Strand is presented with Arne Asplund Award

SANDPOINT — The 2011 Arne Asplund Award has been granted to Bill Strand of GEMStatePartners LLC in Sandpoint for his outstanding contributions to the pulp and paper industry.

This international award is presented in recognition of outstanding achievement in the research and development of mechanical pulping technology. Along with fellow 2011 awardee Marc Sabourin, Dr. Strand is the first American winner of the award since its inception in 1985.

The award will be presented in June at the International Mechanical Pulping Conference in Xian, China.

A large portion of the work by Dr. Strand occurred locally at the Ponderay Newsprint Company mill in Usk, Wash., where he and his team designed and implemented advanced control and analysis systems.

In addition to its work in the paper industry, GEMState Partners LLC performs analysis of financial markets for identifying market trends and high return transactions.

Information: www.fact.gemstatepartners.com