Shaping the Future of Food Packaging: Technology, Sustainability & Market Trends

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Shaping the Future of Food Packaging Event – October 28, 2026

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF FOOD PACKAGING
Technology, Sustainability & Market Trends October 18th, 2026

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF FOOD PACKAGING

Technology, Sustainability & Market Trends

Alliant Energy Center
1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, Madison, WI
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 – 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

GBIG invites you to attend a day devoted to food packaging technology, sustainability, and market trends. Industry experts will give real-world examples of smart packaging innovations, opportunities, and challenges facing the food packaging industry. Attendees will have an opportunity to connect with industry leaders during a networking reception. Lunch will be provided.

MORNING SESSION
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Check-in & Registration

MORNING SESSION
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Welcome & Opening Remarks

  • Marty Ochs – Executive Director of Green Bay Innovation Group
  • Paul Ziemnisky – President and CEO of the International Dairy Deli
    Bakery Association

MORNING SESSION
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Speaker Presentations

  • Amcor – Ben Weight & Mike Van Sickle – Moving Beyond PFAS &
    AmFiber® – Fiber Based Flexible Packaging
  • Bardes Plastics – Kevin Meyer: Plastics Innovations Food Packaging
  • Hoffmaster – Mark Hunter: Disposable Foodservice Products

LUNCH
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Lunch Break
(Lunch Provided)

AFTERNOON SESSION:
1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Speaker Presentations

  • Rapids Paper + Packaging – John Wilson: Sustainable Packaging
  • University of Notre Dame – Graham Peaslee: Fast Food
    Packaging Impact on Our Health
  • AECOM – Rebecca Higgins: Harnessing Momentum for PFAS
    Solutions

AFTERNOON SESSION:
3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Closing Session & Networking

Food Packaging Trends and the Impact of New Legislation Coming with EPR

Marty Ochs

The Food Packaging Industry is being reshaped by three forces at the same time. We are witnessing changing consumer expectations, PFAS restrictions, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). For paper, paperboard, corrugated, plastics, printing, and converting industries, these compliance costs can be a challenge or provide new opportunities.

The Major food packaging trends:

  1. A shift toward recyclable and fiber-based packaging
  2. Food Companies are increasing looking for sustainability, composability, less packaging material,
    lower costs, and better barrier coating without toxic chemicals to replace plastic.

The next generation of food packaging is not simply a choice between paper and plastic; it increasingly relies on engineered materials. The challenge is delivering the required performance, driving extensive research into plastic films and other plastic materials that meet customer demands.

PFAS and Food Packaging

PFAS has become a major concern in food-contact packaging, particularly paper, paperboard, and corrugated products. They are used in items such as fast-food wrappers, microwave bags, bakery paper, and other packaging. The FDA says restrictions on PFAS-containing grease-proofing substances will pose challenges for specialty paper manufacturers, especially in Wisconsin. Overall, these restrictions are accelerating investment in PFAS-free barrier chemistries and advanced paper manufacturing.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is shifting more of the financial and administrative responsibilities toward the companies putting packaging into the market. Currently, there is no single federal packaging – EPR system in place. Instead, states are establishing their own programs. Many EPR programs use eco-modulated fees – meaning packaging characteristics can affect the amount a producer pays. This can be a strategic opportunity for Wisconsin’s Paper, Label, Pulp, and Packaging Companies.

The Key areas for Wisconsin 5P and Converting Industries:

  1. PFAS – free paper packaging
  2. Recyclable barrier coatings
  3. EPR optimized packaging
  4. Fiber Substitution
  5. Advanced converting technologies
  6. Advanced printing inks, coating, and other technologies

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GBIG NEWS | 94 Stories and Links on the Internet 09/16/2026

GBIG News

Get links to the latest news, events, stories, and interviews from our 5P news members. Our goal is to remind the decision-makers in Wisconsin of the importance of our industry both historically, and more importantly, into the future.

Read the latest 94 Stories and Links on the Internet below.

