Concerning Personal Buy-out Preparation
Having been an employee of companies involved in mergers, acquisitions and/or rationalizations in the past, I relate.
I've worked for five paper companies: Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Company, which merged with Great Northern Paper Company to form Great Northern Nekoosa. Incidentally the two mills I worked at for these two companies are now owned and operated by two different paper companies (at least they are still operating). Leaving GNN, I joined Crown Zellerbach at a JV with Simpson Paper Co. That mill is no longer operating (it was built in 1964). Before the CZ/Simpson mill shutdown I left to join Georgia-Pacific Corp. at a mill in the east. That mill is now owned by another paper company and is still operating. Leaving GP, I joined the James River Corp., which had, at the time, recently doubled in size by buying the papermaking assets of Crown Zellerbach (remember them and Sir James?). James River went on, long after I left, to merge with Fort Howard to create the Fort James Corp. which was bought by GP, which had also earlier bought GNN.
So to sum up, I worked for a bunch of paper companies that no longer exist, (GP exists but is now held by privately owned Koch Industries), and at facilities that are either shutdown (and demolished) or being operated by a different company.
Moral: As the unemployment bureau in Georgia advises ....spend at least 15% of your time in your current job looking for a new job.....I'm not kidding!
For what it's worth,
John Yolton
Eureka, California USA
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Your article about fallacies of beliefs about new ownerships are right on track.
Thanks.
I first went to work in the paper industry at Cedar Springs, GA in 1966 when the facility was Great Southern Paper and Timber Company. While I was there for 2 years, the name changed and a merger happened to Great Northern Paper Company, it was later purchased by Georgia Pacific which is now a part of Koch Industries.
My 2nd mill was Alabama Kraft Company, which was a part of Georgia Kraft Company, headquartered in Rome, Georgia. History, Georgia Kraft was started by a joint venture of Inland Container and Mead Corporation in the mid to late 40's with the first mill producing linerboard in Macon, GA. That mill was later sold by Inland Container and Mead to Riverwood. The 2nd mill in the GA Kraft company was 7 years after the Macon mill and was built in Rome, GA, 7 years later it was doubled in size and 7 years later a 3rd mill was added at Cottonton AL, and called the Alabama Kraft Mill. All of these facilities were producing linerboard. The Mead Corporation was losing out in the liner business and added a coater to the Alabama Kraft Mill and started making a coated linerboard for the drink carton business. So Mead bought time on the machine to produce coated board, eventually buying 100% of the time.
Later the two companies businesses diverged so they agreed to divide the company and sell part of it. They sold the Macon mill, Inland got the Rome Georgia Mill and Mead got the Alabama mill. Mead has since more than doubled the output of the Alabama Kraft mill and Mead is now a part of MeadWestvaco Corporation.
I left the company while it was still Georgia Kraft and came to Pensacola to work for St. Regis Corporation, only to have it bought out by Champion Corporation the following year. The company has now been consumed by International Paper Company. The Pensacola mill went through a major transformation in 1986 under Champion to an all white paper mill and now under IP is going through another transformation back to a linerboard mill. Through all these changes I have seen a lot of people come and go.
Go figure.
Tommy Surles
Pensacola, Florida USA
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Tommy: I think you missed one owner of the Macon Mill. Pratt Industries owned it and sold it to Riverwood if my memory serves me correctly.
Jim
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Hi Jim,
Always keep your resume up to date! Always! Also, commit to memory, all your skills and knowledge, if you hadn't already done so. This was even true back in my work days in the 80's when there were continual downsizing, right sizing, whatever you wanted to call them.
I thank you for your plug about the curl guru. I think it is better to say that I became a self appointed guru somewhere around the time I opened my website. Actually, I developed a huge part of my stuff since retiring.
Chuck Green
New York USA
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No, Chuck we should thank you for your continued dedication to the industry. Many retire and we never hear from them again. You are doing a great service to the industry.
Jim
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Dear Jim: From Spain, thanks for your “PERSONAL BUY-OUT PREPARATION” article, brilliant.
Best regards. (saludos)
Joaquín Fernández
ENCE Spain
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