Fienning named to AICC Hall of Fame

Charles "Chuck" Fienning has been selected as the 2025 inductee into the AICC Hall of Fame. AICC, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a 450-member trade association that represents independent paperboard packaging producers and industry suppliers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. AICC provides extensive training programs, online and in-person, through AICC University. In addition, the association has an active "Emerging Leaders Program" for members under 35 years. Scholarships for young students are provided by AICC Education Foundation. National meetings are held twice a year in addition to regional meetings throughout North America.

Fienning's company, Sumter Packaging Corp. (now Hood Container - Sumter), has operated in Sumter since 1980. His father, Ed Fienning, chose Sumter for a new factory location. Chuck Fienning became president and general manager in 1984. In 2003, Benjamin DeSollar, son of Sue and Chuck Fienning, joined the firm as chief financial officer. DeSollar became president and owner of the firm in 2009 and continued until the company was sold to Hood Container in 2024.

Fienning, a native of Kankakee, Illinois, started in the family's box-making business in 1977 in Kankakee and moved his family to Sumter in 1983 following the sale of the family's original factory, Kankakee Container Co., in 1982. He became active as a member of AICC Board of Directors, serving as chairman of the association in 2012-13. Fienning retired in 2018 after 41 years' service in the corrugated paper packaging industry.

Locally, Chuck Fienning has been very active as a community leader, having served as chairman of Sumter County Council and Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce, president of Sumter Rotary Club, elder at First Presbyterian Church and member of Sumter County Development Board. He is a U.S. Army veteran, having served as a tank lieutenant during the Vietnam War.