"Beyond Today's Paper Machine"
A moderated discussion at this year's Paper Summit

ATLANTA, GA.--February 11, 2002- At this year's Paper Summit please join us for a very special thought leadership program and audience dialog with the premise that -- industry must modernize/retrofit innovatively, creatively, effectively and economically to survive.

Note, that fifteen years ago, the forest products industry comprised 3% of the S&P 500. At that level, Wall Street would spend some time focusing on the paper industry as a key element of an investment portfolio. Today, the entire paper industry is 0.6% of the S&P 500 and declining. At this level, analysts have far fewer incentives to worry about this industry, to reward the good performers versus the poorer performers, or to value marginal improvements in performance. As a result, companies are seemingly painted with the same brush - a brush that says "under-performing industry, go elsewhere." We need, as an industry, to find a pathway to an image and a reality of "better performing".

Bob Kinstrey, Director of Paper, Forest Products and Packaging for Jacobs Consultancy Inc. says, "In this light, we hope that this session will begin a dialog that will continue over the next few years to define how our industry should redefine our core technologies and their associated successful economic path forward - to in effect, begin to change that image. If you add a new headbox to a 1947 papermachine, you still have a 1947 papermachine. The 1803 papermachine needs more than just a rebuild to create economic success - and accordingly, we need to determine what to replace it with economically if we are ever to achieve such an image makeover."

Jim McNutt, Executive Director of the Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies (CPBIS) further notes that -- "Improvement of our industry and its image is not an event. It is, however, a process that requires deep thinking, time, and collaboration. Yet, too often we spin our wheels just talking about what is not working with our industry and why our image is tarnished. This special program has been designed to stimulate a dialog across time that will hopefully become substantive and value creating in terms of thought leadership to help us move beyond today's papermachine - to move to a better performance and a better image."

The program will be free and open to the public on Wednesday March 6, 2002, Room 167, World Congress Center, from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM. Kathy Buckman-Davis Chairman of Bulab Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Buckman Laboratories, will deliver the keynote and help facilitate the needs and gaps identification part of the program, which itself will be divided into two major sessions.

The first panel session will be moderated by Jim McNutt of the CPBIS. The focus will center on economic and business issues facing the industry and what must be done to 'change' our industry's mindset and improve its creation of value. Panelist will include, Mark Wilde, from Deutsche Bank/Alex Brown, Gary Helik, from Tradition Financial Services, Mike Kocurek, from North Carolina State University, and Jim Ferris, President of the Institute of Paper Science and Technology.

The second panel session will be moderated by Bob Kinstrey of Jacobs Consultancy. This session will explore the lack of creativity and innovation from our industry when employing new capital to improve the technological age of our mills and machines and associated competitive positioning. Panelists for this key part of the program will be Bob Harrison of GL&V, Dan Cappell of Asten-Johnson, Bob Eamer, former Domtar Executive, and Paul Stuart of Ecole Polytechnique from Montreal.

After the economic and technological matters have been broached, Kathy Buckman-Davis, with the help of Jim McNutt and Bob Kinstrey, will return to facilitate a no holds barred open forum discussion on major needs and gaps facing our industry for sustained success. All of the panelists will rejoin the dialog for this concluding part of the program -- as will hopefully you -- because, in the end, Audience participation will be the key to the success of this very special program!

Ferris says, "From my perspective what is needed is to redefine our core papermaking technologies with a new economic heartbeat. A new set of pulping and papermaking technology is urgently needed to free the industry from the limitations of capital-intensiveness, the high blood pressure of our technical system. Our capital intensiveness sours investors, prevents innovation, and reduces our attractiveness to good people. We desperately need a fundamental change to our industry cost structure through a new set of innovative process technology to insure the long term success of our industry."

Kathy Buckman-Davis, says -- "I hope that this session will accomplish three things. First, I would like to see it begin an ongoing exchange of ideas across time to help do a better job of identifying and facing the tough questions that we are going to need answers to for this industry to be successful in the long run. Secondly, I hope this session stimulates people to take a fresh look at these problems - the real needs and gaps -- and as such, generate insightful feedback. And, finally, I hope that in the end, this is the beginning of making a real difference through the establishment of productive thought leadership dialog. Please join us! Without you, we cannot even begin to make a difference."

About CPBIS
The Sloan Industry Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies (http://www.cpbis.gatech.edu) is the preeminent graduate business studies and research enterprise dedicated to the enhancement of knowledge, decision-making, and business performance for the global paper industry. Toolbar links include Research Themes, Newsletter, Member Companies, Research Projects, CPBIS Alerts, and the "Home" link, which provides comprehensive access to information on the Center and its growing portfolio of special industry reports.