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Austin E. Cofrin, founder of the Fort Howard Paper Company in Green Bay, WI was born in Bradford, New Hampshire in 1883. At age 13, Cofrin worked his family's farm after his father's death where he cultivated a strong work ethic that influenced a prosperous career. By age 16 Cofrin worked away from home and gained employment at a paper mill as a coating machine helper. After working a few years at various paper mills on the East Coast, Cofrin moved to Green Bay, WI. His first job in Green Bay was at the Northern Paper Mill where he worked as a supervisor. After working at the Northern Paper Mill, Cofrin and a few other employees of the started their own business. The mill was a small paper company that was known as the Fort Howard Corporation. The opening of the Fort Howard Corporation in 1919 on the Fox River paved the way for others in Northeast WI. The location of the paper mill was close to the fruitful timber industry and other natural resources in Northeastern WI. Green Bay soon became a hub in the paper industry.

Cofrin’s hard work and resourcefulness was instrumental in the success of the Fort Howard Paper Company. His dedication to innovation helped lay the foundation for the paper industry as it is known today. Cofrin devoted much of his time to creating cutting edge ideas that would forever change the way the paper industry did business. Fort Howard was the first paper mill to run nearly self-sufficiently. The mill housed a machine shop to build and service the paper converting equipment, which ensured speed and accuracy while cutting costs. Fort Howard produced many of their own chemicals used in the paper making process, as well as generating their own power to operate the mill, and maintained their own landfills for waste.

Cofrin was an early proponent of recycling waste paper to create a new type of usable paper. His vision for recycling continues to influence how paper and other raw materials like pulp and ground wood are recycled and reused today. Cofrin’s work and early visions of environmentalism earned Fort Howard the first corporate award for National recycling in 1991 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Cofrin acted as President of the highly successful Fort Howard Paper Company until his retirement in 1960, when his son John P. Cofrin took over the position.

Cofrin was viewed as a hardworking boss, who was loved by his employees. He was known for working shoulder to shoulder with employees to fix problems while keeping the mill running and productive. Cofrin died in 1980 at the age of 96. His legacy will forever live on through his contributions to the paper industry, as well as the many communities that were impacted by the Cofrin family's numerous philanthropic gifts to higher education and business. The Austin E. Cofrin School of Business at UW-Green Bay was named in 2010 after his son, Dr. David Cofrin donated a $5.5 million gift to the university.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100701/GPG03/7010566/UWGB-business-school-named-Cofrin/ref>