Texas Gal

by C. Sprite

    

Chapter Thirty-Eight     I'll Take Boardwalk AND Park Place!

I understood immediately. "They weren't going to Piermont, Roy," I said, "they were returning to their former supplier, who was now owned by Piermont. Your business was built during Appalachian's troubled years. For ten years, as those customers turned away from Appalachian, they turned to you for paper product. We simply reversed that trend and brought them back to Appalachian. You have to learn to discern between a competent competitor, and a dangerous enemy. We didn't set out to ruin you, only to build our own business in a highly competitive market. South-Core specifically set out to ruin you and take your company away from you. I'd be willing to bet that more than one of your sales people has been sabotaging sales on instruction from South-Core. That's one of the nasty little tricks they like to use."

"Sales?"

"Yes. Have you lost a lot of sales people recently?"

"Yeah, come to think of it."

"South-Core loves that little tactic. They tried it with my first company. They actually hired away the entire sales department at a time when the company was having severe financial difficulties."

"Damn."

"I didn't come down here to ruin your day, but to enlighten you and see if we could do some business. If you prefer to hide your head in the sand until South-Core security escorts you out the front door in a couple of weeks, that's up to you. We have a limo waiting to take us back to the airport."

I stood up to drive home my point. I didn't really intend to leave just yet, but I felt it was time for a little theatrical drama.

"Now hold on, DD. Give me a few minutes to think this over."

I looked at Roy's face for a few seconds, and then sat back down.

"It just bothers the hell out of me that I'm winding up back where I started after fifteen years of breaking my backside to build this company."

"You're not back where you started, Roy. When you inherited that first plant in Alabama it was in debt, and the equipment was ancient. You probably spent all your time trying to patch it together and keep it running. Two years after you took over, you replaced all the old junk with almost new equipment when a paper producer in Mississippi folded and you picked up their equipment for a song. I imagine that you have a special place in your heart for that plant because you've steadily poured money back into it since day one. It's a very nice little plant, and you'll own it free and clear. A smart man could take the million dollars in supplies I'm offering, and turn them into two million in sales in no time."

Roy looked at me intently. "You really do your homework."

"My grandmother has taught me that it's not only important to know your business, but to know everyone else's business as well. Most people who are stabbed in the back, are stabbed by someone whom they trust. In this case it was your bankers, not me."

"Et Tu, Brute?"

"Exactly."

"It's not even March yet."

"It will be when South-Core plays the role of Cassius and sinks their blade in also, if you care to wait."

"I might still be able to find a way out of this by then."

"I can see I'm wasting my time here," I said, standing up again.

"Will you please sit down," Roy said. "I'm just kind of thinking out loud. You've obviously spent a lot of time investigating this, and just spent the past three hours traveling to get here. Another ten minutes isn't going to hurt you."

"True enough," I said, sitting back down, my dramatic point made.

"Let me get this straight. In exchange for signing over my entire company to you, with all its assets and debts, you will deed back to me the 'bama plant free and clear, and provide me with one million dollars in supplies; chips, chemicals, parts, or whatever?"

"I will place one million dollars into a special account, and that account will be used to pay the bills up to one million dollars. Or, if you prefer, I will ship you up to one million dollars in normal supplies, charged at my cost. That will give you access to lower prices than your current credit or volume of purchases will allow. Once the million is used up, however, you're on your own."

"That's almost like getting another ten percent," Roy speculated aloud. "And the plant in 'bama is valued on the books at eleven million. Why are you being so generous?"

"So, I've gone from being a conniving corporate raider to being generous all of a sudden?"

"Oh, I didn't really mean that other. I was just posturing. Seriously, why improve a generous deal by two million? I'm strapped to a barrel and about to go over the falls."

"I could play hardball, and possibly get the company for less, but I have to live with myself. I get real comfort from the fact that I'm getting a great deal while not grinding the former owner into the dust, as South-Core does. And I usually have the owner's cooperation with the transfer. Without that I might wind up in an expensive bidding war with other companies seeking the same prize with the real winner being the damned finance company that foreclosed on the assets. I'm not saying that there isn't a certain amount of resentment from former owners that I wound up with their company, but my way allows them to retire with dignity or leave with a healthy stake so they can start again. You'll be getting a proven business asset, in production from day one, with an established client list. I get to sleep soundly, and hope that if we're not friends, at least we're not despised enemies. And in this case there's a bonus. I get to stick it real good to South-Core."

"And those things are worth millions of dollars to you?"

"Yes, they are. It's only money."

Roy Blu drew in a full breath and then released it. "Only money! I can see why the Paper Press people love and admire you. You have flair." After a few more seconds of silence, Roy said, "Okay, DD, you can have my company for the stipulated asset and the one million in supplies, at your cost." He stood up and held out his hand.

I stood up and shook it.

"What now?"

"I have to fill out a binding letter of intent, we'll sign it, notarize it, and then our main business is concluded for today. Essentially, control of the company passes to us from that moment forward. More formal paperwork will be required once we have time to document all assets and liabilities. My people will also move in immediately and begin examining all documentation related to your loans, with the proverbial fine toothed comb. Other people will move into each plant and assume full control there while we assimilate the plants into the Piermont family. If you'll be so good as to send a memo around to every office and plant announcing that the company has been merged with Piermont, we can begin our work. You've purchased other companies, so I'm sure you've followed the same procedures."

"Yes, I have."

"Okay, let's get to it then."

While I filled out the letter of intent, Roy Blu drafted a memo to be immediately distributed to all offices and plants. As soon as the paperwork was signed, and the memo distributed, Bob, Bill, Gerard, and Ron each made one phone call. Each call immediately sent teams of specialists, organized over the weekend, into action. Within hours, and in some cases minutes, they would be boarding planes or climbing into vehicles for the trip to the eighteen operating paper plants and three sawmills in the Mo Paper operation. We had taken over a number of plants in the past, but never with this degree of preparedness. I suppose it was a benefit of having grown so large that we had a huge pool of knowledgeable, experienced, and dedicated people to choose from. It was also necessary because the assets were so spread out and so numerous. We wanted to make sure that things didn't start to disappear because certain dishonest employees felt that the items would never be missed in the chaos of changeover from one management team to another.

