Student Support: Pay it Forward

Even as far back as 1967, in an article by then VP of R&D for Union Camp William Aiken, he said that "the money donated by our companies to educational institutions, the efforts of our recruiters at schools, and the programs of our industrial relations and public relations departments have been inadequate to supply the technical manpower which our industry needs." Today, the paper industry continues to have a shortage of technically trained employees.

The reasons for this shortage are the overall shortage of scientists and engineers and the tremendous amount of baby-boomer retirements. TIME magazine recently reported that the pulp and paper industry will hire 24,000 people in the next four years in North America alone. Throughout the country, an estimated 600,000 manufacturing jobs are going unfilled because employers can't find people with the right skills.

If you are in the pulp, paper, or packaging industry, it is a safe bet that your education was funded in part or in whole by individuals, companies, and/or school foundations. It has always been the case that to attract young engineers and scientists to a specialized program like ours, there needed to be some type of scholarships. Committing to not only a major but an industry when you are a freshman in College can be a pretty scary undertaking.

So today, what we are asking is for you to "pay it forward." Others were there for you; please give whatever you can to the future of our industry. The need is great. We would love for you to give a gift to the TAPPI Foundation, but if not to the TAPPI Foundation, please give to one of the foundations at the paper or packaging schools.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/