INDA Honors Four Industry Leaders with 2026 Lifetime Service and Technical Achievement Awards

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, has announced the four distinguished recipients of the 2026 INDA Lifetime Service Award and Lifetime Technical Achievement Award. Tom Daugherty, Pricie Hanna, Carey Hobbs, and CK Wong are being recognized for their exceptional leadership, innovation, and enduring contributions to advancing the nonwovens industry and strengthening the global community it serves.

The INDA Lifetime Awards honor professionals with distinguished records of service and technical accomplishment whose work has significantly influenced the development and advancement of nonwoven technologies, businesses, and the broader industry.

Award Recipients

• Tom Daugherty and Carey Hobbs will receive their awards at the World of Wipes® (WOW) International Conference, June 30th beginning at 4:30 pm
• Pricie Hanna will receive her award at the Hygienix™ Conference, November 17th at 4:30 pm
• Sabrina Wong, President, U.S. Pacific Procurement Company Ltd., will accept the posthumous award on behalf of her husband, CK Wong, at a future INDA event

Tom Daugherty: INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award
“It has been a great privilege to spend nearly 45 years collaborating with so many talented individuals in this industry to improve the lives of consumers worldwide. I am truly humbled to receive the INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award. My deepest thanks to my colleagues at P&G, partners across the supply sector, The Nonwovens Institute at NC State, the INDA community, and my wife and family for their amazing partnership. Here’s to the next generation of innovation!”

Tom Daugherty’s career spans decades of service to the nonwovens industry, both in industry R&D leadership roles at Procter & Gamble where he first retired in 2016, and also in a unique industry-academic partnership role at The Nonwovens Institute at NC State, where he retired in 2025.

Throughout, he was dedicated to the idea of driving business growth through innovation, and doing this by working to improve consumer’s lives with delightful benefits and winning with consumers vs. the best competition. Other powerful innovation themes included focus on platform technologies that could be leveraged for multi-generational initiatives to meet consumer needs, and to allocate balanced effort across the different innovation types to build, transform, and create markets.

He advanced through R&D positions spanning upstream technology development, business unit product development, and initiative launch. And through his collaboration as a part of multidisciplinary teams representing, in varied capacities, global brands such as Pampers, Luvs, Always, Naturella, Bounty, Swiffer, Mr. Clean, and others, he contributed to product and process technologies that have been used hundreds of billions of times by consumers around the world. 

Nonwoven specific innovations include developing benefits and functions related to comfort, resilience, softness, wettability, fluid handling, apertures, mechanical fastening, carrier for skin care ingredients, barrier for leakage prevention, surface cleaning, personal care skin cleaning, and stretch. And at The Nonwovens Institute, it was an honor to contribute to the delivery of filtration products needed for health care during the COVID pandemic.

Recognizing the importance of contributing to building the business, and to building organizational and industry capability, Tom was also very active in industry service roles. He served on the INDA Board of Directors from 2007 to 2009 and later as a member of the INDA Executive Committee from 2010 to 2016. In addition, he played a significant role at The Nonwovens Institute (NWI), serving on its Executive Committee from 2003 to 2016, including as Chair from 2006 to 2008, and as Chair of the NWI Scientific Advisory Board from 2010 to 2016. And in his second career at The Nonwovens Institute, Daugherty brought enthusiasm and strategic leadership to the organization, helping support its continued growth and success.

Tom commented upon the highlights of his long and multi-faceted career, “The absolute best part of my career was having the opportunity and privilege to collaborate with so many talented people in the nonwovens industry. Collaboration is the most powerful, and fun, way to create and deliver business results.”

Pricie Hanna: INDA Lifetime Service Award
“I have benefited from the services of INDA’s talented staff for the 40 years that I have been in the nonwovens industry.  I am truly humbled and honored to receive the INDA Lifetime Service Award. It has been a blessing to collaborate with this close-knit community of dedicated professionals as the industry has innovated and grown all around the world.”

Pricie Hanna is Managing Partner of Price Hanna Consultants, a firm founded in 2011 with Partner, David Price, which specializes in nonwoven products and technologies. Pricie’s expertise in hygiene absorbent products ranges from tracking market trends to estimating the demand and technical requirements for raw materials – such as resins, fiber, fluff pulp, nonwovens, film, superabsorbents, adhesives and elastics – used to make these products. She is a frequent conference speaker and has authored numerous papers and publications on the global markets for hygiene absorbent products and other nonwovens businesses.

For twenty-three years before that, Pricie was Vice President of John R. Starr, Inc., and led the firm’s consulting practice in hygiene absorbent products and nonwoven wipes. Pricie managed numerous client engagements involving market and technology feasibility, supply/demand outlook, strategy development, new product opportunity evaluation, competitor assessments, value chain analyses, and financial valuations.

