At this year’s PPC Spring Meeting in Louisville, our community will gather for a moment that carries special meaning for the paperboard packaging industry.
Immediate Past President Ben Markens will be honored with the Robert T. Gair Award, the highest recognition presented by the Paperboard Packaging Council. 
The award is named for the innovator who helped transform folding carton manufacturing. In the late eighteen hundreds, Robert Gair discovered that cutting and creasing could be performed in a single pass through the press. That insight laid the foundation for modern folding carton production.
The honor is awarded to candidates whose lifetime achievements have made a meaningful and lasting impact on the paperboard packaging industry. Since the award was established in 1988, only a small group of leaders have received this distinction. Explore the legacy of past honorees here.
This spring, Ben Markens will join that distinguished group.
Many people may not realize just how deep Ben’s roots run in the folding carton industry. He has dedicated more than 45 years to the industry, working across nearly every function and gaining an understanding of the industry from the inside out.
His career began in accounting at a camera factory, but it did not take long for packaging to find him. He joined Federal Paperboard as a junior accountant and soon moved into the Carton Division. Over the next several years, he worked across cost accounting, scheduling, estimating, and sales service before managing the department.
Ben later relocated to Massachusetts to work at a folding carton plant where he designed a new costing and estimating system and implemented a company-wide quality program. At just twenty-six years old, he became Plant Manager. By twenty-eight, he became Vice President of Operations.
At thirty, Ben launched his own consulting practice, partnering with manufacturers across the industry to strengthen operations and improve performance.
In 2008, Ben was asked to help support PPC during a challenging period marked by declining membership and uncertainty for many associations. What began as an opportunity to lend his expertise quickly became something much more meaningful. Ben embraced the mission with passion and purpose, dedicating himself to reinvigorating PPC. Through his leadership, he helped inspire a new generation of volunteer leaders and strengthen the association’s role as a unified voice for the folding carton industry.
Ben’s perspective is shaped by decades of experience across operations, leadership, and strategy. Just as importantly, it reflects a deep respect for the people who make this industry what it is.
Technology evolves. Markets shift. Companies grow and change. Yet the strength of this industry continues to come from the people who participate in it and the relationships that connect them.
On Wednesday, March 25, the Spring Meeting Awards Dinner brings the PPC community together to celebrate leadership, legacy, and the people who continue to shape the future of the paperboard packaging industry. It will be a special evening as we recognize Ben Markens and the lasting impact he has made on PPC and the industry he has spent a lifetime serving.
We invite you to join us in Louisville for this celebration. Register now and secure your place at the Spring Meeting as we honor Ben and recognize the legacy of the Robert T. Gair.