The CPA Spring Meeting, held last week in Tucson, AZ, concluded with strong attendance that was nearly even with last Spring’s 15-year high. Presentations are available online and minutes from Committee and Board of Directors meetings will be available late next week. A few notable highlights from the meeting include:
CPA Honors Award Recipients at Annual Spring Meeting
CPA presented the 2022 awards for Safety and Safety Innovation to member companies during the Member Luncheon.
2022 Annual Safety Awards
2022 Safety Award were given to participating manufacturing plants with exemplary safety records, including acknowledgments for long-term, annual, safety improvement and safety achievement. For each award, plants were categorized by low worker-hours (Class I) and high worker-hours (Class II).
The awards for the best long-term safety record over the past three years were given to Arauco North America, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (Class I) and Arauco North America, St. Stephen, New Brunswick (Class II).
The annual safety awards for having the lowest incident rate in their class for 2022 were awarded to Arauco North America, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, for Class I plants, and Arauco North America, St. Stephen, New Brunswick and Albany, Oregon, for Class II plants.
The two plants recognized for safety improvement were Timber Products, Medford, Oregon (Class I) and Roseburg, Missoula, Montana (Class II).
Three plants were recognized for achieving an incident rate of less than 50% of the industry average over the past three years. Class I plants were WestPine MDF, Quesnel, British Columbia and Roseburg, Eldorado, Arkansas. The Class II, plant wwas Arauco North America, Albany, Oregon.
CPA congratulates all companies and personnel whose exceptional records and commitment to safety earned them these prestigious awards. Long-term, annual safety improvement and safety achievement plaques and banners will be sent directly to these mills later this month.
2022 Safety Innovation Award
CPA presented Weyerhaeuser’s Columbia Falls, Montana plant with the 2022 Safety Innovation Award. The award recognizes a mill that has instituted a new policy, process or technology that has made it a safer place to work. The Weyerhaeuser plant’s implementation of “Forward Looking Infrared Windows” significantly decreased arc flash hazard exposure.
A total of 124 Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) windows were installed on power transformers across the manufacturing complex to eliminate the risk of 432 individual arc flash hazard exposures while performing monthly and quarterly transformer inspections. Performing these inspections ensures safe and reliable power is delivered to mill operations and provides electricians and engineers with appropriate data to act prior to unplanned equipment failures.
CPA received eight deserving applications for the Innovation Award this year. Applications were anonymized and distributed to the CPA Board of Directors for voting. With the permission of applicant mills, CPA will post summaries of all the safety innovation award submittals with the hope that best practices can be adopted industry wide.
CPA congratulates the staff at Weyerhaeuser’s Columbia Falls plant for implementing the “Forward Looking Infrared Windows.” Representatives from Weyerhaeuser will be invited to present further details and results on this innovation at CPA’s Fall Meeting.
See 2022 Safety Awards. More Info: Connie Klinkam
Norm Voss Recognized as the 2022 Landry Award Recipient
CPA recognized Norm Voss as the 2022 Brock R. Landry Industry Leadership Award recipient during the Spring Meeting Chairman’s Dinner. The Landry Award is given annually by CPA members to an industry leader in recognition of his or her outstanding contributions to the composite panel industry. The award was created to honor CPA counsel Brock R. Landry upon retirement after more than 40 years of significant contributions to the North American composite panel industry.
CPA Executive Committee member and Swiss Krono President and CEO Erik Christensen presented the award and commended Norm on his numerous contributions to the industry and commitment to the association throughout his more than 50-year career. In 2000, Norm served as the CEO of Kronotex USA Holdings for 12 years which later became Swiss Krono USA. During his tenure at the company, he led considerable expansion projects that included the completion of the MDF manufacturing facility in Barnwell, SC.
Norm was on the CPA Board and Executive Committee for numerous years and actively served on many task groups particularly focusing on formaldehyde regulations and industry advocacy. As the 1996 Chairman of the association, known then as the National Particleboard Association, he led the integration of the Canadian particleboard industry into the newly named Composite Panel Association in March 1997. This was a defining point in the association and industry’s history. More Info: Jeannie Ervin
CPA Recognizes Spring Meeting Sponsors
CPA is very grateful for the generous support from the following 2023 Spring Meeting sponsors. Sponsorships greatly enhance the overall program of the annual meetings. Please take a moment to visit each of the sponsors’ websites to help us thank them for the ongoing support of the association and the industry.
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsor
Golf Sponsor
Spring Meeting Exhibitors Appreciated
CPA wants to thank all of the following exhibitors for participating in the Spring Meeting.
Biomass Engineering & Equipment
Electronic Wood Systems North America
Samuel Packaging Systems Group
See 2023 CPA Spring Meeting. More Info: Allyson O’Sullivan
