Georgia-Pacific announced to the Point A membership the decision to discontinue investment in Point A and to close the center effective October 1, 2020. While the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of the supply chain, it also significantly impacted businesses and required close review of commitments to adjust and adapt to evolving conditions.

Georgia-Pacific will continue investing in its own transformation in supply chain and other capabilities under the GP Ventures organization, a new internal organization to advance the company’s development of a global network of startup ecosystems and partnership with the venture capital community and other Koch companies. Plans for the space in GP Center are being developed.

“We know that in order to provide value to customers and society we must constantly re-invent ourselves, and innovation of our supply chain is a key focus of ours,” said Rob Barger, chairman of the board of advisors for Point A and president – GP packaging. “Georgia-Pacific has come away from this experience with the conviction that we have found a better way to collaborate with the solution providers of the world to solve real problems. Although Point A will be dissolved, the partnerships remain and we plan to continue those relationships as we concentrate on advancing emerging technologies, new service offerings and disruptive business models to accelerate GP’s transformation.”

A couple of years ago, GP announced it would launch the Point A Center for Supply Chain Innovation, a unique model to foster collaboration between global corporations, enterprise technology startups and universities. Since its launch, Point A built a membership of 45 companies and partners, a multi-disciplinary innovation team, and activated a number of supply chain use cases that helped increase supply chain efficiency at Point A member companies. Duriya Farooqui, president of Point A, will advise Georgia-Pacific on the transition of Point A’s portfolio and plans to pursue other opportunities that require transformational leadership.