[APRIL 1, 2002]  More than 100 Willamette employees at the Lincoln corrugated division participated in welcome and orientation activities recently, marking the official name change to Weyerhaeuser Company.

The merger of Weyerhaeuser, based in Federal Way, Wash., and Portland-based Willamette was announced in January. It creates a global forest products leader with nearly $19 billion in sales.

"We’re excited to officially become a part of Weyerhaeuser," said Joe Nemith, general manager of the Lincoln facility. "As the second-largest player in the forest products industry, we’re ready to move forward together as a stronger and more competitive company. Our folks are eager to make the change."

[Photo by Jan Youngquist]
[Joe Nemith]

The recent event, part of a series of welcome activities across more than 100 of Willamette’s U.S. locations, included remarks by Weyerhaeuser leaders, a welcome video, safety orientations, information about benefits and raising temporary signage with the new company identity. It also marked the time for Willamette operations to begin answering the phone, "Hello, this is Weyerhaeuser Company."

"Today is a milestone on the road to growing the global leader in our industry, and we welcome what we know are world-class employees," said Steven R. Rogel, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Our combined strengths in our core businesses of forest management, building materials, composite panels, containerboard packaging, and pulp and fine paper will allow us to serve our customers better than ever. Becoming more competitive means we’ll be able to continue to provide good-paying jobs and to otherwise support the communities where we do business."

Integration teams made up of Weyerhaeuser and Willamette employees will recommend how best to combine the two companies. The recommendations are expected by early June.

The $6.1 billion agreement to merge century-old timber rivals Weyerhaeuser Co. and Willamette Industries Inc. came after 14 months of negotiations.

The deal was resisted for years by the Willamette board of directors, led by William Swindells Jr., chairman and grandson of a company co-founder.

The Weyerhaeuser chairman, Steven Rogel, was a former Willamette employee whom Swindells had groomed to take over as chief executive officer in 1995. But Rogel left in 1997 to become Weyerhaeuser’s chairman and immediately offered to buy his old company. Swindells and the Willamette board kept rejecting his overtures.

After Rogel announced a hostile takeover, Willamette began talks with Georgia-Pacific Corp. to buy the Atlanta-based company’s building products division as a way to block the takeover.

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While Willamette and Georgia-Pacific talked, Willamette shareholders and investment fund managers began pushing for a deal with Weyerhaeuser.

According to the deal announced Jan. 21, Weyerhaeuser agreed to pay $55.50 per share in cash and about $1.7 billion in debt and other expenses. Willamette also announced it had ended talks with Georgia-Pacific, a deal that had troubled analysts.

When the merger agreement was made public, Weyerhaeuser spokesman Bruce Amundson indicated that Willamette would be "a strong strategic fit."

"As we have said from the very beginning, Willamette Industries is a great company. They have great assets and great employees," he said.

Before the merger, Weyerhaeuser was the nation’s third-largest timber products company, and Willamette was the seventh-biggest.

Weyerhaeuser was already the largest private owner of softwood timber in the world, managing 38 million acres of forest in the United States and Canada. Willamette owned 1.7 million acres of timberland and had 105 mills in the United States, France, Ireland and Mexico. 

The combination creates a company that manages approximately 40 million acres of forests in North America and has leadership positions in all of its major product lines:

•  World’s largest producer of softwood market pulp.

•  World’s largest producer of softwood lumber.

•  World’s largest producer of engineered lumber products.

•  World’s second-largest in global containerboard packaging.

•  World’s second-largest in printing and writing paper.

Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) was incorporated in 1900. It has offices or operations in 17 countries, with customers worldwide. Weyerhaeuser is primarily engaged in the growing and harvesting of timber; the manufacture, distribution and sale of forest products; and real estate construction, development and related activities.

Additional information about Weyerhaeuser’s businesses, products and practices is available at www.weyerhaeuser.com and at the former Willamette site, www.wii.com.

[News releases]

[MARCH 19, 2002]  A new title company has set up shop in Lincoln. Tri-County Land Title opened on March 4 at 606 Keokuk, next door to Graue Pharmacy. An open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony are planned for Thursday, March 21, at 3 p.m.

Owner Anna Rains of Canton said the business specializes in customer service. "We’ll go above and beyond to get the closing," including an after-hours or weekend closing when the customer’s schedule requires it, she said.

 [Owner Anna Rains, office manager Michelle Fahey;  photo by Bob Frank]

Rains said she has been in the title business for eight or nine years. Tri-County Land Title is headquartered in Canton with branches in Springfield, Bloomington, Havana, Hanna City, Champaign and now Lincoln. The original three counties served, referred to in the company name, were Sangamon, Cass and Schyler. Now Tri-County does business in about 50 counties through the middle of the state, according to Rains.

