PPC to Host Fall Meeting & Leadership Conference in Vancouver, Featuring Smurfit Westrock North America CEO and Global Packaging Leaders

Event to Celebrate 82nd Annual Paperboard Packaging Competition and 2025 Student Design Challenge Finalists

Laurent Sellier, President & CEO of Smurfit Westrock North America, will deliver the keynote at PPC’s 2025 Fall Meeting & Leadership Conference. With more than 30 years of global experience in fiber-based packaging, Sellier brings insight on innovation, leadership, and sustainable growth.

The Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) will convene top decision-makers from across North America’s folding carton industry at its 2025 Fall Meeting & Leadership Conference, taking place November 5–7 at the JW Marriott Parq in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event will bring together converters, suppliers, and affiliated partners, offering unmatched programming, peer learning, and inspiration, all in the heart of one of Canada’s most iconic cities.

PPC is proud to recognize its headline sponsors, whose generous support makes this experience possible: Diamond Sponsor Koenig & Bauer; Sapphire Sponsors Clearwater Paper, Komori, and Metsä Board; Platinum Sponsors Bobst, RM Machinery, Sappi, and Kallima Box; Event Sponsors Billerud, Charta Global, Heidelberg, and Manroland; Registration Sponsor Graphic Packaging International (GPI); and Keynote Sponsor Smurfit Westrock.

Kicking off the event will be keynote speaker Laurent Sellier, President & CEO of Smurfit Westrock North America. With more than 30 years of global leadership in the fiber-based packaging sector, Sellier will share a powerful message on progress, innovation, and leading through change. His perspective on operational scale, transformation, and sustainable growth promises to set the tone for an impactful and forward-looking conference.

Attendees will also hear from top voices in environmental policy, international markets, business strategy, and executive development. Rachel Kagan, Executive Director of the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC), will present a timely regulatory update on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and recycling frameworks in Canada. Representing the European folding carton sector, Mike Turner, Managing Director of the European Carton Makers Association (ECMA), will share the latest policy trends and innovations shaping sustainability and competitiveness across Europe.

In a data-driven keynote, David Feber of McKinsey & Company will reveal findings from the firm’s global consumer survey on sustainable packaging preferences, offering insight into how brand expectations are evolving and how paperboard is uniquely positioned to meet those demands.

Other featured speakers include Doree Quayle, Division President at Great Little Box Company, who will reflect on the company’s values-driven growth journey and culture of leadership; Christopher Santomassimo, of Outside General Counsel™(OGC Solutions), will guide participants through practical risk management strategies; and Jeff Rosensweig, PPC’s longtime economist, who will deliver his sought-after North American economic forecast tailored to the packaging sector. Dr. Ann Bowers-Evangelista, leadership expert and author of The Endurance Leader, will headline a special Women’s Leadership Council Luncheon focused on executive presence and communication in high-stakes environments.

In addition to PPC’s distinctive and timely programming, this year’s Fall Meeting will highlight packaging excellence and student innovation. The 82nd Annual Paperboard Packaging Competition will honor PPC members whose folding carton designs demonstrate superior performance, creativity, and shelf appeal.

Simultaneously, the conference will celebrate the finalists of the 2025 Paperboard Packaging Alliance (PPA) Student Design Challenge. The Paperboard Packaging Alliance (PPA), a joint initiative of the American Forest & Paper Association and the Paperboard Packaging Council, promotes the benefits of paperboard packaging and encourages its use in sustainable, innovative packaging design. This year’s Design Challenge tasked students with designing a new paperboard packaging line for PPA Pets, an original pet care company. Students were required to include a pet DNA testing system or a similar lab-dependent item.

Student projects from the following schools were named as finalists:

• PAWSH – California Polytechnic State University
• Protection, Prevention & Awareness for Pets – Rochester Institute of Technology
• Teef Story – California Polytechnic State University

This year’s Fall Meeting also features exclusive networking opportunities, associate member spotlights, a welcome reception, an off-site event at GRETA Vancouver, and a plant tour at Great Little Box Company, providing attendees with the opportunity to explore real-world innovation in action.

Seats are limited; registration, travel information, and full agenda details are available at www.paperbox.org/fall.