Pride in profit

Industrial Engineer, Feb 2008 by Cross, Candi S

Boise Cascade CEO Tom Stephens seeks balance in business

A LARGE EMPLOYER OF INDUSTRIAL engineers and other supply chain professionals, the forest products industry is one of the largest renewable resource users in the world. The industry endorses forest management practices that mpact wildlife habitat, watersheds, and timber production, using energy primarily from the sun to make products that are dufable, renewable, low cost, and efficient.

A voice behind many of the industry's policies and practices, Tom Stephens, CEO of Boise Cascade, offers a crisp description of the industry he was introduced to at the age of 14 as a logging truck driver: "Our products are used to house families, schools, and businesses, safely package food and a wide range of other materials, and provide a low-cost medium for writing and printing. These products come from renewable resources and are recyclable and/or biodegradable. Even the sawdust produced during lumber milling is used to make particleboard for furniture production."

Named to the University of Arkansas' College of Engineering Hall of Fame for engineering leadership guided by bachelors and master's degrees in industrial engineering, Stephens has impressed upon much of the timber and wood pulp sectors in the United States. Stephens remembers his first day of "real employment" because it almost didn't happen. The decision to start his career at Olinkraft Inc. (a predecessor of Riverwood and Manville Forest Productions in Denver, Colo.) came after being offered a high-profile technology position.

"It was one of the toughest decisions. IBM offered me a job in Arkansas, my home state for $25 a month more, which was a lot of money in those days," said Stephens. "At the time I was co-oping at a paper company in Louisiana. I decided to go with the paper company because I had an opportunity to learn more about business quicker. A broader base of understanding in all the elements of a business rather than just being a technocrat and isolated in a huge organization. IBM, of course, was a fabulous company, but I wanted to learn more about the broader base of a business."

As an IE, Stephens set out to be both a technician and a business leader. He wanted to apply his degrees (which he calls "licenses to learn") to finance, sales, systems, manufacturing, and product design in a mature industry that considered the environment while increasing productivity and prioritizing relationships with employees.

As such, the broad base of business for Stephens has meant presiding over several companies, leading associations such as American Forest & Paper Association, and testifying in a congressional hearing on climate change. Through it all, Stephens swears by tough standards for himself, an attentive ear to more than 10,000 employees, positive relationships, and the business balance of managing responsibilities, risks, and returns.

Complete business plan

Designated CEO of Boise Cascade in 2004, Stephens refers to his employees in the same spirit one would address a team small enough to fit inside a conference room. The real picture of Boise Cascade LLC is that it's headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with approximately 10,000 employees in 60 locations in 24 states and in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. Boise comprises four businesses: Boise Building Materials Distribution with 28 locations that market a wide range of building products and services to retail lumber dealers, home improvement centers, and industrial accounts nationwide; Boise Packaging and Newsprint, with five corrugated packaging plants located in the Pacific Northwest; Boise Paper, which manufactures and markets uncoated free sheet papers with four pulp and paper mills, two converting facilities, and two paper distribution centers; and Boise Wood Products, which manufactures plywood, lumber, particleboard, and engineered wood products at 22 manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, and Brazil.

Dedicated to recycled-content production, Boise's recycled paper manufacturing operations divert approximately 120,000 tons of recovered waste paper (equivalent to a million trees) from landfills each year. The company recently released a series of paper products that have earned thirdparty chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, an independent certification arm of forests managed to strict standards covering environmental, social, and economic issues. "We now use virtually every cubic inch of a tree as building material," said Stephens. "Chips go into paper mills, and all the waste goes in carbon-neutral energy so even though we're a heavy smokestack in industry, we're a leader in sustainability."

Even with the demand for recycling technology and the pressures of forest management alone, Stephens insists that the rules of engagement between business leaders and stakeholders is no different than any other industry. However, narrowing the gap between factory floor and high-floor executives at Boise has served his company well. Stephens believes that big business stays successful by trickling the power of decision making down to all employees after they receive a litany of communications skills training. Combining conflict resolution techniques he learned in former positions and resource allocation skills fine-tuned in his IE education, Stephens is credited with establishing the Business Savvy and the Employee Advisory Council, which both advocate pointing out flaws and process failures in order to find breakthroughs.