I would like to respond to a letter dated Aug 25 in the PDN, “For Van Hoover.”
In it, the letter writer implies that it was the poor performance of the paper mill under the management of Bruce McComas that led to the bankruptcy filing by Port Townsend Paper Corp. and his termination.
I support Bruce and I was concerned when I read the letter, so I asked Bruce to explain what happened.
After I talked with him, I realized there was a simple misunderstanding of what PT Paper Corp. is and what the paper mill is. It’s important to know that the mill is just a smaller division of PT Paper Corp., which has the larger share of it’s operations in Canada.
Bruce took over the responsibility for the mill’s performance and profitability in 2004 after being hired in the early 1980s, according to former PT Paper CEO John Begley. The mill is a division of Port Townsend Paper Corp. and represents 40 percent of the holdings of the corporation. The other 60 percent comes from Canadian operations.
Bruce had no control over the financial structure of the corporation or the Canadian operations.
His only responsibility was the mill, and it was setting records for performance, production and EBIDTA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) at the time of the PT Paper Corp. bankruptcy filing, according to Begley.
After the bankruptcy and sale of PT Paper Corp., the new owners wanted their own management team, so Bruce was let go with a nice severance package. It happens all the time in the corporate world.
In 2014, the same owners tried to rehire Bruce, according to Begley. If, as the letter writer asserts, Bruce was fired for poor performance, why would they try to rehire him later?
I hope this helps folks understand what really took place during Bruce’s time at the mill.
Paul Rogers,
Port Townsend
Rogers is a member of McComas’ campaign committee.