The chair of the Wisconsin Paper Council is calling for increased state funding for UW-Stevens Point’s paper science and chemical engineering programs.
Craig Timm says those programs are vital to the state’s paper industry.
Wisconsin papermakers are facing a serious workforce shortage, as many industry veterans are retiring while paper mills become more reliant on new technology. Those factors are driving more demand for young engineers.
In a recent interview, Timm said the Paper Council is pushing for more funding for UW-Stevens Point in the upcoming biennial budget.
“There are several paper science schools throughout the country, but UW-Stevens Point is really our primary focus,” he said. “We’re looking at supporting some budget dollars that would help hire two new professors for that program.”
Other top policy priorities for the council relate to transportation and taxation. He said the group is always looking for more favorable business taxes, and supports “any programs the state can do to assist business — in our case specifically pulp and paper.”
Timm said the Paper Council will be pushing for increased trucking weight limits, which he says will reduce the number of trucks on the road while getting more product to market.
“We’re early on in a new administration, early on with the whole budget process,” he added. “We’ll see where that goes.”
He also said the state should allot more funds to support large paper mill expansions, like the ones announced last year by Green Bay Packaging and the ND Paper.
“Those types of dollars will be really well-spent,” he said.
Timm works as regional public affairs manager for Domtar Corporation. He handles communications and government relations for eight company facilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In all of these facilities, Timm says computerization has become the norm rather than the exception.
“It’s not your grandfather’s paper industry anymore,” he said. “It’s not a dark, dirty place that the perception might be.”
He notes that connected systems now accompany nearly every piece of the papermaking puzzle. They’re used to track paper quality during production, monitor environmental impacts, manage inventories, analyze logistics patterns and much more.
“Tech is huge,” he said. “Where it’s going, who knows… but it’s vital to our industry.”
Listen to a recent podcast with Timm: http://wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=393411
