James B. Porter, III
President
Corrugated Packaging & Recycling
RockTenn
Jim Porter joined RockTenn in April 2008, as Executive Vice President, responsible for the Corrugated Packaging segment. In May 2011, Jim became President of the Company's Corrugated Packaging and Recycling business segments, which include more than 100 converting operations and pre-print graphics facilities, 14 containerboard mills and 38 recycling and waste facilities. These businesses have approximately 17,000 employees, sales of $8 billion and produce approximately 8 million tons of containerboard and other mill products, 80 billion square feet of corrugated packaging and 9 million tons of recycled fiber. These businesses rank as the second largest North American producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging, the largest producer of pre-print graphics and the largest paper recycling company.
RockTenn is one of North America's leading integrated manufacturers of corrugated and consumer packaging and recycling solutions, with total net sales of $10 billion. RockTenn's 26,000 employees are located throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and China.
From 2004 to 2008, Jim was President and COO of Southern Container Corp., the largest independent manufacturer of corrugated packaging in North America. During that time, Jim also served as President of Solvay Paperboard; a Syracuse, NY, mill that today manufactures 2,300 tons per day of recycled containerboard for the corrugated packaging industry. RockTenn acquired both companies in 2008. Jim joined Solvay in 1993 as Vice President with responsibility for starting up and operating the facility, which has grown to a three-machine containerboard mill today, and is recognized among global benchmarks for cost and quality in the containerboard industry.
Prior to 1993, Jim spent 19 years with Menasha Corporation, beginning in the company's Timberland Division in 1974 and, ultimately becoming General Manager of Menasha's Paperboard Division in Otsego, MI.
Jim is currently the incoming Chairman of the Fibre Box Association (FBA), Vice Chairman of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) Containerboard Sector, and is on the Board of Directors for the Corrugated Packaging Alliance, International Corrugated Case Association (ICCA), and is a member of the World Containerboard Organization (WCO).
Jim received a B.S. in Forest Management from the University of Missouri in 1974, did graduate study in Business Administration at Western Michigan University, and graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2004. He has three grown children and three grandchildren and lives in Atlanta, GA, with his wife, Pam.
Michael R. Harwood
President, World Containerboard Organization
& Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Pratt Industries
Mike Harwood began his career in the paper industry as a Marketing Trainee with International Paper in 1969. During his career at IP, Mr. Harwood held key positions in the Container Division in the USA and Europe before being elected Vice President of the Containerboard, Kraft Paper, and Kraft Packaging Divisions in 1990. In that role, Mr. Harwood was responsible for all phases of IP's Containerboard, and Kraft businesses around the world.
In 1995, he joined Pratt Industries as a Director with global responsibility for Containerboard. He was named Deputy CEO in 1996. In addition to his current responsibilities with Pratt Industries (USA) and VISY Pulp & Paper (Australia), he was recently elected President of the World Containerboard Organization (WCO) which is the major trade association for all producers of containerboard products. WCO represents and promotes the business interests of the global Containerboard and Kraft Paper Industry through services and activities which support the membership and numerous trade organizations in paper producing nations.
Mike is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the Executive Program in International Business at Manchester University in the United Kingdom. He is a founding member of the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF). Mike serves on the Board of Directors of the International Corrugated Case Association (ICCA), and the Fibre Box Association (FBA), as well as the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the World Containerboard Organization. He and his family are long time residents of Atlanta, Georgia and Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
Jeffrey Hayzlett
Bestselling Author, Global Business Celebrity & Sometime Cowboy
JEFFREY HAYZLETT is a global business celebrity and former Fortune 100 c-suite executive. From small business to international corporations, he has put his creativity and extraordinary entrepreneurial skills into play, launching ventures blending his leadership perspectives, insights into professional development, mass marketing prowess and affinity for social media. He is a well-traveled public speaker, the author of the bestselling books, The Mirror Test and Running the Gauntlet, celebrity editor to one of the largest-circulation business publications and one of the most compelling figures in global business.
Jeffrey is an esteemed business and marketing expert, appearing frequently on programs like Fox Business News, MSNBC’s Your Business and NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump. Drawing upon an eclectic background in business, buoyed by a stellar track record of keynote speaking, and deeply rooted in cowboy lore, Jeffrey energizes his role driving and delivering change. He is a turnaround architect of the highest order, a maverick marketer who delivers scalable campaigns, embraces traditional modes of customer engagement, and possesses a remarkable cachet of mentorship, corporate governance and brand building.
Lamar Guthrie
Owner
Chief Container
Lamar Guthrie is the owner of Chief Container in Acworth, Georgia. He has been in the Corrugated Industry for over 40 years, owning many successful corrugated plants including Target Container which he started in 1976. Guthrie built four Target Container plants before selling to Pratt in 1990. Chief Container, founded in 1994, has flourished from a single press box plant into a state-of-the-art P.O.P. display and packaging facility.
An Auburn University graduate, Guthrie lives on a farm in Alabama with his wife, Jo.
Common Ground
Bob Beckel and Cal Thomas of USA Today's "Common Ground" Column
Common
Ground consists of liberal Bob Beckel and conservative Cal Thomas, the
authors of the syndicated USA Today column of the same name. These two
politically savvy and politically different analysts take their differences
and find the "common ground" that unites all Americans.
Beckel, one of Washington's top political analysts began his career in politics in 1968, working for Robert F. Kennedy's campaign. He worked in the White House as a deputy assistant secretary of state for the Carter administration, and was campaign manager for Walter Mondale. For the past several years, Beckel has had an active consulting practice, and advises his clients on communication strategy, consensus building, and public policy. He appears regularly on television as an analyst, working on CNN and for CBS This Morning. Beckel has also been a regular contributing columnist for the Los Angeles Times for the last three presidential campaigns.
Cal Thomas is one of the most widely read and highly regarded voices of the political scene. He has a twice-weekly column appearing in over 500 newspapers nationwide, and is a panelist on the popular Fox News Watch show. Thomas is a veteran of both broadcast and print journalism. He has worked for NBC, CNBC, PBS, and the Fox News Network. For his work, he has received a George Foster Peabody team reporting award, and awards from the Associated Press and United Press International. Thomas is also the author of ten books, including The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas, Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America?, and Liberals for Lunch.
Their 2007 book, Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America, is a call for liberals and conservatives to work together to get the United States back on track and to end the partisan war that is dividing us.
Although Beckel and Thomas have different opinions on almost every subject imaginable, the goal of Common Ground is to show audiences and Americans that bridges can be forged between differences, and agreements can be made. They understand that contentiousness and partisanship rule Washington right now, and they hope to change that. By openly discussing their differences, respecting each other's opinions, and thoughtfully recognizing the validity of every view and opinion, they open up the doors for civil discourse, and hope to usher in a new era of American politics. More like a conversation between friends than a debate between enemies, they inspire audiences to find the common ground in their own beliefs, and put aside politics as usual.
Anthony Smurfit
Group Chief Operations Officer
Smurfit Group
Anthony Smurfit was appointed as Group Chief Operations Officer in November 2002. He has worked in various parts of the Smurfit Group both in Europe and the United States since he joined the Group over twenty years ago. He was Chief Executive of Smurfit Europe from October 1999 to 2002 prior to which he was Deputy Chief Executive of Smurfit Europe and previously Chief Executive Officer of Smurfit France.
