Great Northern Corporation Announces

Leadership Succession

Annual meeting will see Davis become CEO and Raaths become Chairman of the Board

Robert W. Brown and J. James Davis, founders and co-chairmen of the board of Great Northern Corporation, announced that the company’s leadership succession plan will be implemented at the annual meeting in April 2008.

At that time, John R. Davis will assume the position of corporate CEO in addition to his role as President of the Packaging Group. William A. Raaths, CEO since 2002, will become Chairman of the Board.

Davis joined Great Northern in 1986 and has held several key positions including President of the Packaging Group since 2001. Under his leadership, the Packaging Group has expanded to four locations in Wisconsin and is a recognized national leader in point-of-sale packaging and point-of-purchase displays.

Raaths joined Great Northern in 2002 as its CEO. Under Raaths leadership, Great Northern has doubled in size through growth in market share, acquisitions and new venture start-ups.

Robert Brown and J. James Davis will remain on the Great Northern board as Founding Directors.

The company’s new leadership structure will enable it to continue its successful 46-year history as a privately owned company committed to its customers, employees and communities, Raaths said.

Raaths said the change is not so much a retirement for him as a transition to his new role as a board member for Great Northern. He also will continue to serve on the board of the First National Bank of the Fox Cities and turn more of his attention to volunteer work.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever retire, but the traditional day-to-day of showing up at the office will change in April,” he told the Appleton Post-Crescent in a story published Nov. 4, 2007. “There are good people in place to lead the charge up the next hill.”

Davis, who will be leading that charge, believes the company is well positioned with strong opportunities for our consumer packaging and protective packaging product offerings.

And while global pressures and a cooling national economy will pose challenges, Davis told the Post-Crescent, Great Northern should continue to see solid performance in the coming months.

In his new role, Davis said, he will continue a corporate culture established by the company founders and nurtured by Raaths in which integrity, respect, accountability and trust form the foundation.

Bill Raaths (left) and John Davis