Cloquet, Minn. Mill Director with extensive safety record, commitment to sustainability tasked to lead North American operations
BOSTON, Sept. 3, 2019 -- Sappi North America, Inc., a leading producer and supplier of diversified paper, packaging products and dissolving pulp, today announced the promotion of Michael "Mike" Schultz to Vice President of Manufacturing for Sappi North America, effective Sept. 1, 2019. Schultz is currently the Managing Director of Sappi's Cloquet, Minnesota mill. This announcement follows the appointment of Mike Haws, current Vice President of Manufacturing, as incoming President and CEO for Sappi North America starting this October.
"Mike Schultz was a natural choice to step up and lead Sappi's manufacturing division here in North America," said Haws. "Throughout his tenure at the Cloquet mill, Mike has been the driving force behind highly successful sustainability, environmental and employee safety initiatives. I know that Mike's experience and proven track record will ensure a thriving future for the Sappi North America manufacturing organization."
Schultz joined Sappi in 1990 and spent the next 30 years of his career driving numerous successes for the Cloquet mill. Following Sappi's acquisition of the mill in 2002, he became the Pulp Production Manager and was then appointed to Managing Director of the mill in 2007. During his experience at the Cloquet Mill, Schultz was instrumental in leading the pulp mill conversion project from 2011-2013, as well as implementing numerous safety initiatives which allowed the mill to surpass over one million hours without a lost time injury, five times. In addition to his work at Sappi, Schultz has served as President of Minnesota Forest Industries, and has been a two-time finalist for PPI's Mill Manager of the Year Award.
In his new role, Mike Schultz will oversee manufacturing operations at the company's four North American mills, Allentown sheeting facility and Westbrook Technology Center. He holds a Bachelor of Paper Science and Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.
Sappi is currently in the process of appointing a permanent replacement for Schultz. In the interim, Tom Radovich, Paper Business Manager for Sappi North America, will assume responsibilities of Managing Director of the Cloquet mill.
About Sappi North America, Inc.
Maintaining its position as a leader in diversified wood fiber products, Sappi North America is focused on achieving the goals set in the Sappi Group's 2020Vision. Sappi North America employs over 2,000 individuals at its three mills, sheeting facility, Technology Center, and supporting offices across the U.S. Altogether, the sites produce 1.35 million metric tons of paper, and over 800,000 metric tons of kraft and dissolving pulp (DP) annually.
Sappi North America, Inc., headquartered in Boston, is a market leader in converting wood fiber into superior products that customers demand worldwide. The success of our four diversified businesses – high-quality Coated Graphic Papers, Dissolving Pulp, Packaging and Specialty Papers and Casting and Release Papers – is driven by strong customer relationships, best-in-class people and advantaged assets, products and services. Our high-quality Coated Graphic Papers, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset, and Flo, are the key platform for premium magazines, catalogs, books, direct mail and high-end print advertising. We are a leading manufacturer of Dissolving Pulp with Verve, which is used in a wide range of products, including textile fibers and household goods. We deliver sustainable Packaging and Specialty Papers for luxury packaging and folding carton applications with our single-ply packaging brands, Spectro and Proto, and for the food and label industries with our specialty papers, LusterPrint and LusterCote. We are also one of the world's leading suppliers of Casting and Release Papers with our Ultracast, PolyEX, Classics and Neoterix lines for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries. Customers rely on Sappi for high technical, operational and market expertise; products and services delivered with consistently high quality and reliability; and, state-of-the-art and cost-competitive assets and innovative spirit.
Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 12,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 150 countries.
