Paper360 Better Together Podcast Series
Paper360 Better Together Podcast Series
Paper360 Better Together – Thomas M. Nelson
In Episode 6 we speak with Thomas M. Nelson, author of the book One Day Stronger, a newly-released book that tells the turnaround story of the Appleton Coated Mill in Wisconsin’s paper valley. Host Jan Bottiglieri talks with Tom about what he learned growing up in a papermill town, and how pulp and paper is a “quintessential American manufacturing industry.”
As Nelson comments, “We have to get over this false narrative that this is a dying industry… this industry is worthwhile. It needs time, money, and resources… It needs a champion.”
About the book:
In August, 2017, Appleton Coated, an historic mill in Wisconsin’s paper valley, was sold to an industrial scrapper; hundreds of jobs were threatened, and a way of life hung in the balance. But then the unlikely happened: The mill’s union local and one county official leveraged an obscure legal strategy to stop the selloff. Today, the Appleton Coated mill is alive and well, operating as Midwest Paper Group. One Day Stronger tells the story behind this remarkable turnaround and shows how labor, working in common cause with business and local government, can restore the American dream.
“One Day Stronger is one of the best books, if not the best, about the paper industry and perhaps about American Industry in general.”
—Gerry Ring, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point