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PacWest growing in popularity and scope

The 2016 PacWest conference wrapped up on June 11 after three days of informative technical and business oriented sessions held at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, Alta. Attendance at the event has been growing over the past few years, reaching about 250 delegates this year plus about 50 attendees for the spousal program.

Kelly Parfitt of Canfor Pulp was conference chair, managing the event with the assistance of Scott Curry of CQ Strategy as co-chair. Parfitt noted that the opening forum had a more technical nature this year, which was well received by attendees.

The trade show associated with PacWest also had more exhibitors this year than previous events.

In addition to the sessions and exhibits, conference participants had an opportunity to tour West Fraser’s Hinton pulp mill. The mill has upgraded its pulp line with a shoe press and optimized its dryer in recent years, as well as installing Canada’s first commercial-scale lignin separation system.

The annual PacWest conference is organized voluntarily by key pulp and paper mill representatives, and the IBMP, an organization of industry suppliers.

Next year’s PacWest conference will be held at Whistler, B.C., from June 7-10.

Additional PacWest coverage:

PacWest: Lessons learned from bioproducts

European mills embracing new technology