Co-Founders' Message

Looking back across the years, we ask ourselves: what does it take to build a company? It all began with a vision. And people who believed in that vision. People who had the drive to make that vision a reality. People who believed in taking risks and creating opportunities.

It takes a team of such people to build a company. Not the solitary efforts of a select few, but the collaborative efforts of the many employees who have worked in our plants and in our offices; the many who have believed in the vision of what Great Northern could be and who have lived that vision day after day, ensuring its success. Our employees are the face and voice of our company; they define who we are. They determine our success every day, in the skills that they bring to the manufacture of our products, the follow-through with our services and the interaction with our customers.

Not only do our employees make Great Northern a success, our customers do, as well. The ultimate measurement of our success is the trust and satisfaction of our customers. We have worked for years now to become our customers' first call for packaging solutions. It is a testament to this philosophy that our customers regard us as a valuable partner and resource.

Recently Great Northern's management team restated our core values. Although these values have long been a part of Great Northern's culture, it was time to make them a more formal part of employees' everyday decisions. These values-integrity, personal commitment, entrepreneurial spirit and a shared future-are the basis on which Great Northern has built its success, and they will continue to guide us into the future.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to each and every employee and customer who has been a part of the making of Great Northern. We would not be where we are today without your hard work, loyalty and dedication. We all have come a long way, and we are proud of what we have become. And if things continue as they have for the last 40 years, the future is in talented, capable hands. Your hands.

Thank you, Great Northern employees and customers. Thank you for making Great Northern the success it is today. And thank you for believing in what we can become tomorrow.

Sincerely,
J. James Davis and Robert W. Brown
Co-Founders and Co-Chairmen of Great Northern Corporation