It was almost lunchtime, so I asked Bobbi Jo to order lunch for us. While we waited, Bob, Bill, Gerard, and Ron spread out throughout the offices in the building and began collecting documents, which they brought back to the conference room. I spent that time talking shop with Roy and John. The word had already spread, and although people looked at them suspiciously, no one tried to stop them from delving into any filing cabinet, closet, or storeroom. In some cases, people were recruited to carry boxes of documents to the conference room.

By the time lunch arrived, the room was half filled with boxes and the table was covered with paperwork. We had to clear a space so we could spread out the food and eat. The rib dinners that Bobbi Jo had ordered were delicious, but messy, so we couldn't resume work until after the food was consumed and the mess removed from the table. Roy was kept pretty busy answering questions from Bill Marshall about the loans, as Bill examined each document.

When Roy excused himself to return a few phone calls, and had left the room, Bob said to me, "Masterful, DD. You played him perfectly. But why did you give up the Alabama plant? According to Ian's cousin, it's in excellent shape."

"I figured that the plant might hold some sentimental value to Roy and that keeping that would make him more disposed to sell us the rest of the company. Having a familiar place to go to work after he leaves here, might ease his mind and make him less angry with us. I'd like to be able to call on him for help during the transition."

"Very astute, DD," Gerard said. "Congratulations on a successful and peaceful takeover."

"Thank you, Ger, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. We have to figure out how to pay for this acquisition now. The bank still hasn't responded to my request to increase our line of credit."

"The way you've managed it, they don't have to," Bill said. "All of the debt is already structured. We only have to pay up the delinquent amounts and continue on with the business. By giving Blu the Alabama plant, we don't even have to come up with the ten million. The outstanding loans on that plant only total about a million and a half because it was the first one used for collateral and the initial amount wasn't that large. Roy should have paid that off long ago, but the interest rate is quite low."

"The interest rate on the newest plant is outrageous," I said. We'll want to pay off that loan as soon as possible."

"The $31 million we have left on our current line of credit will take care of that," Bob said. "And we'll even have enough to clean up all the delinquencies without having to dip into our reserve accounts. We're in fine shape without the increase in our line of credit. The only downside is that we'll be unable to procure any more plants until we either pay down the debt, have the line increased, or find alternate funding."

"I think that we'll be quite busy with this deal for a while," I said. "We have to find a way to make each of our eighteen new paper plants profitable. I estimate that our chemically processed paper output capacity has increased by about one hundred fifty percent. That's a lot of paper to sell."

"Initially we should shut down half, or more, of the older plants and open the new plant," Bob said. "We'll tell the furloughed workers that the shutdown is temporary and the plant should reopen before their unemployment benefits run out. The equipment in the closed plants can then be checked over thoroughly, cleaned, and returned to prime condition. You told me that Ian's cousin said maintenance has slipped everywhere. The plants that continue operating can then maximize the efforts of the one shift."

"Yes," I said. "As much as I hate to furlough workers, it's the only sensible step. If Roy had done it, he might not have had to sell."

"It would have helped, but only postponed the inevitable," Bill said. "As he said, this operation has been headed in this direction since we took over Appalachian and turned it around. Blu had over extended himself with his financing, and all it took was a small drop in sales to start him sliding down a slippery slope towards disaster. Of course, South-Core probably helped with their known trick of buying the loyalty of sales departments."

"Thank heavens we have Matt Piermont on our team," Bob said. "If South-Core ever tries that with us, he'll know in a minute. They did it to him once, but never again."

Our conversation was interrupted by the return of Roy Blu. Although we were counting on him to assist us in the transition, he wasn't a member of the team and we couldn't talk openly in front of him.

"You'll never guess who just called me," Roy said, looking at me expectantly.

I didn't know if he was simply going to tell us, or if he was expecting me to guess. "South-Core?" I ventured.

Roy laughed loudly. "Well, I suppose you could guess. Yep, it was Benjamin E. Chamberlain hisself. He heard that you were headed this way and wanted to warn me about you. He said that you'd lie, show me falsified papers, and try to convince me that I had to sell out to you immediately, or lose everything."

"Really?"

"Really."

"And your response was?"

"I asked him straight out if he had brought all the notes on my plants."

"And?"

"He said that he doesn't handle such matters. He said that he'd have to check with his finance officer to see if there was any validity to that assertion."

"He'd have to check with his finance officer to see if his company had bought up $70 million in notes recently?"

"Yeah. That's what he said."

"Do you believe that?"

"Hell, no. No CEO of a company worth only $200 million could fail to know if they just spent $70 million. The man's a complete jackass if he expected me to believe that."

"You caught him off guard with your knowledge. He didn't have time to craft a more realistic lie. Did you tell him that I had already bought the company?"

"Yep," Roy said, smiling. "I heard something crash in the background. I wonder what he smashed? I bet he goes home tonight, yells at his wife and kids, and kicks his dawg."

"It sounds like you're feeling better about our deal?"

"I am. Besides getting used it, I know that you didn't lie about anything. I made a few calls, to big accounts that we lost recently, and got an earful about the shit that some of my sales people were pulling. They were intentionally alienating my customers, just as you said. I never knew. If I was you, I'd fire the whole lot of them."

"We'll check their sales records first. We'll be able to spot who was working for South-Core and who was being loyal. Once you know to look, the information is right there in black and red. That's South-Core's trademark tactic, just before the sales force walks out en masse." I smiled at Roy and said, "If you have the time, I'd love to have a tour of the new plant. It isn't far, is it?"

"No. It's only about fifteen minutes from here. I suppose that since I'm no longer the owner of Mo Paper, I don't have to hang around for anything. I'll just grab my coat."

Roy disappeared for a few minutes and returned wearing a heavy woolen coat. He seemed surprised that John was standing with his coat on, but never said a word. He just nodded his head and the three of us walked to the elevator. I wondered if he'd thought that I was trying to get him alone.

The limo was still out front with the motor running, and the interior was warm and cozy. Roy gave directions to the driver, who was a local, and the vehicle began to move. It only took twelve minutes to reach the plant gates. The guard at the booth didn't raise the gate until Roy rolled down the window and showed his face.

