SPRINGFIELD, MA - On April 9, 2015 during a special ceremony at its Spring Outlook and Strategies Conference in Salt Lake City, UT, the Paperboard Packaging Council awarded its 2015 Volunteer Leader Award of Excellence to Ken Smott, President of Atlas Die, LLC.

A member of the PPC Board of Directors and Chair of the Associate Member Committee for the past five years, Smott has spearheaded many initiatives for both supplier and converter members. He led a recent tabletop initiative so that suppliers can provide educational materials at conferences. He also helped implement PPC’s biannual Associate Member Film Festival, in which suppliers share amusing videos that highlight their products and services. Another brainchild of Smott, PPC’s popular Associate Member Showcase Breakfast gives suppliers the opportunity to forge deeper relations with converters at conferences.

“I cannot think of a better recipient of the 2015 Volunteer Leader Award of Excellence than Ken Smott,” said Ben Markens, President of PPC. “PPC counts on its members to volunteer their time and expertise for the betterment of the association, and Ken has gone above and beyond the call of duty for years.”

PPC has a number of volunteer-led committees, including Financial Executives, Government Affairs, Human Resources, Industry Benchmarking, Marketing and Communications, New Generation Leaders, Rigid Box, Sustainability, and Technical and Production. Members can get involved by visiting www.paperbox.org and contacting the appropriate committee chair or PPC staff liaison.