Of the branches, Springfield and Lincoln are staffed full time and the others part time. Local hours are 8-5 Monday through Friday and by appointment. The phone number is 735-9880.

The Lincoln office will be operated by Michelle Fahey, the firm’s accountant. In addition, she will continue to spend a couple of days a month in Canton doing accounting. Rains herself expects to be in Lincoln several days a week for the next few months. After that she plans to be here at least weekly.

Rains said a strength of the business is that she has "worn both the realtor’s and the lender’s shoes." She has been a real estate broker for 19 years with experience in Jacksonville and Beardstown. She also worked as a loan originator in a mortgage brokerage firm for one year. Ten years ago she obtained her paralegal certification.

Rains plans to visit office meetings of local real estate agencies and to join the Logan County Board of Realtors. She said she has previously been involved with boards of Realtors on both the state and local levels. In Lincoln she has already dealt with several Realtors, and a bank with which she has done business has a branch here. These were factors in her decision to locate in Lincoln.

Services offered by Tri-County Land Title include title searches, escrow closings, construction escrows and help policies. Rains explained that a help policy is a cheaper title policy used for second mortgages.

In Illinois, Rains said, mortgage brokers are required to close with a title company; some banks also choose to do so. Besides clearing the title to the property, the title company collects money for the loan from the bank and the down payment and closing fee from the customer and disburses all funds.

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In construction escrows the title company handles disbursements to the builder, first verifying the bill with the customer. Tri-County Land Title also conducts a second update search on the property. Rains said the construction escrow service benefits both the bank and the customer. The bank is spared the extensive paperwork with each draw and also avoids liability because the signing of a lien waiver means a mechanic’s lien cannot be filed. The customer is protected from difficulties involving the contractor.

Tri-County Land Title’s motto is "Customer service is our specialty." Rains said she offers after hours and weekend closings with notice because many customers’ work schedules do not allow them to be present during normal business hours. "We try to be real flexible," she said, "working with realtors and lenders as a team. Then the customer is happy, and we all look good."

Canton is the firm’s production site, and all typing is done there. Rains said an increasing amount of work is done online. Whereas lenders used to send document packages by overnight delivery, now they often use e-mail.

As with any business, there are some typical problems. In title searches, Rains said, "forgery is the biggest thing we run into." She therefore asks for a driver’s license or other identification from both borrower and seller. She also occasionally encounters encroachments, when construction on one person’s property crosses the line onto a neighbor’s.

At times Rains sees old titles in which the legal description includes landmarks no longer present, such as a chicken coop or apple tree. In such cases the lender typically has the land resurveyed.

Another problem occurs when parents put their children’s names on a title and later want to borrow money against it. If the children are under 18, they cannot sign for a loan. In such a case a legal guardian must be assigned, a complication the parents may not have foreseen.

Fahey, office manager in Lincoln, has been with the firm for six months. She is currently taking the basic course offered by the American Land Title Association. Rains and other members of the staff have also studied through the association.

Fahey, who resides in Havana, lived in Lincoln from 1990 to 1994 while her husband attended Lincoln Christian Seminary. The Faheys intend to stay in Havana until their eldest son, now a sophomore, finishes high school. After that the family may move to Lincoln.

At present the Tri-County Land Title office is sparsely furnished because some furniture arrived damaged and had to be returned. Rains hopes the replacements will be in place by March 21 for the open house.

[MARCH 18, 2002]  Christmas bills have just subsided. Tax time is here. Wouldn’t it be nice to just relax?

Well, you are in luck. For about six months now, residents of Logan County have been visiting Beth Gohl and Sandy Slack over at All About You for everything from shoulder rubs to full oil massages. Services also include reflexology, which utilizes pressure points on the feet to stimulate or relax different parts of the body, and raindrop therapy, in which nine essential oils are dripped onto the back and massaged in.

All About You had their ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 27, but they have been open since Aug. 6. According to Gohl, business has been good. "We’re able to pay our bills, so we’re happy with that."

Gohl and Slack use and sell products from the Young Living Essential Oils line. Young Living uses all natural ingredients; no chemicals are used even when growing the plants. Products include soaps, shampoos, lotions and vitamins.

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Their prices are rather reasonable. A simple massage (such as a shoulder or back rub) is $1 per minute for up to 20 minutes. A 30-minute massage is $25; a full hour massage is $40. Reflexology is $35 for 30 minutes or $50 for an hour. Raindrop therapy is $60.