The building looked more like an office building than a plant. Surfaced with enameled panels and glass like the headquarters building, from a distance the plant shone like a gemstone in a sea of undisturbed white. I had already seen a picture of it before we left Vermont. The limo driver drove us up to the main entrance and parked at the front steps. There were only about three cars in a massive parking lot. A guard, just inside the main entrance, challenged us until he saw Roy. Roy informed him that the company had just been sold to Piermont and that more people from the new parent company would probably be coming around to check the facility over during the next few days.

The plant was everything a new plant should be. Everything sparkled and shone. John's eye's lit up as he ran his hand over the glistening new equipment. The three high-speed paper forming machines seemed to make his mouth water. There was no need for him to perform a close-up inspection of the brand new equipment, so we just walked along while Roy kept up a running commentary about the plant, construction problems, and equipment.

"One of the areas where this plant really shines is our effluent handling," he said. "The handwriting is on the wall. Waste treatment regulation is going to happen very soon. Paper plants will no longer be allowed to simply pour their waste into the nearby water systems. It's too cold outside to show you, and there's not much to see anyway, but we constructed sediment pools outside where the larger solids in the waste water can settle to the bottom before the water is passed through a series of filters and released into the river. The plant designers estimate that the pools alone will be removing over sixty percent of the impurities that most plants simply dump in the water systems. The filtration system will remove about twenty-eight percent more. Removing almost ninety percent of the pollutants will satisfy most clean water advocates for now. The experts tell me that more efficient filtration methods are currently being tested that will one day allow us to return water to the system that's cleaner than the water we took in to use."

"Pollution has been a concern of mine for some time," I said, "but I've been lax about instituting a program of building such pools. I guess I've been too busy growing the company. We always need all our cash to buy new plants. I agree that it's an idea whose time has come. I remember standing by the water in Brandon and smelling the odiferous discharge from the plant."

"Don't hold off too long. They've been talking federal regulation for a while. Mark my words, the day is coming when the feds will simply drop by and shut you down if you haven't done something about it."

The warehouse attached to the plant was a cavernous place which, if the roof was a little higher and the supports were removed, would be perfect for playing football games. Stacks and stacks of wood pallets waited for paper that had never been produced. The loading dock was not enclosed, as it was in several of our plants, but rather had a dozen and a half overhead doors that could be opened while a truck was being loaded or unloaded. A sort of rubber sleeve could be adjusted to close around the truck's rear body to seal out most of the outside environment. Naturally, there was a rail spur available at one end of the warehouse where several rail cars could be loaded or unloaded at a time.

The sky was growing dark as we left the plant and climbed into the limo.

"An impressive plant, Roy. I can understand why you pushed so hard to get it built."

"It was to be our crown jewel. Now I suppose it'll become your crown jewel."

"Tell me about the Alabama plant," I said.

"I thought you already knew everything."

"I have all the numbers; but they're just statistics. Tell me about your early days."

Roy was still talking about his entry into the world of paper production, his successes and his missteps, as we rode the elevator to the second floor of the headquarters building.

"…That's about it, I guess. Once I bought the second plant, things changed. I kinda lost my pride in making product and only needed to make the company grow. All my energy became focused on adding new plants, and resources."

"I understand completely," I said.

"Yeah," he said, "I can see it in your eyes. John, there, got excited when he saw the new equipment, but you're most excited when you're dealing."

"I can't deny that I feel most alive when I'm negotiating to buy a new plant or company."

"But then you feel a letdown when it's over; whether you got it or not."

"Yes."

"I know the feeling well," he said.

We had reached the conference room door. "Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye for now, Roy. I'll be heading back to Vermont. You can take over the Alabama plant as soon as the final papers are signed. Before then you should remove your personal possessions from your office up here."

"I'll do that tomorrow, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'm sure that my guys will have a few more questions for you, if you have the time."

"I'm at your complete disposal until we wrap this up. Thank you, DD. And I do hope that we can consider ourselves friends. I appreciate what you've done and the generosity you've shown."

"Good luck, Roy. I'm sure we'll meet again. I just hope that it's not while bidding against one another for a plant."

"I hope not, DD," Roy said as he held out his hand. "Something tells me I'd come off just as short as South-Core if that happened."

I smiled, shook his hand, and entered the conference room as he turned and walked away. My guys were still hard at it. John was listening like an interested spectator as the others discussed finances and organization. I removed my coat and took my former seat.

"Boss," Bob said, holding up a piece of paper, "based on the sales numbers, and production capability, we feel that we have a list of the plants that should be shuttered temporarily."

"Let me see," I said, extending my hand. I wasn't familiar with the plants so I would go with my team's recommendation, but I wanted to appear to contribute. After reading down through the names, I handed the list back. "Okay, Bob. As soon as the transfer is complete, give the word. Keep all the engineers and their helpers on though, to assist in the maintenance work, and the guards to protect the plant. That will also show the workers that the furlough is temporary while we prepare the plant for new activity."

"Right."

"I'm ready to head back to Vermont. Is everyone set here?"

Bill, Gerard, Ron, and John nodded. They would remain behind for at least several days while the teams moved in and assumed operational control of the company. John would head up the team that would open up the new plant and get it operational. Workers furloughed in other plants would be offered an opportunity to transfer here to work while their plant was closed. Bob and I said our goodbyes and headed out after calling the airport to alert the flight crew that we would be there shortly.

As the plane climbed to altitude, Bob and I looked at maps of the six states involved and marked where each plant or sawmill was located. By then some of the teams had arrived at the locations and were probably already inside the plants getting a feel for the operation.

"It went so much better than I thought," Bob said as he folded the maps and put them away.

"I feel the same. I expected much more gnashing of teeth and displays of temperament. I guess Roy has seen it all, having purchased so many properties himself. He knew it was over."

"It's too bad. He's really a likable fellow."

"I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him. He'll take a while to get his feet back under him and then he'll be looking to expand again."

"You think so?"

"I don't have a doubt in the world," I said confidently. "I saw it in his eyes."

I was bored Tuesday and Wednesday. The adrenaline rush was over and I had nothing to do. It didn't pay to look at the three Possibles I had given to Bob because we had no money to buy anything, and my people would be fully occupied for months or longer with the Mo Paper acquisition.

