IP),

GEORGE PETTY — Chalrman and
chief Executive Officer of Repap

Repap Chairman .and Chief
Executive Officer George Petty
has been described as a man who
is the ‘‘glue that makes things
‘work’’, In describing Petty’s rise
to success in the competitive
world of international pulp and
paper during an interview with
the Terrace Review, Bill
Vaughan, Vice-President of
Marketing for Repap’s west
coast operations said this and

. more as he spoke of the com-

pany’s founder and his effect on
the . Northwest with obvious
pride and respect.

by Tod Strachan

The son of an Irishman who
emigrated to Canada following
the First World War, Petty was

' born and raised in Montreal

where he played some semi-pro
-hockey prior to his graduation
‘from McGill University in 1954,
According to Vaughan, Petty
Started on the road to success
after graduating from university
_ by getting a job at Canadian In-

*“ternational Paper (CIP), a sub-
.,Sidiary of the. American owned .

-company International Paper
as. a trainee in the
laboratory. Within ten years he
became vice-president of pulp
sales. ‘‘When he got into pulp
sales,’? remembers Vaughan,

_. ‘he rose quite rapidly.”’

Vaughan added that just prior
‘to his appointment as vice-
president, Petty gained some in-
ternational experience when he

-was placed in charge of IP’s
London’ office, where he was
responsible for European pulp
sales. On returning to Canada,
Petty was made responsible for
the original marketing work and
the opening of IP’s Tahsis-Gold
River operations on Vancouver
Island as well as the Panama Ci-
ty pulp mill in Florida.

_ In the late sixties, Petty
became interested in Penntech
Paper Inc., asmall Pennsylvania
hardwood kraft mill, which was
at that time manufacturing
paper for a major American
magazine. When the magazine
stopped production in 1969, the
mill was scheduled to be closed
but Petty organized a group of
investors, threw in his own life
savings of 12 to 15 thousand
dollars, and became part-owner

_of Penntech.

‘*His was mainly sweat equity,
like when you build a house,’’
explained Vaughan, ‘“‘but they
got the mill going and it’s still in
existence,”

Petty suffered a minor set-
back in the early seventies when,
because of his small equity in
Penntech, he was forced out by
the other shareholders.
However, not a man to be held
back for long, Petty purchased
Penntech shares and according
to Vaughan still owns about 25
percent of the company today.

After leaving Penntech, Petty
returned to Quebec to perform
what many still call a miracle.
According to Vaughan, IP had
closed Tembec, a pulp mill they

—

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 20, 1988 13

~ George Petty: the driving force

_ behind Repap and Skeena Cellulose

owned in the small northern
Quebec community of
Timiscaming, about two years
earlier and were about to
dismantle the mill.

“The townspeople were very
upset because if the mill went,
there was no town left,’’
Vaughan recalled. ‘However,
the townspeople were quite bit-
ter and they refused to let IP
take the wood out.”

Petty got the town, the union
and the Quebec government
together and convinced them to
help him by investing money in
the mill, Vaughan continued,
and the mill was reopened.

“That was a real miracle
because the mill had been closed
for so long and IP was fighting
the re-opening,’’ said Vaughan.
He remembered Kevin Drum-
mond, the Quebec Minister of
Natural Resources saying at the
time, ‘‘If it wasn’t for George
this wouldn’t have happened.
George was the glue that put it
together.’’

‘“‘And that’s what George
does,’’ said Vaughan. ‘‘He has
the ideas and he’s the glue that
makes things work.’’

“This made IP very mad
because they wanted this mill
dead and buried but it has been a
very successful mill ever since.
It’s had a lot of modernization
and a lot of money spent on it,
and Repap still owns about 13
percent, and George is still on
the Board of Directors,’’ he
said,

In 1974, Tembec bought the

N.Y., but a series of economic
factors including high interest
rates, a weak economy and an
inefficient mill led to its closure
in 1982,

A more successful investment

‘made by Petty in 1974 was the

Acadia Groundwood Pulp Mill
in Nelson-Miramichi, New
Brunswick, which he bought
from the Jannock Corporation.
The purchase included the mill’s
provincial timber licenses and
opened the door to international
markets.

