rich content shared by leaders in the forum, the speaker series audience is expanding to include all FPA members and guests in 2023. Interested participants should look for program details from FPA via email and social media.
The recruitment and leadership development committee includes members from the FPA community, including myself and the following other ELC members:
• Committee Chair Apurva Shah, director of strategic partnerships, Charter Next Generation;
• Committee Vice Chair Abbey Phillips, technical product manager, American Packaging Corporation;
• Ryan Jones, director of sales–central region flexible packaging CUSA, Siegwerk;
• Justin Kimmel, senior sales account manager, MacDermid Graphics Solutions;
• Amy Presher, sales manager, Profol;
• Todd Riley, director of regional operations, PPC Flexible Packaging; and
• Brandt Schottland, project coordinator, American Packaging Corporation.
This committee initiated multiple events for the networking of future leaders to drive issues and opportunities that have a long-term impact on the advancement of the U.S. flexible packaging industry.
Stacey Isonhood is director of project management and IT technical support at Printpack. She is also a member of the ELC’s recruitment and leadership development committee.