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A century of hard work and commitment pays off for employees
During the long, hot summer of 2001, while the stock market slowed and the United States Congress debated stem cell research, Appleton employees crossed their fingers and hoped for a miracle outpouring of dedication from their coworkers. It was a dramatic season, even for a company where the average employment length was 16 years and workers call one another “family.”
At the time, the Appleton, Wis., company was attempting a creative employee buyout of the parent company, which intended to divest itself of Appleton’s “mature” primary product line, carbonless paper. A recent change in tax laws allowed employees to invest 401(k) retirement funds to purchase the firm with a $100 million down payment and about $800 million in bank debt and bonds. But to make the plan work, employees would have to volunteer three-quarters of their retirement funds to make one bet on Appleton stock. The company organized a private voting period, and for four weeks, the 2,500 employees debated the future.
It was a nail-biter, says Communications Manager Bill Van Den Brandt, a second-generation Appleton employee. “It wasn’t like a United Way campaign, where you can see the poster on the wall, and say, ‘We’re almost there!’ or something like that. It was all or nothing, and we had no idea what was going to happen to us.” The management team publicly announced a 100 percent investment of their 401(k) funds, but the rest of the story was a mystery. With two days to go in the voting period, the company had collected only 60 percent of the needed funds.
In the end, the contribution promises came in, $7 million more than was needed, with more than 90 percent of workers pledging 75 percent of their nest eggs. The retirement funds were converted to cash, and serendipitously—five days later, the World Trade Center was attacked and stock markets plunged, devaluing retirement funds nationwide. “If we had waited even a few days, we wouldn’t have had enough money to do the deal,” Van Den Brandt says. Appleton’s former parent company offered to let the employees out of the deal, but the CEO said no. They were confident in the company’s future and trusted that an old-line supplier could incorporate new ideas, new growth and new products.
Appleton’s employee buyout says a lot about the company, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, says Ted Goodwin, vice president of business development, who started as a chemist at Appleton 28 years ago. “Everyone here has a sense of commitment and a sense of family. They’re friendly, open and driven. We’re a small company with big company resources.”
There was a sense of ownership among employees before the formal buyout, Goodwin and Van Den Brandt agree, but the formal process confirmed that dedication. “It wasn’t such a big leap to say, ‘We own the company,’ because we were acting like owners to a large degree prior to the literal ownership,” Van Den Brandt says.
The official centennial date, May 13, was observed with a picnic at company headquarters where management staff grilled food and played games. The headquarters is still located at Appleton’s original site, once a canning factory. A company-wide celebration was held in August at a local park, and a hardcover anniversary book chronicling Appleton’s first 100 years in business was distributed early in the year.
Through the years, Appleton has evolved from a 30-employee paper coating operation to an international corporation invested in technology, but it has always been one kind of company—close-knit. “That’s part of what drew me to Appleton,” says Chairman and CEO Mark Richards. “The can-do attitude is infectious, and the people are very engaged and want to make a difference. That feels very good from a leadership standpoint.”
In the future, Richards says, Appleton may change its focus, but it will still hew closely to its traditional strengths: workforce camaraderie and the versatile coating techniques, which will still apply to paper but also to other products, such as encapsulated scent. “It has all worked for us for the last 100 years,” Richards says. “I have good reason to believe it will continue to work for us.”
Since the employee buyout six years ago, the value of Appleton stock has increased 236 percent, says Van Den Brandt. It’s a just reward for 100 years of hard work and dedication, but delivered back into the hands of individuals who are committed for another century of growth.
—Rebecca Trela