Member Profile

does it cost? When’s it going to be here? All right. We’re done. Sweet.’”

Like many independent companies in the corrugated industry, NEWW enjoys the loyalty and dependability of longtime employees yet struggles to fi nd good, younger workers to replace those who are retiring. Says David, “Twenty to 30 years ago, everybody in the plant had been with us 20, 30, 40 years. Our maintenance supervisor just retired after 50 years. Amazing! Now it’s very different. I’d like someone to explain to me what’s going on with the younger generation. They don’t seem to need jobs or income.”

Still, despite the attitudinal challenge of the younger worker, NEWW has succeeded in nurturing a next generation of capable and versatile operators. “We have impressive, hardworking people next door, but we are in the midst of a generational shift,” Ben says. “There are a lot of good young people in the plant who we’re excited to have, and we want to keep them.”

David was equally complimentary of the commitment of the company’s workforce, saying, “NEWW has a nice coterie of young, focused people who show up every day and manage the plant.”

A union shop, NEWW has negotiated rules it must follow in staffi ng its machine centers. Yet both Urquharts see employee onboarding and training as an occasion for personal interaction. “Operating the machines, learning how to print, learning how to die-cut, how to glue—it’s always been a personal, apprenticeship-like program where the savvy veterans will take someone under their wing who meets the criteria of what skills are needed to do the job,” says Ben. He cited the case of one such worker, saying, “I’m thinking of one young man who joined us during the pandemic. He’s proven to be intelligent and capable. In a very short period of time, he has learned how to run several diff erent machines. I’m going to try to clone him.”

In recent years, Ben has taken up the rebranding of the company to NEWW Packaging & Display from its former New England Wooden Ware. “The intent was to have our stated name better represent what we do,” he explains. “I needed the word ‘packaging.’ I wanted the corrugated profi le to visually be there but also represent a rotating gear.”

Turning to a graphic artist and his own internal management team, he went to work. “I hired a local graphic artist who has experience in such projects and then solicited my co-workers for input,” Ben says. “I pushed for the revised name, and then we settled upon the logo, font, and color scheme with an internal collaborative process involving sales, graphics, and our customer service reps.”

And in a tribute to his grandfather Alec Urquhart, who was a U.S. Navy veteran, Ben chose the colors of navy blue and gold for the company’s new look. “I quite like the new logo,” he says.

Ben maintains a New England-like skepticism about business conditions in the remaining months of 2023. “I anticipate serious challenges in the coming year with eroding paper prices, continuing labor shortage, increasing machine capacity in a competitive landscape, and falling consumer demand,” he says.

Indeed, his sentiments reflect those of AICC members at large, nearly half of whom said in a recent AICC business conditions survey that they expected their business to be down between 5% and 10% in 2023. He says NEWW’s business had declined early in the year, noting, “Our sales dollars and sales volume are down 5%. Our best projections for the year are zero growth, but in a perverse sense, some of that is OK because we were working so hard for so long during the pandemic, it was unsustainable.”

Yet, Ben’s caution is colored with optimism based in the company’s growing capabilities and dedication to customer service. He sees additional investments in the company, but in doing so acknowledges the constraints placed by NEWW’s existing building. “We’re thinking about the machines of our future; we’re thinking about real estate options; we’re thinking about buildings and land,” he says.

David agrees. “It goes without saying that NEWW needs to focus on future investments. NEWW is a bit distinctive in terms of our current presentation to the market. Ben and I, in concert with our managers, need to rough out the best industry path we see as being before us.”

In the end, however, Ben, David, and the 150 employees at NEWW Packaging & Display understand that it’s more than equipment, real estate, buildings, and land. “It’s not about the machines; it’s about the people running the machines and the attitude they bring to their work each day,” Ben says. “We need people who are to be decision-makers and assume positions of responsibility, and we have people who come to work every day trying to do the best they can for their own sake and for the sake of the people around them.

“The foundation of our success is, you know, a willingness to go the extra step and get the job done right—generation after generation.”

Steve Young is AICC’s ambassador-at-large. He can be reached at 202-297-0583 or syoung@AICCbox.org.