According to an article this past week in the Port Townsend Leader, Port Townsend, Wash., USA, it turns out that Roger Hagan, who was the president of Port Townsend Paper Corp. until February 18, got the kraft paper and containerboard plant into financial shape sooner than even he expected.

"My general thinking, my assessment, was along the lines that this was a three-year process," Hagan said in an interview two weeks ago, after his retirement from the mill, recalling his work since his arrival as president in May 2013. "It turns out we did it quicker than that."

That quicker work, which was reflected in improving financial condition, better relations with the community, and steps taken toward environmental improvements, was key to the February 10 announcement that PT Paper and its four finishing plants in western Canada had been purchased by a new company called Crown Paper Group.

"My mandate when I came here was to get the mill in a salable position," he said. "I was involved in many things to get it operating in a positive, good cash-flow manner, and to position the mill so it can move forward. You can’t stand still; you have to move forward, or you are moving backwards."

That assignment came from its previous ownership, GoldenTree Asset Management, which acquired the mill as it came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007. GoldenTree purchases distressed companies, tries to turn them around, then sell them, said Hagan. GoldenTree gave Hagan wide latitude to run the mill.

"The mill operation went well; it really responded," said Hagan. "We were able to get it to record levels and conditions in the market were stronger. We said, ‘now is the time to sell.’" It went on the market a few months ago and other buyers were interested besides Crown Paper, a newly formed company.

On February 10, the same day that the sale was announced, Hagan released a statement to the community that the sale was a positive move for the mill and the community, and that mill management was expected to remain as is. A week later, however, he had resigned. This was portrayed as a dismissal in the February 17 Leader, but Hagan says it was a retirement – "just the time to do this." He would not comment on the apparent quickness of the retirement decision.

The mill’s new owners have not yet named a replacement. In the interview, conducted after his retirement, Hagan continued to speak highly of the new ownership group.

"The new owners have their own outlook on the mill’s potential," he said. "They have a lot of expertise and with the knowledge they brought in, they are in a great position" to continue PT Paper’s growth.

Hagan came to PT Paper in May 2013 from Zilkha Biomass Energy/Fuels, where he was VP of operations from January 2012 to April 2013. Zilkha generates electricity from woody biomass, and PT Paper was considering a major upgrade into a biomass-burning electricity-generation facility.

However, much of his earlier career in the paper industry was spent at Smurfit-Stone and its successor, RockTenn – the same companies whose former executives now form the backbone of the ownership and management team behind Crown Paper.

At Smurfit-Stone and its predecessor company, Jefferson Smurfit, he spent 15 years as an executive running a variety of Smurfit plants in Alabama, Indiana, or Ohio with a mission to turn troubled mills around. He was also general manager of a RockTenn New York paper mill from 2010 to 2012.