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Members

Meet the Panelists for Sales Rewired Sept. 30 in Neenah

Join us for the Sales Rewired afternoon session, a panel discussion featuring industry-leading marketing leaders. Panelists Troy Hoehne, Nicole Onesti, Chris Gromowski, and Martin Kyles will share real-world examples of how they modernized sales to match how customers buy today. Moderating the panel will be Jen Fietz, the founder and CEO of Stoke RGA, a manufacturing-focused growth agency.

  • Nicole Onesti – CMD Corporation
  • Troy Hoehne – Badger Plug Company
  • Martin Kyles – Maflex America, Inc.
  • Chris Gromowski – Inseer
Nicole Onesti

Nicole Onesti

Nicole Onesti is the Corporate Marketing Manager at CMD Corporation, where she leads marketing strategy for a global capital equipment manufacturer serving the converting and alternative energy industries. With more than 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, and manufacturing, Nicole specializes in connecting marketing strategy with business growth through digital marketing, content, brand development, sales enablement, and emerging technologies.
 
Throughout her career, Nicole has helped manufacturing organizations evolve how they reach customers, generate demand, and support complex B2B sales cycles. She is particularly passionate about finding practical ways to use AI, automation, data, and digital tools to help marketing and sales teams work smarter, strengthen customer engagement, and create measurable business impact.
 
Beyond her role at CMD, Nicole serves as Co-Chair of Women in the 5P Industries (Wi5P), helping advance networking, professional development, mentorship, and leadership opportunities across the pulp, paper, printing, packaging, and plastics industries

Troy Hoehne

Troy Hoehne

Troy Hoehne is Vice President of Sales at Badger Plug Company, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer serving customers across the paper, film, foil, and broader industrial converting markets. With more than 25 years of experience in B2B sales leadership, customer service, pricing strategy, and business development, Troy has built a career focused on driving sustainable growth while developing strong, customer-centered sales teams.

Troy is passionate about modernizing the sales approach by aligning people, processes, and technology. He focuses on maximizing revenue opportunities through real-time analytics, customer profitability insights, and a deep understanding of customer personas. He has led initiatives focused on sales process improvement, business intelligence, market expansion, pricing strategy, and creating stronger alignment between inside and outside sales teams to better meet the evolving expectations of today’s customers.

Outside of work, Troy is a husband, father of three, and grandfather who enjoys staying active and spending time with family and friends. He believes that the same principles that build strong personal relationships, trust, communication, and accountability are also the foundation of successful business partnerships.

Martin Kyles

Martin Kyles

Martin Kyles is the President/CEO of Maflex America, Inc., a tissue converting machinery manufacturer and service center located in De Pere, Wisconsin. Before assuming the role of President/CEO in 2015, Martin served as North American Sales Director of Maflex America, Inc. for three years. Martin began his career as Technical Service Manager of Fabio Perini North
America, a role he held for 21 years. He is a graduate of Concordia University-Wisconsin.

Chris Gromowski

Chris Gromowski

Chris Gromowski is a growth and business development leader, entrepreneur, and Marine Corps veteran with more than 16 years of experience across enterprise sales, manufacturing, technology, government contracting, and early stage organizations. As Director of Growth at Inseer, he leads market expansion, strategic partnerships, enterprise development, and go-to market initiatives for an emerging workplace safety technology company.

His approach to growth is rooted in Gap Selling principles identifying the true pain points of a target audience, validating those challenges through direct customer conversations, and using feedback to continuously refine both the product and go-to-market strategy. He has built and refined outbound sales frameworks, cold-calling systems, and scalable business development processes designed to create stronger product-market alignment, deeper customer adoption, and long-term brand stickiness.

Outside of his professional work, Chris serves on the Board of Directors and as a Strategic Advisor for Dogs2DogTags and is also involved with Brown County Honor Flights, The Reboot Project, and the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Alumni Board.

A UW–Green Bay graduate, Chris is currently pursuing his MBA and continues to combine leadership, entrepreneurship, growth, and service throughout his professional and community work.