On Thursday morning Bob phoned and asked if I was busy. I was desperate for some company and told him to come over. He knocked and entered a few seconds later.

"I just heard from Bill Wentworth."

"And?"

"Apparently he heard about the Mo Paper deal from somebody. He's really agitated."

"About what?"

"He thinks that we went to somebody else for the money because the bank was dragging its heels."

"Good. Let him sweat. They've made a lot of money from us. I thought they'd treat us a little better. It's like Roy Blu always says— Damn bankers!" I grinned at Bob.

"I told him that we'd given them every opportunity to remain our main funding source. I said that we'd had a wonderful relationship and had always found him very helpful and accessible."

"That's not what he wanted to hear, though."

"No, it certainly wasn't."

"Even though we won't need additional money to finish the acquisition, we want to replace that note on the new plant with its outrageous interest rate. Don't make him sweat too much; he might give us problems down the road."

"He said that the board met in a special session last night just to consider our request, and approved our new line of credit. It's now $300 million."

"Wonderful."

"Not only that. Bill said that if we're willing to replace whatever funding source we found for the Mo Paper deal, they'll give us as much as we need, up to the new line limit, at prime less a quarter-point."

"Even more wonderful."

"I told him I'd talk to you and see what I could do. I said that we hadn't actually signed papers with the other funding source because we were still preparing the transfer papers, although we had a binding contract to purchase Mo Paper and had actually placed our own people in the key positions already."

"We definitely want to replace the newest note," I said, "but a couple of the older notes have interest rates below what he's offering. We should probably just catch up the arrears and continue to make payments on them."

"Even though South-Core is holding the paper?"

"Especially since South-Core is holding the paper," I said. "I'm sure they didn't have $70 million just lying around, so they must have borrowed it. That means they're paying interest at the current prime plus or minus whatever they could negotiate, while collections are lower than the current prime rate. Each month that goes by probably costs them money."

Bob chuckled. "I've been so involved with other details that that never occurred to me. I bet Roy's bank was delighted to turn over those old notes with the lower interest rates."

"South-Core isn't going to want to hang onto the paper," I said, "so they'll try to sell it to a financial institution, and they probably will. It won't be too hard to move because of our great credit rating, but anyone picking it up is going to require South-Core to pay the difference between the current interest rate and the rate on the old notes until each note is satisfied. Even if the rate is the same as what our bank would charge, I'd like to leave the old note in place. It'll also leave us more money on our line."

Bob chuckled again. "This is really going to hurt South-Core, big time."

"Yeah," I said, "and it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch."

The thought that South-Core was going to be paying for their attempted treachery for some time made me feel good all day. I settled down with a pile of magazines and caught up on all the news in the industry, but every once in while I chuckled as I thought about the screaming and yelling that must be going on over at South-Core Headquarters in Boston.

I signed the paper work for the money we would need to complete the transfer and pay up the arrears and A/P before I left on Friday. The regular weekly meeting was suspended because there was almost no one around to attend. I spent some time with Matt Piermont Friday morning and filled him in on the purchase. He had already heard about it from Bob, of course, but I felt he should hear my take. It was going to be up to him and his people to sell the paper we were now capable of producing, and that was an incredible challenge. As VP of Marketing he would also have to find out who at the Mo Paper sales office had been in the South-Core camp and discharge them. I also gave him responsibility for deciding if we would even continue to have a sales office in Missouri, or consolidate that operation in one of the three existing regional sales centers. If we had to drop most of the sales staff, this would be the ideal time to move the operation.

With the suspension of the regular weekly meeting, I was able to get away early. Since I hadn't had a physical checkup since June, I'd made an appointment with Dr. Clark and we stopped briefly in New Jersey for a quick exam.

My mother and sisters were just returning from a ride as the plane prepared to land at the ranch and they raced to get to the taxiway to greet me. Well— Judy, Mary, and Susan raced. Mother just cantered along; but she arrived before the plane took off again. I realized that I had missed two fun weeks at the house, but I had been able to alleviate my guilt over having been absent from my division for so long. It would be almost three more months before I returned to Vermont again.

Ricardo showed up to collect the horses, and my sisters helped me carry my bags to the house. As we entered the house, I breathed in deeply. The smell of freshly baked pies filled the air.

"You've been baking?" I asked no one in particular as we climbed the stairs to my bedroom.

"All day," Susan said. "There'll be fresh apple, peach, and rhubarb pie for desert."

"How was Vermont," Mother asked.

"Cold," I said. "I was glad to head for home. It was also cold in Pennsylvania and Missouri."

"What's in Pennsylvania?" Mary asked as we set the bags down in my room.

"I stopped in Franklin to observe the progress in the plant I bought last summer."

"What's in Missouri," Judy asked.

"The headquarters of the company I just bought."

"You bought another company?" Susan asked. "Never mind. I should have expected it. You were gone for two weeks. I know that you can't go that long without buying a paper plant."

"Who did you buy, dear?" Mother asked.

"I purchased a little company called Mo Paper."

"Mo Paper?" Susan asked. "'Always ask for Mo Paper' Mo Paper?"

"Yeah. You've heard of them?"

"Of course. They're enormous. They sell their paper in the college bookstore. Which plant did you get and why were they selling it?"

"I didn't buy just one plant. I bought the whole company."

"The entire company? Aren't they bigger than Piermont?"

"They had more paper plants than us, but our company was the larger of the two. Our assets, with our business forms plants, corrugated box operations, sawmills, and forestlands, made the difference."

"How big were they?" Judy asked.

"Nineteen paper plants, three sawmills, a corporate office building, and 345,000 acres of forestland. Their assets were valued at $240 million."

"$240 million?" Susan echoed. "You mean a two with a four and seven zeros after it?"

"That's the generally accepted way of writing it."

"My god! You can't be serious."

"That's a tremendous amount of money, dear," Mother said. "What did your Grandmother say?"

"I wrote a full report while I was on the plane, but I haven't spoken with her yet."

"You bought a $240 million dollar company without speaking to Grandma first?" Susan asked incredulously.

"She keeps telling me it's my division to manage as I see fit. No, I didn't talk to her before buying the company."

"Is it a good investment, dear?" Mother asked.

