Appleton appoints two vice presidents

Nov 03, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. Appleton announced on Wednesday the appointment of Sarah Macdonald as vice president and general manager of its international division. Ms. Macdonald will be responsible for driving growth and profitability of Appleton's international segments including exploring international partnerships, strategic alliances, and supply agreement options. The company also named Kent Willetts to serve as vice president of marketing and strategy. Mr. Willetts will be responsible for leading the transformation of Appleton's marketing capabilities across the entire organization and instituting marketing best practices. He will develop and drive the company's strategic planning process and lead development of joint venture, affiliation, licensing and partnership opportunities and have executive responsibility for Appleton's technical development efforts. Ms. Macdonald and Mr. Willetts will report to Mark Richards, Appleton's chief executive officer. Macdonald comes to Appleton from U.S. Can Corporation, Lombard, Illinois., a leading manufacturer of steel and plastic containers for personal care, household, automotive, paint and industrial products. She held senior sales and marketing management positions with the company for the past nine years and most recently served as the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing. Macdonald was responsible for the sales and marketing activities of the company's $600 million aerosol, paint and general line businesses in the United States and Europe. "Sarah is a talented, well-disciplined executive who has an impressive record of developing and executing strategies and achieving results," said Mr. Richards. "We expect to immediately leverage Sarah's expertise in international account development, pricing and negotiations, and business-to- business marketing to position Appleton for more significant growth in international markets." Appleton's international division includes BemroseBooth, a provider of secure and specialized print services based in Derby, United Kingdom, that Appleton acquired in December 2003. Prior to joining U.S. Can Corporation in 1996, Ms. Macdonald held sales and product management positions with three companies in the United Kingdom, USC Europe (formerly The Crown Cork Company), United Closures & Plastics (part of Carnaud Metalbox), and United Greenfield Limited. She studied business at West Kent College in England and earned a professional certification for international trade & finance, law and marketing. Mr. Willetts comes to Appleton from Kimberly-Clark Corporation, a $15 billion global health and hygiene company with operations in 37 countries and product sales in more than 150. During his 18-year career with Kimberly-Clark, Mr. Willetts held several executive marketing positions that included responsibility for new product development and introduction. Most recently he served as vice president of global brand equity for family care products and also had responsibility for the segment's new business development efforts. Mr. Willetts had previously worked as director of brand position and advertising for the company's $2.4 billion tissue brands business. Mr. Willetts is a graduate of Northwestern University where he earned a master's degree in business administration. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. "Kent has demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, new product development, and strategic planning processes while working with some of the world's most trusted and recognized brands," said Richards. "He will lead our efforts to align our marketing strategies with our business strategies and drive our market focused insight process throughout the company." Appleton uses ideas that make a difference to create product solutions through its development and use of coating formulations and applications, encapsulation technology, and specialized and secure print services. The company produces carbonless, thermal, security and performance packaging products. Appleton is headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, and has manufacturing operations in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and the United Kingdom, employs approximately 3 300 people, and is 100 percent employee owned.