Midland Paper, Packaging & Supplies, a $1 billion wholesale distribution company based in Chicago, Ill., USA, reports that Stan Hooker, the company’s long-time chairman and CEO, has retired and sold his majority interest to his three partners, Ralph DeLetto, Mike Graves, and Jim O’Toole.  

This transition allows the company to continue its long tradition of being the leading independent paper and packaging distribution company in North America. 

Hooker said "the timing of this transition is good for me personally, as my wife and I can devote more time to being with our friends and family, and the timing is good for Midland given the company’s strong financial position and its proven senior leadership team at the helm."

Mike Graves, the company’s president and COO, will assume the role of CEO. Graves noted that "we are grateful to Stan for his longstanding leadership at Midland, and we look forward to continuing Midland’s legacy as an entrepreneurial, independent organization that strives to be the first choice for suppliers and customers alike."

Hooker has been around paper his entire life. He worked as a common laborer in paper mills in college before completing his degree in business from the University of Georgia. He started his career working in sales with Weyerhauser in Chicago, where he stayed for eight years. Eventually, he went to work for Plainwell paper for a few years before becoming the VP of Sales at Hobart-McIntosh, where he worked for seven years.

In 1983, he decided to go out on his own and purchased Midland Paper with his high school friend and business partner, Frank Morley. At that point, Midland was in bankruptcy and had one location on North Pulaski Street in downtown Chicago. Since those early days, Midland has been on a roll with some well-timed acquisitions and has strategically opened new divisions in contiguous markets in the Midwest. Hooker takes tremendous pride in the people that have joined Midland over the years. He maintains that they are the true strength that has allowed Midland to grow to what it is today.