All About You is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Appointments are preferred for most therapy, but walk-ins can be accepted if the masseuses are free. Appointments are necessary for after-hours massages.

So, as taxes and bills weigh you down, there is a place you can go to relax, or maybe you want to order some relaxation as a gift for someone you know could use it.

All About You is a new business in the area. They are located downtown at 408 Pulaski St., Lincoln; (217) 735-4700.

[Gina Sennett]

Announcements

[MARCH 29, 2002]  The Lincoln A.G. Edwards & Sons is presenting a "Venus Takes on Investing" seminar on April 6 and 11.  [Note: This is a date change.]

Seminar information

Women cannot ignore certain facts when planning for their financial futures. For example, 90 percent of women will become wholly responsible for their finances sometime during their lifetimes.*

You’ll discover ways to help you:

•  Plan for successful financial future.

•  Reduce your taxes.

•  Increase your investment income potential.

•  Build for your retirement.

•  Build a "rainy day" fund.

•  Accumulate money for a child or grandchild’s education.

*(Source: Investment Company Institute)

Speaker

Bridget Schneider, financial consultant with A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.

Dates

•  Saturday, April 6, 9-10 a.m.

•  Thursday, April 11, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Location

Heartland Community College

620 Broadway St.

Lincoln, IL 62656

R.S.V.P.

(217) 732-3877 or (800) 596-0014

Contact person

Brittney Van Fossan or Nina Westen

[MARCH 9, 2002]  Lincoln Christian College and Seminary has named John Guzzardo chairperson for the LCCS capital campaign committee for Lincoln and Logan County.

The Chamber Report

[MARCH 28, 2002]  Perry Grieme was selected Chamber Member of the Year during the 80th annual dinner of the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce at the Maple Club recently. Grieme is the ninth recipient of this award, initiated to provide recognition for exceptional service to the chamber of commerce and dedication to the advancement and improvement of the community.

Grieme, owner of Parker-Grieme Insurance, served a six-year term on the chamber board of directors and was the board’s president in 1997. He is an active member of the Chamber Ambassadors and the Membership Committee, and he volunteers with the Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival and the Lincoln Christmas parade. Grieme provided direction to the chamber’s reorganization of the Economic Development Council and has served on many task force and ad hoc committees.

In addition, Grieme has served as district chairman of the Boys Scouts of America, board member of Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, board member and past president of the Logan County Heart Association, board member of the Lincoln Elks Club, board member and past president of the Lincoln Kiwanis Club, board member of St. Clara’s Manor, coach of Junior Railers basketball teams, and he is active with his church.

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He has distinguished himself as a leader in the insurance field and has represented the industry in numerous local and state advisory roles.

The Chamber Member of the Year award was established in 1994. Nominees must be an owner, manager, or employee of a chamber member business in operation for at least three years, demonstrating ethical business practices.

Past recipients of the award include Becky Werth, Dave Davis, Bob Albert, Gene Frioli, John Guzzardo, Shirley Bartelmay, Bob Graue and Dave Campbell.

[Chamber press release] 

The chamber of commerce is a catalyst for community progress, bringing business and professional people together to work for the common good of Lincoln and Logan County.

Bobbi Abbott, Executive Director

Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce

303 S. Kickapoo St.

Lincoln, IL 62656

(217) 735-2385

chamber@lincolnillinois.com
www.lincolnillinois.com

Honors & Awards

Main Street Corner News

[MARCH 29, 2002]  Cindy McLaughlin has been named the new program manager for Main Street Lincoln. She will begin her position April 8.

McLaughlin, a program service coordinator for Easter Seals Society in Bloomington, has done public relations work for the Art Institute in Chicago and is a former admissions counselor at Lincoln College.

Originally from Benton in southern Illinois, McLaughlin is a graduate of Lincoln College and Eastern Illinois University. She operates Logan County Starlites, a baton group for young girls, and has appeared in theatrical productions at the Lincoln Community Theatre and the Maple Club.

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"I’m very excited to work with Lincoln’s business owners and the community to ensure our future success," McLaughlin said. She and her husband, Tom, make their home in Lincoln.

"We are looking forward to having someone with Cindy’s enthusiasm and love for small towns carry out the programs for Main Street," noted Main Street President Jan Schumacher. "She is a hard worker who can oversee our many projects to continue to improve downtown Lincoln.

McLaughlin replaces Wendy Bell, who recently accepted a position with Illinois Main Street.

[Main Street Lincoln news release]

Main Street Lincoln

303 S. Kickapoo

Lincoln, IL 62656

Phone: (217) 732-2929

Fax: (217) 735-9205

E-mail: manager@mainstreetlincoln.com