[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 13 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                CONGRATULATIONS TO FORT HOWARD EMPLOYEES

                                 ______


                             HON. TOBY ROTH

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 10, 1994

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share with my colleagues the fact 
that on February 17, 1994, the employees of Fort Howard Corp. will 
celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of this outstanding 
paper manufacturing company as job-creator, paper manufacturer, and 
civic and community leader. Congratulations certainly are in order.
  Fort Howard Corp. has been an integral part of Green Bay since 1919 
and is in no danger of ever being taken for granted. The company's 
outstanding civic and community leadership as well as its pace-setting 
initiatives in the paper industry are widely recognized and are almost 
beyond measure.
  How fortunate northeast Wisconsin is to have in Fort Howard a company 
we can count on. So many cities and communities are vulnerable to 
roller-coaster booms and busts when major employers abruptly lay off 
workers, move out, or simply go broke.
  In contrast to such situations, Fort Howard offers so much more. The 
company revels in its employees and their accomplishments.
  The company boasts of employee teamwork and commitment to 
manufacturing quality products for its customers. In company 
publications, it proclaims: ``Through our employees we have been 
successful''.
  That is indeed appropriate recognition of Fort Howard employees' 
contributions of skill, talent, experience, and enthusiasm.
  Let the record speak for itself:
  Fort Howard, in providing more than 3,000 vital jobs here in Green 
Bay, is the area's largest employer.
  The corporation has not had a layoff of workers in more than 40 
years.
  It is known for its salary and benefits package as well as for its 
stability of employment.
  Fort Howard's Green Bay operations generate an annual economic impact 
of more than $500 million in Wisconsin, not even counting the 1992 
expansion at the Green Bay mill.
  Fort Howard is recognized for its strong environmental commitment. 
The corporation was the very first recipient of the Environmental 
Protection Agency's Administrator's Award in 1991 in recognition of 
Fort Howard's national recycling leadership.

  Fort Howard manufactured the first nationwide brand of tissue 
products made from 100 percent recycled fiber, the ``Green Forest'' 
brand. In addition, the company was the first to manufacture a line of 
tissue products, the ``Envision'' brand, that met or exceeded EPA 
guidelines for post-consumer content.
  The company is the largest manufacturer of tissue products (towels, 
napkins, and bath tissue) made from 100 percent recycled fiber.
  Fort Howard is one of the Nation's largest, most technologically 
advanced recyclers of waste paper--1.3 million tons annually.
  The corporation has invested more than $1 billion in new equipment in 
the past 12 years--an amount equivalent to about one-half of the entire 
tissue industry's total new capital investment.
  Fort Howard is a lean, tough, world-class competitor in both domestic 
and foreign markets.
  Based on a culture of resourcefulness, pride and family values, the 
once small, upstart company has grown to become one of the largest and 
most aggressive companies in the paper industry.
  Fort Howard Corp. sprang into being in 1919 in Green Bay from the 
efforts of entrepreneur and visionary Austin E. Cofrin. The following 
year, Cofrin and 43 original employees began operations in a 30,000-
square-foot building on the west bank of the Fox River.
  From there, the company spread to facilities in Muskogee, OK, and 
Rincon, GA, where Fort Howard is the largest employer in these cities, 
with more than 1,000 employees in each.
  Over the past 75 years, Fort Howard has compiled an enviable record 
of leadership in providing new products, new jobs, new tax revenues, 
increased property values, and community involvement in many ways.
  Given the drastic changes sweeping American industries of all kinds, 
we should all thank God for Fort Howard, and pray that this was only 
its first outstanding 75 years of leadership and growth.

                          ____________________