IMS Technologies Inc: Francesco Pece, Vice President

Francesco Pece

Francesco Pece serves as Vice President of IMS Technologies Inc., the North American subsidiary of IMS TECHNOLOGIES, an international group specializing in advanced machinery and solutions for the converting, packaging and related industries.

Originally from Italy, Francesco has built much of his professional career between Asia and the United States. He joined IMS Technologies in 2018 and has since played a key role in developing the Group’s presence in the North American market. After several years leading the U.S. subsidiary, he also served as Business Development Director at the Group’s headquarters in Italy before returning to the United States to once again lead IMS Technologies Inc.

Based in New Jersey, Francesco is responsible for the company’s activities across the United States and the broader North American market, with a particular focus on customer relationships, business development and the expansion of local service capabilities.

A major part of his current strategy is strengthening the support IMS Technologies provides throughout the entire lifecycle of its installed equipment. With hundreds of machines operating across North America — including equipment that has been in production for decades — Francesco and his team are developing new programs focused on preventive maintenance, equipment modernization, rebuilding and component obsolescence management. The objective is to move beyond traditional reactive service and establish a more proactive partnership with customers: identifying potential issues before they result in downtime, extending the productive life of existing machinery and providing local access to the engineering expertise of the original equipment manufacturer.

Francesco holds an MBA from Hult International Business School in San Francisco. His international background and experience working on both sides of the Atlantic have given him a unique perspective on the differences between European and American approaches to manufacturing, customer service and business development.

Outside of work, Francesco is passionate about travel, golf, motor sports and exploring new places and cultures. He also competed in the Dakar Classic in Saudi Arabia, finishing eighth in the 2025 edition.

For Francesco, the opportunity to lead IMS Technologies in North America is ultimately about building stronger connections — between customers and manufacturers, between European engineering and American industry, and between long-standing relationships and new opportunities for growth.

UW-Platteville Meet & Greet

UW Platteville meet and greet group

Green Bay Innovation Group hosted a meet and greet with UW Platteville Engineering Alumni on 9/8, it was a great night to share some insights on how local companies can work with the education programs to have students ready for not just the world of manufacturing, converting, packaging, printing, etc., but also some basic life skills that could be incorporated into the lesson plan for our future engineers.

We all agree engineers are extremely intelligent, so much so that it can be hard to communicate with them. One of the main discussion topics was, how can this type of communication could be incorporated into the lesson plans

Dr. Parker (UW-Platteville Dean of Engineering) expressed great interest in the initiative and is exploring ways to re-vamp curriculum paths so future engineers graduate with both top-tier technical expertise and strong real-world communication skills.

We ended the evening with some great pizza from Holidays, a group picture and a cheers to the future of youth and our ever-changing 5P Industries.

Paper Dimensions LLC Launches New Website Highlighting 50+ Years of Specialty Paper Converting

Paper Dimensions

BEAVER DAM, Wis. — September 4, 2026 — Paper Dimensions LLC, a specialty paper converting company operating in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, since 1972, today announced the launch of its newly redesigned website at www.paperdimensionsllc.com.

The new site presents the company’s core specialty in one place: high-mix, tight-tolerance paper slitting, rewinding, and converting. Paper Dimensions converts rolls from ½” to 112″ wide and 6″ to 60″ in diameter, serving manufacturers, paper mills, industrial distributors, brokers, and end users that need flexibility and precision for technical, kraft, printing, and food-grade applications.

Beyond an overview of its capabilities, the site includes an educational resource for companies weighing whether to slit and rewind in-house or partner with a specialty converter. The “True Cost of Slitting In-House” section examines the often-overlooked costs of internal converting—including capital, floor space, scrap and trim loss, supervision, and downtime risk—and offers a framework for calculating a fully loaded cost per roll.

“We’ve spent more than 50 years doing one thing and doing it well,” said Peter Emenecker, co-owner of Paper Dimensions LLC. “We’re not the biggest converter in the region, and we don’t try to be. We aim to be the most disciplined and the most trusted—the partner customers call when precision matters and mistakes aren’t an option. This new site finally tells that story the way it deserves to be told.”