"It will be, if we can turn it around. They've been having trouble for a while. We're going to have to close about half the paper plants until we see the sales rebound a bit. They had too much capacity on line, and their payroll and operating expenses dragged them down."

"You bought a company so you can close the plants down?" Susan said. "Now that's smart business."

"While they're closed, we'll overhaul all of the paper forming machines and other equipment so it's ready when we need it."

"But you'll be laying off so many people," Judy said.

"A lot of them will be offered temporary jobs in other plants until their plant reopens. But some will be furloughed for most of this year. A lot of employees had already been let go as the plants cut back operations. If we can turn things around, we'll wind up calling a lot of the former employees back to work."

"And if you can't turn things around?" Susan asked.

"Then I might be scrambling to sell the plants before they drag down the rest of the division. The good news is that I got them all for about a third of their value, so I should be able to move them, if I have to, and not lose anything."

"How many plants do you have now?" Mother asked.

"We immediately sold one of the plants back to Roy Blu as part of the deal, so all together we have 32 paper plants, 6 sawmills, 3 cardboard plants, 2 forms printing companies, 1 roof material producer, several office buildings, and 713,000 acres of forestland. We doing business in 17 states, our assets total about $540 million dollars, and our debt is about $144 million."

"Good god, Darla Anne," Susan said. "You owe 144 million dollars?"

"It's not so much when you realize that we have a net value of $396 million," I said.

"Aggh!" was all Susan said as she walked out of the room. Mary and Judy just smiled, but I could tell that Mother was concerned as they left me alone to unpack.

I was able to completely immerse myself in family life on Saturday, beginning with a wonderful morning soak. Then we all went for a long ride and spent the afternoon playing board games or just talking. I only had one rule for the day, and that was no talking about business unless Grandma came over!

Grandma never put in an appearance, so Sunday morning I slipped my report into an envelope, addressed it to Grandma's Dallas office, and put it with the outgoing mail. After packing up the car, we jumped in and sped off for Austin. Auntie and Mary waved to us as we drove down the driveway. They would be leaving shortly as well, but Auntie was flying Mary down to School. She then planned to continue on to Austin and meet us at the house. After spending the night with us, she'd fly directly to her job site in the morning. She was really enjoying her plane and getting the maximum use from it.

We opened the windows slightly to get some fresh air once we arrived in Austin, but it was still winter so we couldn't open them wide. Auntie arrived a little later than expected, but in time to have dinner with us. While Susan, Judy, and I prepared our clothes for the first day back at school, Mother and Auntie watched television. Personally, I had come to intensely dislike the noisy electronic box, much preferring to watch movies in our theater at home.

The first two days of frenetic activity netted us our new schedules and a complete set of books from the college store. Susan again took as many of my former books as possible. She had enjoyed having all the important stuff already highlighted.

While in the college store I took time to closely examine the paper supplies. I was amazed that I had never done so before, as my interest in all things related to paper rarely flagged. I guess it was because I got all the three hole punched and typing paper that I wanted from Piermont. Most of the loose paper in the store, such as typing and copy paper, was the Mo Paper brand. There were also Mo Paper pads and notebooks with glued edges or wire spiral bindings, and stitched notebooks in both soft cover and hard cover varieties. There wasn't a single Piermont item in view. I thought about that for the rest of the afternoon.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, my first class wasn't until 10 o'clock. In the past I would make my weekly call to Bob Warren on Tuesday morning, but since I had been so busy, I hadn't spoken to him then. I called him on Thursday.

"Hi, boss, how's school?" he said as the connection went through.

"Fine, Bob, but we haven't had our first regular class yet. They start Monday. So far the professors are only talking about general things."

"I bet you're looking forward to them."

"I am. How are things going with the Mo Paper transfer?"

"We're moving right along as fast as we can. I hope to wrap things up in a few weeks. It's taking longer than previous deals because there are so many properties involved."

"We own the trademark name Mo Paper now, don't we?"

"Of course, just as we own the trademark names Appalachian Paper, Plymouth Paper, Oak Mill Paper, Owosso Paper, Gorham Paper, and every other company we've purchased as a complete company rather than simply as specific assets. What are you thinking?"

"Mo Paper seems to be a more recognized name than the others," I said.

"Yeah, that's true. They were a lot bigger than the others, and Roy spent a lot of money and effort promoting the brand."

"Name recognition is important in marketing."

"It is indeed. Piermont has been developing a name for quality, and a very loyal following."

"Make sure that we don't lose the rights to the Mo Paper trademark, okay? Roy Blu may seek to have it signed over to him, but I want to reserve it for us."

"What's up, boss?"

"There's not a single Piermont item in the college bookstore here, but there are a couple of dozen different Mo Paper products."

"Are you saying that we shouldn't bring the Mo Paper plants into the Piermont division, but run them like a wholly owned subsidiary?"

"No, not at all. I just think that we may want to continue marketing products under the Mo Paper brand, just as other companies make and sell under multiple names where brand recognition exists when they acquire a company or product line. Talk it over with Matt when you get a chance. He may have some ideas on the subject."

"Sure thing, DD. Do you want me to call you back after I speak to him?"

"No, it can wait until our regular weekly call on Tuesday."

"Okay, boss. Anything else?"

"No, I guess that's it from my end. Anything I should know about?"

"Nothing special. I understand from Bill that Roy removed all his personal effects from his headquarters office. The guys are still buried in the paperwork down there, but so far no red flags. It looks like this transfer will be smooth and easy. The employees are relieved that a solid company like Piermont has taken over the company. We haven't let on yet that most headquarters jobs will be disappearing, but I'm sure that the higher level managers know. We'll do what we can to keep the better ones by transferring them to other positions and locations. Matt's still working to uncover the sales people that were working with South-Core."

"It's only been a few days. He'll root them out as he examines the sales records and contacts the customer accounts they were servicing."

"I'm sure you're right."

"Okay, Bob. Thanks. I'll call you next week."

"Talk to you then, boss."

As I hung up the phone I thought about how lucky I was. I could rush back east, stir up a hornet's nest, and then retreat to Texas, leaving my people to settle things. No matter what problems I created with my seemingly impetuous purchases of companies and plants, I could count on my managers to resolve all the problems and start the plants rolling towards profitability. Although I got all the credit in the press, my managers were the real wizards. Grandma had given me a good team to start, and I had been fortunate enough to acquire more wonderful people as the company grew. I was lucky indeed.