In 1976, the Midtech Paper
Corporation was formed to pur-
chase a coated paper mill from
the Kimberly-Clark Corporation
in Kimberly, Wisconsin, and ac-
cording to Vaughan this was the
real starting point for Repap.
New management was installed
at the plant and a market study
was initiated which resulted in
the decision to expand the mill’s
operations into lightweight
coated paper. This decision
committed a total investment of
about $500 million (U.S.) over
the following years and resulted
in the construction of a new
coated paper complex with state-
of-the-art equipment capable of
producing 135,000 tonnes of
lightweight paper per year.

Repap Enterprises Ltd. was
formed in 1978 for the purpose
of combining the collective pulp
and paper assets of Petty and his
associates under one corporate
entity. A corporate reorganiza-
tion in 1981 resulted in Repap
owning Miramichi Pulp and

Paper Inc., Repap Holdings”

Inc., and a minority interest in
Tembec.

In 1985, Miramichi purchased
the Newcastle Kraft Pulp Mill
from Boise Cascade Canada
Ltd. to further establish their
New Brunswick base. At the
same time, the 200,000-tonnes-
per-year Miramichi Coated
Paper Mill was built adjacent to

the Newcastle mill.

‘‘This is the fastest and finest
lightweight coated paper ma-
chine in the world and the only
one in Canada,’’ Vaughan said,
“This machine is unbelievable
when you see it; it makes
200,000 tonnes a year of the type
of paper that goes into Time
Magazine and McLean’s and the

machine runs at 4,000 feet a

minute. That’s about 50
m.p.h.!”’

‘‘We at Skeena are very happy
with this operation because it
protects us in a down market.
We'll have a place to ship our
pulp because these mills have
groundwood pulp but they don’t
have any kraft pulp at this
time,’? Vaughan said.

-Midtech mill.in Niagara .Ealls, . i

On July 10, 1986, Repap
Cellulose Inc. acquired the
Skeena Operations from Westar
Timber which included two

bleached softwood kraft pulp -

lines, the Terrace sawmill and a
tree farm license and forest
license to supporting
timberlands.

Repap also purchased the sole
rights to the ‘‘Alcell’’ process
from General Electric recently,
which promises the most up-to-
date pollution-free pulp and
paper operations in the world.

The rest is recent history
familiar to most local residents.
In a recent visit to Terrace, Petty
pointed to the $30 million saw-
mill being built at the Skeena
Cellulose site and announced his

intentions to build-a major
coated paper operation in Prince
Rupert within five years if the
free trade agreement is signed.
“Over the next three to five
years, if we have a free trade ar-
rangement, we’ll be in a position
to make the commitment to put
in a new pulp mill in Prince’
Rupert along with a high value-
added paper machine,” Petty
announced in Terrace last year.
He predicted a significant im-
pact on the logging industry in
the Northwest because of the
Prince Rupert installation and
with his record of successes over
the past 32 years few doubt that
prediction, or the fact that more
money will be spent in up-
continued on page 14

The Midtec Paper Corporation in Kimberly, Wisconsin, provides a guaranteed market for Skeena timber. The milll,
with a capacity of more than 300,000 tonnes annually, produces a complete range of coated paper grades for sale
in ail regions of the U.S. and Canada. The equipment above produces paper at a rate of 50 miles per hour.

_ Federal Business

. Banque fédérale
Development Bank de développement

dustrial sectors.

medium-sized businesses.
QUALIFICATIONS:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A
COUNSELLOR FOR
SMALL BUSINESS?

_Nation-wide, the Federal Business Development Bank has access to many counsellors
through its CASE Program (Counselling Assistance to Small Enterprises). These counsellors
are experienced businesspeople, who possess a wide range of management skills in all in-

Counselling skills are required in all spheres of business activity, whether it be finance,
marketing, operations or personnel. Services are available to people wishing to start a
business, businesses in an early stage of development, as well as established small and

To qualify as a CASE Counsellor, you should be experienced in, or have owned, a business.
You should have time available for counselling, and a background in management or other
specialized skills. A Counsellor is paid a modest hourly fee while on assignment.

If you are interested, get in touch with us now!
Please forward your resume in confidence to:

Phil Hartl,
Branch Manager
FBDB,

4641 Lazelle Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V8G 188

(604) 635-4951

'

1/20

La Banque offre ses services dans les deux
langues officielles.

BACKING INDEPENDENT BUSINESS

Federal Business Banque fédérale
Development Bank de développement

Canad

©

a