Port Townsend Paper

Port Townsend Paper is a company with a strong past
...and a great future.

In the 1920s, Port Townsend, Washington fought hard to be the site of Crown Zellerbach’s new mill. Through the persistence of local townspeople, the mill was finally located in the Glen Cove area, after nearly being lost to Aberdeen. The Port Townsend Leader has issued only two EXTRA issues in its long history. One of these was on July 2, 1927, announcing that Crown Zellerbach has assured that Port Townsend would be the site of the new mill. This historic issue states, “The history of the long up-hill campaign that has made possible the securing of the big Zellerbach mill for Port Townsend makes a story of a dogged fight against heavy odds that will go down in local history.” Indeed, the Port Townsend Paper Mill has become an integral part of local history, local families, and local livelihood.

The pulp and paper mill at this location has been in operation since 1927 and is Jefferson County’s largest private employer. A variety of unbleached pulp and paper products are produced at the Port Townsend mill including market pulp, converting paper, and containerboard. Also part of the Port Townsend Paper Corporation Family of Companies are three Crown Packaging Plants, two BoxMaster Plants, and the Crown Creative Group, located in British Columbia and Alberta.

Port Townsend Paper Corporation’s officers continue to guide the company with the strength and conviction that originally won the paper mill for Port Townsend.

Charlie Hodges
President/Chief Executive Officer

Charlie earned a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology is 1975. He began his career with Union Camp Corporation in Savannah, Georgia holding a variety of positions before joining Georgia-Pacific in 1990 at the Monticello Mississippi Mill as Technical Director. He then served as Maintenance and Engineering Manager, Production Manager and Operations Manager. In 1994 Hodges was promoted to the position of Senior Director Manufacturing Services for the 40 corrugated plants that GP owned. In the mid 1990s Hodges headed the Mill Improvement Process for Georgia-Pacific, working with all the mills and packaging plants in reducing cost and enhancing throughput. Hodges was named General Manager of the Leaf River Pulp Operation in 1999. The following year he was appointed an officer of the company. In 2000 he became Vice President and General Manager of the Crossett Paper Operations. He assumed his final responsibilities, Senior Vice President for GP, in July 2002. He currently sits on a number of boards including Port Townsend Paper Corporation, the Technical Association for The Pulp and Paper Industry and is a member of the North Carolina State University Pulp and Paper Foundation.

Joe Beers
Senior Vice President, Packaging

Joe held various positions of increasing responsibility during his previous Port Townsend Paper career that began in 1988. Those roles included Technical Director, Assistant Paper Machine and Finishing Manager, Portland Plant Manager and Vice President, Converting Operations. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Evergreen State College. Shortly after the bag plants in Portland, Oregon and Port Townsend were shut down in December 2001, Joe left the company to pursue outside opportunities. As of August 1, 2003, he returned to Port Townsend Paper.

Roger Loney
Senior Vice President & General Manager, Mill Operations

Roger is a seasoned Mill Manager who has significant experience in turning around poor performing assets. Roger has both a Forestry Degree and MBA from the University of Maine. He held positions of increasing importance with both Great Northern Paper and Bowater Inc. At Bowater, Roger was Vice President and Resident Manager at both the Liverpool, Nova Scotia and Calhoun, TN mills. He completed his career with Bowater as Vice President Newsprint Operations, having responsibility for six mills. Most recently Roger was General Manager for SP Newsprint Co. in Dublin, GA.

John Cherry
Director of Operations, Canadian Divisions

John is the Plant Manager for Crown Packaging Alberta, in Calgary. He has been with Crown for three years, serving in a range of senior management roles. He has brought operations management experience with him from Labatt Brewing in New Westminster, and has a total of sixteen years of experience in production management positions. John holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business with a Management major.

James Devries
Vice President, Corrugated Sales

James is Director of Sales for the Okanagan & Alberta areas. He received his diploma in Marketing Management from BCIT in 1988 and began his career with Crown Packaging in 1989 as a customer service representative, and he rapidly moved to the position of corrugated sales representative in Edmonton, Alberta in 1990. James held several other Crown Packaging sales representative roles in Richmond, B.C. and Calgary, Alberta before moving to the corrugated sales manager position in 1999.

Chuck Madison
Vice President, Human Resources

Chuck has been a human resources manager since 1985. He has spent over 25 years working in various human resources positions in the pulp and paper industry. For most of his career, he worked for Rayonier Inc. at mills in Port Angeles WA, Fernandina Beach FL, and Jesup GA. He came to Port Townsend in February 1998. Chuck was promoted to the position of Vice President Human Resources in March 2001. Besides Human Resources, included in his areas of responsibility is public relations for the company. He is a 1972 graduate of Washington State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with emphasis in Personnel Management.

Eveleen Muehlethaler
Vice President, Environmental Affairs

Eveleen is responsible for corporate oversight for environmental compliance. She earned her BS in Chemistry and Biology from Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa and her MS degree in Pulp and Paper from the Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton, Wisconsin. She started her career with Port Townsend Paper in December 1983, as Technical Superintendent. In 1991, she became Paper Machine Superintendent. The management responsibility for the Finishing, Shipping and Order Entry departments was added to that position in 1993. In 1997, she became Fiber Optimization Manager with responsibility for process optimization. In 1998 she was promoted to the position of Area Manager, Technical Services. Eveleen assumed corporate responsibilities in October 2001, when she became Corporate Technical Services Manager. In 2003, she became Vice President & Assistant Mill Manager and in 2008, she was promoted to Vice President, Environmental Affairs.