Except for my weekly call to Bob Warren I was able to completely forget about Piermont as I threw myself into my studies and my read ahead work. Judy and Susan worked almost as hard, but they always made time for dates, so on Friday and Saturday evenings I usually had the upstairs to myself until 10 o'clock. On Saturday afternoon we could invariably be found shopping in Austin. We didn't need to shop as often these days because we weren't outgrowing our clothes. We just shopped because we enjoyed it.

Although I hadn't joined the chess club, as my advisor proposed more than once, I had begun making more and more friends on campus. I'd about reached my adult height and I looked more like an eighteen-year-old than some of the eighteen-year-olds on campus. It had been some time since anyone had dismissed me as a kid, and I enjoyed my upgraded status.

I had begun to think that most people had either forgotten about my other life, or had never known about it in the first place and I liked the anonymity. But that changed in a heartbeat near the end of March when the latest issue of Paper Press came out. All of a sudden I was a celebrity again. The folks at Paper Press had created a cartoon caricature of me riding a bucking jackass whose caricature face bore an uncanny resemblance to the image of Benjamin E. Chamberlain, the CEO of South-Core. The words South-Core were emblazoned across the side of the animal. The title of the piece was 'DD Rides Again.'

The article spoke of how I'd led my staff in a lightening fast acquisition of a major paper producer with 19 small plants across the Midwest, beating out South-Core, who was surreptitiously trying to acquire the same company. As in the past, the article spoke of my past successes and incredible business acumen that made my division the stellar performer at Ameri-Moore. A second article was dedicated to South-Core's involvement in the takeover. Someone at South-Core must have leaked inside information because the reporter gave all the facts about South-Core's attempt to acquire the company by buying their notes and waiting until the company collapsed under debt. According to the reporter the failed attempt had cost South-Core over four million dollars, with nothing to show for their investment except embarrassing questions about certain unethical business practices.

If the article in the Paper Press was the only public announcement, it would soon have been forgotten. But the article stirred the imagination of the national press and I was besieged by reporters whenever I left the house. I refused to speak with them and within a week they had moved on to annoy other people, but the damage was done and I was once again the topic in whispered conversations and the target of pointed fingers as students pointed me out to other students.

The start of Spring Break got me away from the campus for a while. I hoped that when I got back, people would have forgotten about the young girl who led a double life of college student most of the year, and successful business executive the rest.

Spring had sprung in Vermont, and I opened one of the rear windows in the limo as Earl drove me to the plant. The guard at the booth snapped smartly to attention as we approached and held it until we had passed. I didn't recognize him so he must be new. I would have to get used to the fact that I would increasingly have difficulty knowing my employees. There were just too many now. I had already been having problems remembering names before the Mo Paper deal.

Since I hadn't been around for three months, I took a few minutes to speak with Doris at the front desk before entering the elevator to the second floor. I then spent a full ten minutes with Nancy upstairs in the executive suite. I was able to recall enough names to greet most people I passed by their first name. I felt good about that, but I had known most of these people for quite a while.

Nancy had made a pot of tea for me, and I prepared a cup before settling in at my desk to begin work. I groaned slightly as I looked at the enormous stack of new employee forms waiting on my credenza, took a deep breath, and started in. As I waded through the forms and looked at the faces, I wondered how much longer I should continue to do this. I knew that I would never remember the names and faces I saw, but I continued on the rest of the morning. Many of the forms had a note stapled to it that said the employee had been placed on temporary furlough due to suspension of activity as a given plant. I finally finished my perusal and filed the forms by lunchtime.

Nancy had left a copy of the cafeteria's luncheon and dinner specials on my desk. Today was pizza day so I called Nancy and asked her to have someone pick up lunch for me. I would go myself, but every time I went there, the employees on line kept insisting I go ahead of them. I was content to wait, but they wouldn't hear of it. It made me feel like I was taking advantage of my position to put myself ahead of people.

I was reading through my mail when I heard a knock at the door. I said, "Come in," and was shocked to see Matt Piermont walk in carrying two large, rectangular baking trays.

"Come and get it, DD," he said as he carried the trays to my conference table and set them down. "Fresh from our own cafeteria."

"Matt, how have you been?" I said as I stood up and walked to the table.

Matt was already inside my small kitchen retrieving plates, silverware, and napkins.

"Great. How about yourself?"

"Just fine. Have you been demoted to cafeteria waiter?" I asked jokingly.

"Only for very special people; like yourself."

I smiled and sat down at the table as he finished putting out a place setting for himself and me. One tray contained an entire pepperoni pizza, while the other contained a chocolate pudding pie and bowl of whipped cream. Matt used a spatula to place a piece of pizza on my dish, then served himself. As he sat down, he suddenly got a strange look on his face.

"Uh, I should have asked first. May I join you for lunch?"

"I'd be delighted to have your company, Matt. I'd thought that I'd have to eat alone."

During lunch we talked about anything except business. I told Matt about my studies, and he told me about the new love in his life. He'd met a woman at a marketing convention in Boston last fall, and been smitten. They had already advanced to the point of discussing her possibly moving to Brandon.

"That's wonderful, Matt. She sounds delightful."

"She is, DD. She reminds me of you. She's kind, considerate, and sharp as a tack."

"You say she currently lives and works in New Jersey?"

"Yes, in Secaucus."

"Do you think she'd be happy up here? It's a very different lifestyle."

"She comes from a small town in Maryland and hates New Jersey with its traffic problems and urban life. She's been thinking of quitting and heading back to the rural life."

"It sounds ideal then," I said.

"Katie's been up here several times and loves the town and the people. We talk for a few minutes almost every day."

"Wonderful. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, DD."

We had finished lunch, so I helped Matt clear the table and wash the dishes. He had a meeting with his staff so I told him to leave the tray and cafeteria items. I would have someone come up to get them later.

