Sellars COO Announces Retirement

Contributed by Sellars Absorbent Materials

Julie Graverson, who has more than 40 years of experience in the paper industry, is retiring from Sellars Absorbent Materials at the end of October. Graverson has been with Sellars for the past decade, most recently as Chief Operations Officer.

"Julie has been an amazing leader whose work ethic, character, and abilities are exemplary," says Tom Sellars, CEO of Sellars. "She truly cares about our people and the business. She will be deeply missed.

After joining Sellars in 2016 as Vice President of Supply Chain, she later became Vice President of Operations and then COO.

Graverson has a great breadth of knowledge of almost every operational aspect of the "away from home" towel and tissue market. She gained this invaluable knowledge from having performed a wide variety of roles, including working in paper mills, quality, training, and purchasing. She furthered her career as part of the senior management and ownership team of National Tissue, which grew significantly and was successfully sold prior to joining Sellars.

In early October, Sellars announced that Wade Kemnitz had joined the company as President and COO. Kemnitz's new role at Sellars was part of a planned succession due to Graverson's retirement.

Kemnitz has extensive paper manufacturing management experience. Most recently, he was President and CEO of BiOrigin Specialty Products, a manufacturer of high-performance paper and tissue products, and a supplier to Sellars.