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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Clearwater Paper changes its top executive ranks

By Elaine Williams Lewiston Tribune

An executive from a label company has joined Clearwater Paper as the company restructures its top leadership team.

Steve Bowden has been named to the newly created position of senior vice president and general manager of Clearwater Paper’s pulp and paperboard division. He reports to CEO Linda Massman.

The pulp and paperboard segment constitutes about half of the company’s business. Its paperboard is sold for uses such as packaging and paper dishes.

Bowden most recently was president of America’s foods and beverage division for Multi-Color, a labeling company.

His previous experience includes serving as a mill manager for a coated paperboard facility operated by International Paper in Augusta, Ga.

His addition to Clearwater Paper follows a decision in December to divide its tissue and pulp and paperboard operations into two business units, Shannon Myers, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an email.

At that time, the company eliminated the position of Patrick Burke, who was group vice president.

Burke’s former duties are falling to Bowden and Arsen Kitch, who was promoted to the position of vice president, general manager consumer tissue products at the beginning of the year.

He previously was vice president of finance at Clearwater Paper after starting at the company in 2013.

Kitch now oversees a part of the company that makes store-brand tissue products such as toilet paper, paper towels, paper napkins and facial tissue for retailers.

Clearwater Paper isn’t offering a reason for the changes, other than explaining its new leadership model.

The company has experienced challenges in the past year. In 2017, Kroger, one of its major tissue customers, announced it would be ordering less product. As of August, Clearwater Paper was still seeking ways to replace about 40 percent of that lost business.

Since January, the company has shed more than 100 hourly positions in Lewiston, where it employs 1,300 and is one of the city’s largest employers. It also has made an undisclosed number of cuts to its administrative ranks in communities that aren’t being identified.

According to its most recent news release about its financial performance, the company’s net earnings for the first six months of the year totaled $9.56 million, compared with $15.5 million for the same time in 2017.