I returned to my mail when I was alone again, and quickly finished. I must have looked at the closed file folder containing the offers to sell businesses for a full five minutes before I finally opened it. I knew that I would be tempted to once more jump into the game if I started looking through the letters. I ultimately gave in to the temptation and began separating the offers into piles for rejection and additional consideration. I was amazed at the number of offers, but I guess I shouldn't have been. Every time I received publicity over an acquisition, the offers flooded in. Given the size of the Mo Paper acquisition, the news had probably made financial columns in newspapers around the globe.

I gave Nancy the overseas offers and the ones from businesses too small for our consideration, so that she could begin preparing the rejection letters, then settled in again to reread the rest. We had so much unused capacity for chemically processed papers now that I immediately rejected the offers for plants producing that kind of paper. I also rejected soft paper producers. I still didn't want to get into manufacturing facial tissue, bath tissue, and paper towels. The remaining pile was quite small, containing just four offers.

Having completed all the necessary business, I opened my briefcase and took out the papers on the project I had been tossing around since January. I worked on the project until about three o'clock when I received a call from Bob Warren.

"Hi, boss. You available?"

"Hi, Bob. Sure, come on in."

"Be right there."

I quickly slid the materials I was working with into a desk drawer and picked up my tea cup to take a sip. A few seconds later there was a knock at the door and Bob Warren strode into the room. He came over and plopped into one of the chairs facing my desk.

"I just got back from Gorham," he said.

"Problems?"

"Nothing major. We had a slight problem. Nobody was hurt. A roll of paper fresh off the line was being moved by traveling crane Friday when the crane motor froze up. We had to stop production because the finished rolls couldn't be moved out of the way. The engineers worked all weekend to get things straightened out. I flew up there this morning to take a look and make sure that the problems are resolved. They are."

"Good. How's the plane working out?"

"Terrific. It makes me wonder how I ever got along without it before."

"How are things going with the Mo Paper transition?"

"We presented Roy Blu with the deed to the Alabama plant this past week, free and clear of all debts. He was anxious to get rolling and we had already sent the first of his supplies to the plant. He asked me again if you'd relented about keeping the Mo Paper trademark. I told him you were adamant, and that we intended to market product under that name. He was disappointed, but he certainly understands the value of an established product name."

"Good. And the financing?"

"As you know, all delinquent payments were made as soon as we took over the company, and we've paid off the note on the Jefferson City plant by borrowing against our credit line. I've also paid off six other notes where the interest was higher than we're being charged by our bank, plus the one on the Alabama plant. The other thirteen notes will be paid down according to the schedule of payments originally established, at the interest rates originally established. South-Core is eating a bundle of interest expense in this deal."

"They must hate me even more now."

"Chamberlain might wind up losing his job over this debacle. I understand that the value of their stock has plummeted since that article in the Paper Press appeared. I heard that their stock fell to $11 a share this morning."

"$11 a share?"

"Yeah, about that. Maybe it's 11 1/8 or something."

"But isn't the company supposed to have a net value of $200 million, with about 10 million shares outstanding?"

"At one time, that was the case. But you've been eating their lunch for a while. I don't know what their numbers are like now."

"Hmmm," was all I said.

Bob Warren smiled. "Should I assume from that look in your eyes that you're hatching a plan?"

"I was just thinking that for $5.5 million dollars I could acquire a five percent stake in the company and probably get a seat on the Board of Directors. I think you first suggested that back when their stock was at $14 a share."

"I wasn't really serious back then. We didn't have the money to do anything like that."

"Yeah, we don't really have it now either; and won't have until the problems with Mo Paper are licked. I wonder if I bit off more than we can chew."

"It's seemed that way every time you've purchased something, but we've always turned them around, and we'll turn Mo Paper around also. If the plants were operating profitably, they wouldn't have been such great deals."

"Judy has been making me feel guilty about all the lay-offs."

"They were necessary for the health of the entire division."

"I know. And I keep telling her that we'll recall the people back just as soon as we can."

Probably trying to change the subject, Bob nodded towards the folder on my desk. "Anything in the Possibles folder?"

"I narrowed it down to four offers. A forms plant in Ohio, and three cardboard producers."

"No paper?"

"We have way too much capacity now. Until we start moving more paper, I'm not even considering additional plants. The forms plant and the cardboard producers would use up some of our excess product capacity. None of the plants currently buy from us."

"I understand. It's just that turning paper plants around is more of challenge."

"Right now we have 19 challenges to take care of."

"Nineteen?"

"Yes. The eighteen Mo Paper plants, and Franklin, since it didn't make sense to bring Franklin on line once Machine # 2 was ready to go."

"Matt's working his people hard, and sales are up, slightly."

"That sounds promising."

"I think it is."

"Great."

"Do you want me to look into the four Possibles?"

"Only if it won't pull you away from more important business. I may not do anything right now."

"It won't."

"Okay, Bob. Have at it then."

He smiled and picked up the folder. "Thanks, DD. You know that I love this stuff."

"My pleasure, Bob."

After Bob had left, I took the materials out of my desk and resumed work on my special project.

On Friday my management team met for the weekly meeting. Ron and Gerard hadn't come the previous Friday just so that they could be there for my first Friday meeting after a three months absence.

"I'm delighted to see everyone today," I said. "We have a lot to discuss, so let's jump right in. Bob?"

"The Mo Paper transition has been completed. We have our people in key positions in every plant still operating. Originally we thought to close ten paper plants until demand picked up, but we changed that plan and closed the twelve smallest plants when we opened the new plant in Jefferson City. The new plant is so much more efficient than the older ones that it pays to run that plant around the clock. The paper forming equipment in each closed plant is being overhauled so it will be ready when we need it. The rest of the plants in the division are operating at their usual peak efficiency. Every plant outside the Mo Paper group is running well in the black, including Franklin, which is only producing boxes at present. Despite the drain from the new plants, we're able to make all required debt payments and we even continue to build up our reserve account."

"Thank you, Bob," I said. "Bill?"

"Everything is running smooth in finance. Now that the new data processing department is operating at full tilt, we get information almost faster than we can respond to it. I love it."

"Great. Thanks, Bill. Ben?"