Prior to joining John R. Starr, Inc., Pricie was Vice President – Finance, Planning and Administration for the Scott Nonwovens Division of Scott Paper Company. During sixteen years with Scott Paper, Pricie held various corporate positions including Vice President – Corporate Planning; Vice President – Corporate Financial Services and Assistant Treasurer. Before joining Scott Paper, Pricie was a corporate lending officer at Citibank in New York City. She received an A.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed the Executive Education Program in Corporate Financial Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Business. She and her husband Colin live in West Chester, Pennsylvania. They have two adult children and two avid soccer-playing grandsons.

Carey Hobbs: INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award
“I was shocked to learn that I’m receiving this Lifetime Achievement Award. I have devoted my professional career to making cars quieter, making jackets warmer, defending our country, and helping families enjoy quilting. This honor humbles me and lets me know that my career has positively impacted people’s lives.”

Carey Hobbs joined Hobbs Bonded Fibers (formerly known as Clark Brothers Felt Company) in 1963 and grew the company into a leader in the nonwoven industry, with applications across government, military, medical, automotive, industrial, and crafts until he sold in 2015.

He loved providing jobs that his employees could depend on, and his team members became integral leaders in their community.

The company was only the seventh bonded polyester plant in the world. Carey was renowned for creating the Heirloom and Tuscany Collections, which became two of the most in-demand quilt batting labels in the industry.

While he produced his own brands that ranked #2 in the industry, he also manufactured the #1 and #3 brands for other companies. As a result, he produced 90% of the quilt batting sold in America.

“I saw quilting as the ideal arena because it is so personal. Quilt patterns and techniques have been passed down from generation to generation. We still have quilts made by our own parents and grandparents.”

Carey adds, “I figured that if I couldn’t sell all the quilt batting in the nation, at least I could manufacture most of it. If I were going to lose a sale to someone, I could lose it to myself under a different label. I was fortunate to lead a team of innovators who elevated an entire industry.”

Carey was the second-largest producer of fiber fill for ski jackets and leaned into the automotive sector, supplying components for 12 of the 15 top-selling vehicles in the United States. A constant innovator, he owns or has owned all or parts of at least four patents, some of which remain classified as projects involving the joint Armed Forces.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) named Carey the “Small Businessperson of the Year” for the Dallas District. He was also appointed by the George H.W. Bush administration to serve on the U.S. Department of Commerce Industry Sector Advisory Committee for Trade Policy Matters for Textiles and Apparel.

He celebrated his 90th birthday in December and published his memoir, Piloting Life, which includes 60 years of stories and advancements in the nonwoven industry, along with his passion for family and flying. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

Carey served our nation in the U.S. Marine Corps as a jet fighter pilot and a test pilot. In our industry, he served two terms on INDA’s board of directors. Today, he focuses on his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and serves on the boards of various charitable organizations. He and his late wife, Brenda, helped start the Texas Tech University Center for Collegiate Recovery Communities, which became the model adopted by more than 200 universities.

CK Wong: INDA Lifetime Service Award
“It is with profound gratitude that I accept this Lifetime Service Award in honor of my late husband, C.K. Wong. His dedication to nonwovens industry was not just a career, but a calling. He gave his time, his wisdom, and his heart to advancing the work and uplifting those around him. This recognition is a testament to the values he lived by—integrity, perseverance, and service. Though he is no longer with us, his legacy continues to guide and inspire, and I am deeply moved that his contributions are remembered in this way.” – Sabrina Wong, President, U.S. Pacific Procurement Company Limited

C.K. Wong, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Pacific Nonwovens Industry Limited, built a distinguished career at the forefront of the global nonwovens sector. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he became a U.S. citizen in his twenties after earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in New York City.

Recognizing the potential of the emerging nonwovens industry in the early 1970s, CK began his career in the export and import of nonwoven products. In 1988, he returned to Hong Kong as a marketing consultant, and the following year established his corporate headquarters there to oversee manufacturing operations in China. His company specialized in converting nonwoven roll goods into disposable products for industrial and medical protection, addressing the critical challenge of cross-contamination. Over time, the business expanded into household, sports, and other value-added applications. Among his notable achievements was the invention of a patented patient mobility product, which generated significant global business through collaboration and partnerships.

Under CK’s leadership, U.S. Pacific Nonwovens Industry Limited experienced substantial growth. Beginning in 2000, he emphasized the importance of environmental sustainability, investing heavily in a spunbonding production line dedicated exclusively to PLA (polylactic acid), a biodegradable material.

Beyond his business accomplishments, CK was a respected industry leader and advocate for the advancement of nonwovens worldwide. He served as Vice Chairman, Vice Chairman-Finance, and later as an Executive Committee Appointee of INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, where he was credited with helping to open the doors to China for the association. In China, he held prominent leadership roles, including Honorable Chairman of the Guangdong Nonwovens Association (GDNA) and Chairman of the Spunbonded Division of the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA).

Through his vision, leadership, and commitment to innovation, CK Wong made lasting contributions to the growth and globalization of the nonwovens industry. His legacy continues today, inspiring entrepreneurship, sustainability, and international collaboration.