A National Partnership to Develop a Strategic Plan for the Development of the National Center for Pulp and Paper Technology

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This project formulates a strategic plan for the development of the national center for pulp and paper technology through the partnership of the four two-year colleges and with strong backing and support from industry. The center is going to establish and perpetuate a technology program and network providing students around the nation an effective education and training program. The center is also going to provide the pulp and paper sector of the U. S. forest products industry with a globally competitive, technologically advanced workforce. Alabama Southern Community College (ASCC) and Auburn University alliance continues in this project with the addition of four two-year colleges strategically located throughout the United States. These institutions include: (1) Kennebec Valley Technical College, a rural college in Fairfield, Maine, (2) Fox Valley Technical College in a more urban area in Appleton, Wisconsin, (3) Century Community Technical College in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and (4) Lower Columbia College in a more urban area in Longview, Washington.The project includes participation of several national pulp and paper industry organizations under an industry-academia-governmental initiative called Agenda 2020. These national organizations consist of (1) The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), (2) The Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI), and (3) The Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union (PACE). This initiative enables focusing the industry's technology vision, sets the industry's technology agenda, and provides science and technology foundation for the industry. A major focus of Agenda 2020 is the development of a technologically advanced workforce (TAW) to operate and maintain the new technologies of today, and more importantly, in the coming years. The planning for this center is going to closely coordinate the workforce development needs of today and in the future as new and sophisticated technology is ushered in for purposes of efficiency and quality improvement so that our nation's pulp and paper industries can successfully compete internationally.