Barbarians at the gate

First, a letter left over from two week's ago:

Hi Jim, 

I enjoyed your comments on names. Back in the 1980s, when Appleton acquired the West Carrollton, OH mill from Glatfelter, one of the first things that mill manager Jim Lewis did was have the water tower repainted with the Appleton name and logo and replace the previous owner Glatfelter (including a few left over Bergstrom and Kimberly-Clark) signs with Appleton signage. I was with Inventing of America and supplying a BillBlade coater for PM-91 as soon as the acquisition closed and was impressed with the way Jim and his Appleton management team handled the transition and took steps to improve morale and dedication. The employees became valued members of the Appleton Papers team very quickly.

I’ve also watched the transition at a number of the recycled board mills acquired by Rock-Tenn – same approach and excellent results over several decades.

Chuck Klass

Redington Beach, Florida, USA

****

Comments from last week's quiz:

1 Like the Canton mill years ago for its damage to the Pigeon River, IP Prattville is being sued by neighbors for environmental damage, so this situation is real, and will only grow as people socially network to produce a crowd instead of tolerating things because they think no one else cares.
2 If they come by car we stand a chance; but we sit next to a waterway as well. perhaps rather than call them the "unwashed" we can find another way to engage them about their concerns. fire-hosing demonstrators with your own army is a losing tactic. Is the answer really that we need more public relations people? How about we take responsibility for our mill, our people and our impact on the community?
3 I'm sure we are NOT! (But, there are two other runners from the bear in this small town, Hope we are the fastest :-) )
4 We have general plans and practice general response management scenarios from time to time; but not this exact one

****

Have a comment? Send your email to jthompson@taii.com. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume we can use your name if we publish your letter.