The Paper Industry Management Association (PIMA) bestowed its highest honor on Domtar President and CEO John D. Williams at the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry’s annual PaperCon in May. Williams was named Executive of the Year in recognition of his leadership, his contributions to the pulp and paper industry, and his management excellence.

PIMA cited Williams’ outstanding leadership over the course of 10 years as Domtar CEO, including his ability to continually evaluate long-term strategy while achieving strong short-term results. Thanks to his management excellence, we have experienced continued growth as North America’s leading uncoated free-sheet producer. We’ve also developed a robust biomaterials business to leverage our expertise in refining biomass as the world transitions from fossil fuels to a bio-based economy.

“I am very grateful to receive this prestigious honor,” Williams said at the event. “However, I cannot take full credit for our success. Our most valued asset at Domtar is our wonderful employees. They are the front line of our business and our true competitive advantage.”

While at the conference, Williams also spoke on an executive panel about sustainability and the ongoing trend toward a bio-based economy.

“Markets or end users that want to move away from plastics or petroleum-based products toward more sustainable and renewable products need a solution that performs on par with their current products and also has a robust build-out supply chain and scale,” he said. “We are providing bio-based solutions to incumbents in the plastics, materials and chemicals industries to help them and their customers achieve their own mandates to become more sustainable and move away from traditional petroleum-based plastics and materials.”

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