Georgia-Pacific
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Former type | Public |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Koch Industries |
| Founded | Augusta, Georgia, U.S. (1927) |
| Founder(s) | Owen Robertson Cheatham |
| Defunct | December 23, 2005 |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Key people | Owen Robertson Cheatham |
| Industry | pulp and paper |
| Employees | 50,000 (3Q 2008) |
| Parent | Koch Industries |
| Website | gp.com |
Georgia-Pacific LLC. is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products and related chemicals. As of fall 2008, the company employed approximately 50,000 people at more than 300 locations in North America, South America and Europe.
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[edit] History
Georgia-Pacific was founded by Owen Robertson Cheatham in 1927 in Augusta, Georgia as the Georgia Hardwood Lumber Co. Over the years it expanded, adding sawmills and plywood lumber mills. The company acquired its first west coast facility in 1947 and changed its name to Georgia-Pacific Plywood & Lumber Co. in 1948. In 1956 the company changed its name to Georgia-Pacific Corp. In 1957 the company entered the pulp and paper business by building a kraft pulp and linerboard mill at Toledo, Oregon. The company continued to make acquisitions, including US Plywood Corp. in 1987, Great Northern Nekoosa Corp. in 1990 and the Fort James Corp. in 2000. In August 2001, Georgia-Pacific completed the sale of four uncoated paper mills and their associated businesses and assets to Canadian papermaker Domtar for US$1.65 billion.
It was announced on November 13, 2005 that Georgia-Pacific would be acquired by Koch Industries.[1][2] On December 23, 2005, Koch Industries finalized the $21 billion acquisition of Georgia-Pacific. Georgia-Pacific was removed from the NYSE (it had traded under the symbol GP) and shareholders surrendered their shares for about $48/share.
The Georgia-Pacific Tower in Atlanta continues to house the company's headquarters.
[edit] Pre-merger Financials
| Financial Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005* | 2004 | 2003 | |
| Net Sales (US$M) |
Private | 19,656 | 20,255 |
| Net Income (Loss) (US$M) |
Private | 623 | 254 |
| * Georgia-Pacific was acquired by Koch Industries, Inc., in December 2005. The company no longer publicly reports financial information | |||
[edit] Management philosophy
Since becoming part of Koch Industries [3], Georgia-Pacific has managed its businesses using Market Based Management (MBM). Developed by Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, MBM is a management philosophy that enables organizations to succeed long term by applying the principles, at every level of the company, that allow free societies to prosper. The MBM Guiding Principles can be found on the company’s web site. [4]
In 2007, Charles Koch’s book, “The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company”, was published by John Wiley & Sons Inc. [5]. The book is an introduction to the MBM management philosophy.
Georgia-Pacific has also been recognized for leadership in workplace safety, environmental stewardship and its work in communities where the company has operations. In 2005, the company received the Catalyst Award for excellence in recruiting, retaining and promoting women.
[edit] Environmental commitment
Georgia-Pacific strives to minimize any adverse environmental impacts of its operations and publicly reports on its environmental performance through its Environmental and Social Responsibility report which is available on its web site.[6]
Based on year 2000 data,[7] researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts named Georgia-Pacific as the fifteenth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States. In that year, Georgia-Pacific facilities released more than 22,000,000 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air.[8] Georgia-Pacific has also been linked to some of the United States' worst toxic waste sites.
Like all large manufacturers, each year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires Georgia-Pacific to report publicly quantities of certain chemicals that facilities release into the air, water and onto land. For the most recent reporting period – 2006 (as of Spring 2008) – the company showed a 12 percent decrease in these releases from 2005. From 2000 to 2006, Georgia-Pacific has reduced its total releases and transfers of these specified compounds by 26 percent.
In 1995, the company drew criticism for allegedly pressuring the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to approve legislation that would allow Georgia-Pacific to "avoid installing pollution gear at many of its plants."[9]. In 1996, Georgia-Pacific agreed to pay for at least US$26,000,000 in environmental measures and $6,000,000 in fines to settle allegations that particle emissions from its facilities endangered people and crops in the southeastern U.S.[10]
Georgia-Pacific is also involved in several remediation sites, many of which were landfills used by other manufacturers, municipalities and other businesses, and individuals. Two of the primary remediation sites - the Fox River in Wisconsin and Kalamazoo River in Michigan - involve the cleanup of PCBs.
Many years ago, GP predecessor companies and others recycled wastepaper, including carbonless paper, into other paper products. At the time, carbonless paper was made with a chemical containing PCBs. The PCBs were washed from the paper and discharged in the mills' wastewater to the rivers.
In 2007, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced legal agreements among the EPA, Michigan, Georgia-Pacific, and Millennium Holdings requiring the companies to clean up an estimated $21,000,000 worth of environmental damage to the Plainwell Impoundment Area. Another settlement required an additional $15,000,000 of environmental work on the Kalamazoo River Superfund site. [11].
[edit] References
- ^ Welcome to the Koch Industries' Newsroom
- ^ Welcome to the Koch Industries' Newsroom
- ^ Koch Industries web site
- ^ MBM Guiding Principles
- ^ The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company
- ^ GP Environmental Performance
- ^ Political Economy Research Institute Toxic 100 Corporate Toxics Information Project Technical Notes retrieved 12 Nov 2007
- ^ Political Economy Research Institute
- ^ "Tall Timber and the EPA," New York Times, May 21, 1995
- ^ "U.S. and Georgia-Pacific Settle Environmental Case," New York Times, July 19, 1996
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Georgia-Pacific |
