Joe Nemeth is a veteran in the pulp and paper industry. His career has seen him in positions of increasing responsibility at some of the best-known companies in the business: Fletcher Challenge, Fortress Paper, Canfor and Canfor Pulp Products. He was appointed CEO of Catalyst Paper in October 2013.
Recently, Joe and his wife Jacqueline established a scholarship for undergraduate students in Forestry as a way of giving back to the community. As a second-generation forester, Joe is grateful for the opportunities that have come his way.
Joe’s father, also named Joe, came to Canada as a refugee from Sopron, Hungary, in 1956. As a member of the Sopron Division of the Faculty of Forestry, Joe studied first in Hungarian, then gradually in English. When he graduated in 1960, he decided to remain in Canada, as did the majority of Soproners, and work for the Inventory Department of the Ministry of Forests.
“At that time, all the validation surveying was done on the ground,” Joe says. “Every summer from April to September, we lived in remote forestry camps throughout the province. By the time I was 10 or 11, I was following my dad around in the woods. That’s when I developed my passion for the forests.”
But it wasn’t a straight line from those forest walks to studying at UBC. “I also really enjoyed music, and I was accepted in the University of Victoria’s music program, playing trumpet. After a year in the music program, I realized that my real passion was forestry.” He transferred to UBC, received a Bachelor of Forestry in 1987, and went on to receive an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.
Joe recently joined the UBC Forestry Advisory Council, which provides advice to the Faculty on curriculum matters and research priorities. He is looking forward to speaking with students about their lives after graduation, and offered a preview of some of his key points.
“If I were up in front of a group of students to talk about their careers, I would tell them to pursue a career that they love and are good at. This would inevitably support them being both happy and successful in life.
“Then I would tell them that there are many great reasons for having a career in forestry. Here are three: First, it’s a green, renewable industry. Our main input, wood, is a renewable resource that comes from sustainably managed forests. And the production processes at our mills are almost 100% closed loop. For example, we recover and re-use almost all of the chemicals in our kraft pulp process.
“Second, it’s a high-tech industry, with billions of dollars invested in cutting-edge IT infrastructure. This means exciting career opportunities in operations, finance and IT where a big part of the job is working with new technology and leveraging its potential.
“Third, we are currently actively hiring and will continue to do so over the next 6-7years. Half of the forestry industry’s workforce is age 53-65 and is heading for retirement. At Catalyst, for example, we have 1600 employees and estimate that we will be hiring over 150 people per year for the next seven years.”
Joe and his wife Jacqueline have stipulated that their award should go to students who have strong academic standing as well as demonstrated leadership skills or community service. “I believe that your interpersonal skills and ability to work well with others is a key to your success,” he says.
Joe is motivated by a sense of responsibility in establishing this scholarship. “I’ve been fortunate to be given great career opportunities in my life that have worked out in my favour,” he says. “And because of that, I feel morally obligated to give back.”