A story by Greg Bizier from 1960s-2017
Greg Bizier talked about his career working for International Paper's Otis Mill in Jay, in the company's research lab.
I grew up in Jay, and International Paper hired me straight out of college in 1978 to manage their lab. I wanted to be a doctor, so I never imagined I would move home and work for the Paper Mill for 31 years. I did paper testing, chemical testing, fiber analysis, and inspecting. Paper science was a whole new world that opened up to me and I loved being in the middle of it! I've seen a lot of changes in technology and papermaking, and in the environmental standards.
My family are Polish and French Canadian immigrants, and they had a difficult time with being taken advantage of and with bigotry. We still see that today, and I feel that I need to always confront it because I was brought up not to stand for it.
We all made a good living at the mills. Jay was an idyllic place, even though we had a smelly, dirty mill, it made a good, nice little town to grow up in and raise a family.