The website was designed and built by Carson Emenecker during a summer internship with the company. Carson has since returned to the University of Wisconsin–Madison to pursue a degree in computer science.

Paper Dimensions serves customers primarily across Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, along with select national partners whose needs align with the company’s specialty capabilities.

Manufacturers, paper mills, and industrial distributors seeking custom roll sizes, specialized converting, or additional slitting and rewinding capacity are invited to visit www.paperdimensionsllc.com or call (920) 885-3335 to discuss their requirements.

About Paper Dimensions LLC

Founded in 1972 and based in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Paper Dimensions LLC provides specialty paper slitting, rewinding, and converting for high-mix, specification-sensitive applications. The company converts large paper rolls to custom widths and diameters for manufacturers, paper mills, industrial distributors, and niche markets, positioning itself as a disciplined, precision-focused converting partner.

Media Contact
Trista Rahn
Paper Dimensions LLC
(920) 885-3335
www.paperdimensionsllc.com

First Business Bank: Long-term Thinking Guides Steve Marshall’s Work With Clients

Steve Marshall

For Steve Marshall, Vice President II – Commercial Banking at First Business Bank, banking has always been about the people on the other side of the table. Thirty-two years into his career, that conviction has only grown stronger.

“The best client relationships come from honesty and doing right by people over the long haul,” Marshall says. “That’s how you earn trust that lasts through market cycles, leadership changes, and everything else that comes with running a business.”

Marshall works with family-owned manufacturers, service businesses, and other commercial clients across Northeast Wisconsin. Much of his work centers on the region’s 5P operations in packaging, paper, plastics, printing, and converting, where credit decisions have to respect the realities of equipment cycles, working capital swings, and customer concentration. He has spent his career in the region, giving him expertise on the industries, families, and businesses that make up Northeast Wisconsin.

That same mindset carries into his community work. Marshall serves on the Board of Directors for NWTC Educational Foundation. The NWTC Educational Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports Northeast Wisconsin Technical College students through scholarships, emergency financial assistance, and funding for student success initiatives. Founded in 1970, its mission is to make higher education more accessible and affordable for students throughout Northeast Wisconsin. In addition, he is a long-time member of the Green Bay Preble Optimist Club which is dedicated to “bringing out the best in kids” through youth-focused programs, community service projects, and charitable giving. He chairs the Respect for Law fundraiser the club’s annual banquet honoring the men and women of law enforcement in Brown County.

A Commercial Banking Partner Who Takes The Long View

Running a family-owned manufacturer or 5P operation in Northeast Wisconsin means making decisions with a legacy at stake. The banking relationship behind those decisions deserves a partner who knows the region, understands how the business runs through every cycle, and stays at the table for the long run. Connect with Steve Marshall, Vice President II – Commercial Banking at First Business Bank, to talk through what a lasting commercial banking relationship can do for your business.

Not intended as tax advice; consult a tax expert. Products and services are offered by First Business Bank®, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Business Financial Services, Inc®. (Nasdaq: FBIZ), and First Business Specialty Finance, LLC®, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Business Bank. First Business Bank specializes in Business Banking, Private Wealth, and Bank Consulting solutions. Business Banking includes Commercial Banking (Commercial Lending, Treasury Management, and Company Retirement Plans). First Business Specialty Finance, LLC focuses on Equipment Finance, Asset-Based Lending, Accounts Receivable Financing, and Floorplan Financing solutions. First Business Bank also offers Private Wealth (Financial Planning, Investment Management, Trust & Estate Administration, and Private Banking) and Bank Consulting (Investment Portfolio Services, Asset Liability Management, ALM Process Validation) solutions. Equal Housing Lender.

To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, U.S. Federal law requires financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person (individuals or businesses) who opens an account. What this means for you: When you open an account or add any additional service, we will ask you for your name, address, and taxpayer identification number that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see other identifying documents. Member FDIC

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