FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Lange, 314-656-5369
Richard Flaherty, 703-549-8580
SMURFIT-STONE MAKES $250,000 PLEDGE
TO INTERNATIONAL CORRUGATED PACKAGING FOUNDATION
CREVE COEUR, Mo., and CHICAGO, May 19, 2008 -- Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation has pledged an additional $250,000 to support the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation's (ICPF) efforts to promote, foster, and enhance college and university curricula, and to recruit graduates to help meet the corrugated industry's workforce needs.
“We recognize the value the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation provides to the industry and to our company,” said Patrick J. Moore, Smurfit-Stone chairman and CEO. “We firmly believe the ICPF's work is critical to the growth and development of the corrugated packaging and display industry, and are pleased to make this contribution to support the foundation's operations and programs.”
“Contributions from industry leaders such as Smurfit-Stone allow us to continue building programs to advance student and faculty knowledge of the corrugated industry,” said Richard M. Flaherty, ICPF president. “The recommitment from Smurfit-Stone also will support ICPF's new initiative to “mainstream” knowledge of the broad range of corrugated packaging and display career opportunities available throughout the U. S. for emerging college graduates.”
Founded in 1985, ICPF is co-sponsored by the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters and the Fibre Box Association. ICPF has donated approximately $9 million in corrugated equipment and other resources to advance college and university curricula to better prepare students planning to enter the corrugated industry. ICPF benefactor schools in the U. S. include Appalachian State (NC); Cal Poly State; Christian Brothers University (TN); Clemson University (SC); Dunwoody College of Technology (MN); University of Florida; Fox Valley Technical College (WI); Indiana State; Iowa State; Michigan State; North Carolina A&T State; Rochester Institute of Technology; San Jose State; VA Tech; and University Wisconsin-Stout. For additional information about the ICPF, visit www.icpfbox.org.
Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (NASDAQ: SSCC) is the industry's leading integrated containerboard and corrugated packaging producer and is one of the world's largest paper recyclers. The company is a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative®, and the Chicago Climate Exchange. Smurfit-Stone generated revenue of $7.4 billion in 2007, has led the industry in safety every year since 2001, and conducts its business in compliance with the environmental, health, and safety principles of the American Forest & Paper Association.
The International Corrugated Packaging Foundation's mission is to generate a stream of increasingly qualified students to enter the corrugated industry, now and into the future. ICPF is dedicated to the continued creation and building of partnerships within the education community, the granting of equipment and other resources to advance curriculum, the expansion of student internships within the industry, and the promotion of corrugated packaging and display career opportunities for packaging, business management, accounting, engineering, marketing, ecology, graphic design, architecture / structural design and tech graduates.
