Golden West Packaging appoints senior leadership

City of Industry, California-based Golden West Packaging Group has appointed Mark Favre to CEO, Brian McDonnell to chief financial officer (CFO) and Doug Keim to senior vice president of customer experience.

Favre brings 35 years of experience in the packaging industry and joins the team after serving as CEO of GoldenCorr Sheets, City of Industry, California.

McDonnell joins the company following 17 years at Smurfit Kappa Group, Dublin, where he served as vice president and CFO of the company’s North America division.

Keim previously served as vice president of customer experience at Honeywell Building Technologies, Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Our plan is to continue to grow Golden West's position as the premier packaging solutions supplier on the West Coast,” Favre says. “We will drive accelerated growth, provide customers with innovative and high-quality solutions and expand our offerings and capabilities. Golden West has an impressive reputation and a dedicated team of employees. Brian, Doug and I are eager to help take the company to the next level of growth, quality and service.”

Golden West is also announcing investments in new equipment, including a new Bobst 64-inch Masterflute In-Line Laminator to be installed in the company's Sacramento facility, as well as several new machines to add printing, die cutting and folder gluer capacity in Southern California, Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. These investments are in addition to the Heidelberg XL 162-6 large format printing press that was recently installed and commissioned in Sacramento.

“The addition of these new machines, along with other forthcoming plans, reflect our long-term growth strategy to invest in best-in-class equipment and technology across our entire manufacturing footprint up and down the West Coast,” Golden West Chief Operating Officer Kelley Wenter says.

Favre began his career with Atlanta-based Westrock (formerly Smurfit-Stone Container) where he held positions of increasing responsibility, including regional vice president. He joined Kapstone Paper & Packaging, Northbrook, Illinois, in 2012 as regional vice president of the container division. Favre also worked with Cascades Inc., Kingsley Falls, Quebec, and held senior operating roles at DS Smith, London, prior to joining GoldenCorr Sheets as CEO in 2018. He is a graduate of the University of Dayton in Dayton. Favre succeeds Craig Reese, who joined Golden West in 2021.

McDonnell joins Golden West from Smurfit Kappa Group, which he joined in 2007 after beginning his career with Toronto-based KPMG in 1998. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, and has attended the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSTEAD) and the London Business School. McDonnell succeeds Mike Murphy, who has served as interim CFO since 2023.

Keim began his career at Georgia-Pacific Corp., Atlanta, before being named chief marketing officer and vice president of innovation at Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. Over the last fifteen years, Keim has also held senior leadership roles in marketing and customer experience at U.K.-based Chep International and Sewickley, Pennsylvania-based Cox Automotive.