Helpful Score: 1
Family Trees tells the story of Simpson's growth from 1890, when Sol G. Simpson started up a small, independent contract logging company in Western Washington, to the beginning of the Company's second century as a privately-held international producer of lumber, plywood, doors, pulp, paper and plastic pipe.
Sol Simpson was an innovator. While his fellow loggers scoffed at the use of teams of horses to haul out timber from the woods, Sol found horse power to be more productive than ox, then the power source of choice. Simpson later pioneered the use of steam-powered equipment, which extracted logs from deep in the Mason County woods for transportation to the tidewater mill of Simpson's principal customer, the Port Blakely Mill Company.
Mark E. Reed, who was first hired to run Sol Simpson's operations, and later became his son-in-law, moved the Company's headquarters to Shelton, Washington, and wxpanded its interests. In the mid-1920s, he opened the Reed Mill, a sawmill operation, and encouraged Henry McCleary to build a large fir mill, and Edward Mills to establish the Rainier Pulp and Paper Company on the Shelton bay tidelands. Reed, who served as mayor of Shelton and its representative in the Washington State Legislature, loved the town and emphasized to his sons that everything must be done to ensure Shelton's survival.
Bill Reed, Mark's youngest son, appreciated the impact of risks, but wasn't afraid to take them. Seeking to utilize all parts of the tree, Bill changed Simpson from being an investor in outside pulp and paper companies to ownership of pulp ande paper mills. Bill demonstrated his belief in Simpson's traditional long-term view by buying and farming timberland to secure the Company's future. Under his direction, Simpson foresters perfected the new science of tree farming.
Gary Reed and Furman Moseley, Bill Reed's son and son-in-law respectively, expaned Bill's vision to make Simpson a significant global forest products company.
But Simpson's story is not strictly about men named Simpson and Reed. The book describes the contributions of key figures such as early-day directors Alfred Anderson, Arthur Govey and Katheryn Wilson; current directors including Jorge Ross, Whitney MacMillan and Pat Pattillo; Timber Company presidents Chris Kreienbaum, Tom Gleed, Hank Bacon, Gil Oswald and Tom Ingham; Paper Company presidents Max Bardeen, Bob Seidl and John Fannon; Jim Rash, PWPipe Company president, and many other dedicated employees whose steady hands made the Company what it is today.
Family Trees is an objective look at the past and present, and the prospects for the Company's future. The story candidly explores efforts to balance concerns for the environment with the Company's need to grow and harvest timber and manufacture and sell its products for a reasonable return on its stockholders' investments.
Sol Simpson was an innovator. While his fellow loggers scoffed at the use of teams of horses to haul out timber from the woods, Sol found horse power to be more productive than ox, then the power source of choice. Simpson later pioneered the use of steam-powered equipment, which extracted logs from deep in the Mason County woods for transportation to the tidewater mill of Simpson's principal customer, the Port Blakely Mill Company.
Mark E. Reed, who was first hired to run Sol Simpson's operations, and later became his son-in-law, moved the Company's headquarters to Shelton, Washington, and wxpanded its interests. In the mid-1920s, he opened the Reed Mill, a sawmill operation, and encouraged Henry McCleary to build a large fir mill, and Edward Mills to establish the Rainier Pulp and Paper Company on the Shelton bay tidelands. Reed, who served as mayor of Shelton and its representative in the Washington State Legislature, loved the town and emphasized to his sons that everything must be done to ensure Shelton's survival.
Bill Reed, Mark's youngest son, appreciated the impact of risks, but wasn't afraid to take them. Seeking to utilize all parts of the tree, Bill changed Simpson from being an investor in outside pulp and paper companies to ownership of pulp ande paper mills. Bill demonstrated his belief in Simpson's traditional long-term view by buying and farming timberland to secure the Company's future. Under his direction, Simpson foresters perfected the new science of tree farming.
Gary Reed and Furman Moseley, Bill Reed's son and son-in-law respectively, expaned Bill's vision to make Simpson a significant global forest products company.
But Simpson's story is not strictly about men named Simpson and Reed. The book describes the contributions of key figures such as early-day directors Alfred Anderson, Arthur Govey and Katheryn Wilson; current directors including Jorge Ross, Whitney MacMillan and Pat Pattillo; Timber Company presidents Chris Kreienbaum, Tom Gleed, Hank Bacon, Gil Oswald and Tom Ingham; Paper Company presidents Max Bardeen, Bob Seidl and John Fannon; Jim Rash, PWPipe Company president, and many other dedicated employees whose steady hands made the Company what it is today.
Family Trees is an objective look at the past and present, and the prospects for the Company's future. The story candidly explores efforts to balance concerns for the environment with the Company's need to grow and harvest timber and manufacture and sell its products for a reasonable return on its stockholders' investments.
