Great Northern Specialty Group Announces Leadership Transition


President Richard Detienne To Retire End of 2008; Gary Hietpas Will Take the Helm

APPLETON, Wis., April 25, 2007 - The leadership of Great Northern Corporation's Specialty Group will change hands at the end of 2008 when Richard C. Detienne will retire and Gary N. Hietpas will become the new president.

Detienne, president of Great Northern Corporation's Specialty Group, which includes Laminations® and Rollguard® operations, has been with the company for 23 years. Detienne joined Laminations as executive vice president in 1984 and became president in 1986. He became president of the Specialty Group when it was formed in 1995.

Hietpas has been with Laminations for 21 years and vice president of sales & marketing since 1991.

"We are fortunate to have Rick's continued strong leadership through 2008," said William A. Raaths, president and CEO of Great Northern Corporation. "We are also fortunate to have an internal successor to Rick in Gary, who will carry forward the many positive elements within our Specialty Group while adding his own strengths to the position."

The company will utilize the next 20 months to make the transition a totally seamless one, Raaths emphasized. The announcement is being made now in order to maximize the comfort level of customers and employees with the succession plan, he said.

Laminations is a leading national manufacturer of laminated paper products for the shipping, packaging and warehousing needs of industry. Laminations' major product line is the VBoard® family of recyclable paperboard edge protectors.

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Rollguard is the industry-leading developer and supplier of recyclable protective fiber, foam and plastic cradles for rolled and cylindrical products. Major product lines include Rollguard EPS Foam, Recycled Fiber, Narrow Fiber, Full Roll and Thermoformed cradles.

Headquartered in Appleton, Wis., Great Northern Corporation has operations in five states and more than 800 employees. In addition to the Specialty Group product lines of Laminations and Rollguard, Great Northern designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of packaging solutions and point-of-sale display programs for industrial, commercial and retail products. For more information, visit www.greatnortherncorp.com.

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