"As operations have picked up in Jefferson City we needed a bunch of people. About seventy percent of them have come from plants temporarily closed for equipment overhauls. We've given each worker a ten percent travel bonus to help them with their increased expenses. We also provided an area in the parking lot where anyone from one of the other plants, who owns a travel trailer, can park it, thereby avoiding hotel or apartment costs. Anyone parking there has to obey a fixed set of rules regarding conduct, or they're told to leave. So far only one person has been removed from the site. The other thirty percent of the labor force are new hires, mostly at the trainee level. Hopefully they'll be able to move into permanent positions when the other people return to their own plants."

"Thank you, Ben. Matt?"

"I've decided to leave the sales team in place in Jefferson City, since we'll be using the Mo Paper name, but they will only be handling sales of sheet papers, notepads, envelopes, and related stationery items, unless those accounts occasionally need something special. All sales to accounts mainly purchasing roll paper, bleached and Kraft, will be handled by the appropriate regional sales office. We determined that only seven of the twelve sales people still at Mo Paper were working with South-Core. They've been discharged. We've contacted each of their former accounts, explained the whole situation and apologized for the intentionally bad behavior. We've promised each of those customers significant discounts over the next six months if they choose to order from Mo Paper again. All except one have taken us up on the offer. The other said that they were satisfied with South-Core and were staying with them."

"Like the old expression goes," I said smiling, "you can't win them all. Thanks, Matt. Tom?"

"We've paid off all of Mo Paper's outstanding balances with their suppliers. They all knew that Piermont had brought the ailing company and stopped the dunning letters while we got the accounts organized, verified the invoices and statements, and made the payments. Every supplier has extended us unlimited credit at their best prices."

"Wonderful. Thanks Tom. John?"

"The equipment at the new Jefferson City plant is incredible and is running perfectly. I wasn't able to find a good reason for hanging around just so I could watch it operate, so I've been traveling around to the other plants supervising the overhauls. The former Mo Paper engineers are good and know their equipment. They'll have it ready to go when we need it."

"Good. Thanks, John. Gerard?"

"Eight of the twelve plants added to my region are among those closed for overhaul. I'm delighted that the Jefferson City plant is in my region as I know it's going to be a top performer for some time. Ian Thorehill is doing a great job as plant manager there. I was surprised when DD promoted him to the position because I never thought he'd leave North Carolina. But he jumped at the opportunity and hasn't looked back. I guess he was still getting heat from the Thorehills that we had to fire. They never forgave his not walking out in protest over the family firings. The people borrowed from the Owosso and Ladysmith plants to supervise operations at the other plants are also doing a great job. The former plant supervisors have been moved into supporting roles while we evaluate their management skills. They've been busting their backsides to prove they can do the job. So far it appears they can."

"Good. Thanks Gerard. Ron?"

"Only two of the six plants added to my region are operating. They're naturally the two plants with the newest equipment, or at least with the most efficient equipment. We're only running one full shift at each so far, and we've been getting a lot of calls at Asheville from former employees asking when we expect to resume second shift operations. I tell them that we're still in a shakedown period and that former employees will be notified if and when we decide to add a second crew. It's not what they want to hear."

"I know," I said. "I think that there was a lot of partying when it was announced that Piermont bought Mo Paper. Some people probably expected us to open all the plants for three shifts of work. It just doesn't work that way. Thanks, Ron. Let's take a few minutes to prepare our choice of coffee or tea and then we'll start on New Business."

When everyone was seated again, I said, "A few months ago, in a conversation with Bob, I mentioned that there wasn't a single Piermont item in the college bookstore in Austin, but there were a lot of Mo Paper products. I know that we can't expect to get all the paper business in the U.S., but we should certainly try."

Everyone at the table grinned.

"Since then I've been working to identify the paper products that we can, but aren't producing. There are a lot. I don't care to get into the cut-throat business of facial tissue, toilet tissue, and paper towels, but that still leaves a tremendous number of product areas open."

Standing up, I picked up a carton I had placed by my chair earlier. I popped the cover off and dumped the contents on the table. Paper items went skittering across the table.

"I think that we can produce each of these items with little additional expense."

My managers began poking through the items, looking at some and looking at one another.

"A lot of this stuff is absolute junk, DD," John said, holding a package of pre-schooler construction paper. "This isn't much more than twenty-four pound dyed newsprint. And you can practically see chunks of wood stuck to the surface."

"Yes," I said, grinning at his intentional exaggeration, "but people buy tons of it. That package of construction paper comes from the Philippines. And yes, it's inferior quality, but the intended consumers are children. They don't care about quality. Look at the bright colors; the reds, yellows, blues, and greens. That's what attracts them and their mothers."

"DD," Bob said, as he fingered a small package of napkins, "I thought you didn't want to get into the soft goods market."

"I don't want to go head to head with the big producers who produce most of the paper towels, toilet tissue, and dinner napkins, but these are novelty napkins. The big guys are ignoring that market, probably because their equipment is too sophisticated for short runs, or they don't feel it's lucrative enough. But we have a dozen idle plants with older, slower equipment that could be adapted to produce these products. People buy tons of such brightly colored napkins for birthday parties, graduation parties, school functions, political gatherings, athletic team support, and other special events."

"What about these envelopes?" Matt asked. "We make envelopes now."

"But our selection is limited. We make quality envelopes from quality paper, but we don't have a line of decent but inexpensive Kraft envelopes for interoffice communications. And look at those notebooks with the brightly colored pastel and fluorescent covers. Our notebooks are positively stodgy compared to them. They're black with tiny white marks on them. This is 1971, gentlemen, not 1941. Think Woodstock, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. We need flower-power covers. Some of these things came from my college book store, and kids were buying them by the armload. It reasons that kids across the country are also buying them by the armload. The other items came from department stores and novelty stores. Why don't we have products aimed at that market? Even Mo Paper, who was way ahead of us in notebook sales, didn't have anything like some of these other guys. I'm proposing that we make Mo Paper our adolescent and young adult product line. Piermont will remain our premier business line. We can even adopt a third marketing name for fine stationary items, say 'Plymouth Paper,' and a fourth for products aimed at very young children. We might use 'Appalachian Paper' for that. The logo can be a big, bright, shiny red apple. What do you think?"

I was met with absolute silence, but I could see the wheels turning. I sat down and let them think about my proposals. They knew I didn't like 'yes' men, and expected to receive their honest opinions. I leaned back in my chair and waited for the hail of bullets.

(continued)

  

  

  

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