New Leadership at Georgia-Pacific

ATLANTA - Georgia-Pacific LLC announced the promotions of Sean Fallmann, Bill Sleeper and Bill Donahue, to new senior leadership roles within its consumer products business units. They will report to Kathy Walters, executive vice president - global consumer products. Fallmann, who most recently served as president of the company’s U.S.commercial tissue, Dixie and communication papers businesses, has been promoted to president - North American retail business. Sleeper, senior vice president of the commercial tissue and towel categories, has been promoted to president of North American commercial tissue, towel and industrial wipers. Donahue, vice president - bleached board, has been promoted to vice president and general manager - Dixie foodservice and commercial napkins.
“These changes will help us create long-term value, accelerate innovation, improve the alignment of our business and manufacturing strategies and position the businesses for growth in the future,” said Walters. “I have tremendous confidence in their business knowledge and their strategic leadership capabilities.”

Fallmann joined the company in 1996 as brand manager of Quilted Northern® bath tissue. He also has served as vice president and general manager of the Dixie® retail business and as president of the Dixie business. Before joining Georgia-Pacific, Fallmann served in a variety of roles at Kraft Foods. He received his bachelor’s degree from Western Connecticut State University and MBA from Fordham University in New York.

Sleeper joined the company in 1969. He has held key positions in sales and marketing management, product and market development, mill management, corporate strategic planning and financial management. In addition to working in the commercial business, Sleeper also has held key positions in other businesses including paperboard and flexible packaging, communication papers, and consumer products. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and his master’s degree from New York University.

Donahue joined Georgia-Pacific in 2003 to lead the bleached board business. Prior to joining the company, he spent 12 years at International Paper in various domestic and international bleached board sales and marketing roles. He began his career as a sales trainee in 1986 at Westvaco. Donahue received his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University.

Georgia-Pacific also announced that John Wallace joined the company April 23 as senior vice president of marketing services for the North American retail business, reporting to Fallmann. In this role, Wallace will be responsible for several consumer-focused marketing functions, including consumer marketing and insights, customer marketing and shopper insights, merchandising, packaging innovations, customer development and pricing management. Wallace joined Georgia-Pacific from the Boston Consulting Group, where he was a vice president, director and partner responsible for teams that serviced clients in the consumer goods and retail industries. He joined the Boston Consulting Group in 2000. Previously he was a senior director in the business development group at BellSouth Corp. and was an associate in the investment banking group of The Robinson-Humphrey Co. Wallace received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

Fernando Gonzalez, previously vice president and general manager of the Dixie retail business, has been promoted to vice president and general manager for the retail tabletop category, which now will include the retail Dixie and napkin businesses. He joined Georgia-Pacific in 1998 as a senior brand manager and was promoted to Dixie marketing director in 2000. In 2005, he was promoted to senior director responsible for Dixie’s marketing, packaging and innovation. Prior to Georgia-Pacific, Gonzalez held marketing positions with Procter & Gamble in Mexico and Argentina, and with Bordon Foods, Mars Inc. and Compaq Computer in the United States. He holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA from Texas A&M University. He also will report to Fallmann.

Promotions announced in the North American commercial tissue, towel and industrial wipers business include Craig Yardley and John Mulcahy, both reporting to Sleeper.

Yardley, previously category director, was promoted to vice president and general manager of the towel category. He joined the company in 1977 as a distributor sales representative and has held a number of positions in sales, sales management, marketing, product development and category management. Yardley earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Oregon.

Mulcahy, previously category director of tissue, was promoted to vice president and general manager of the tissue category. He joined Georgia-Pacific in 1987 as a production scheduler and has since worked in a number of businesses in key positions in operations, finance, strategy, mill improvement and marketing before returning to the consumer products business in 2001. Mulcahy earned his bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College and MBA from Georgia State University.