Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Ever wonder where that cardboard box on your front porch actually comes from? Ranger Nick Fuhrman takes us inside International Paper's Rome, Georgia facility to trace the remarkable journey from Georgia timberland to the corrugated boxes shipping groceries, appliances, and online orders to doorsteps across the country. The Rome mill produces roughly 850,000 tons of container board annually, making it one of International Paper's major packaging operations in the Southeast. But behind those numbers is a deeply human story — one rooted in Georgia forestry, working timberland, loggers, truck drivers, and generations of dedicated professionals. Nick sits down with Alex Singleton, who brings 36 years of experience in the forest products industry, to talk about how dramatically the field has changed — from paper maps to cutting-edge GIS technology that helps foresters identify harvest sites and protect threatened and endangered species with precision that wasn't possible decades ago. Then, Clay Ingram shares how AI and advanced analytics are now driving real-time decision-making inside the mill, which runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week — turning millions of data points into smarter, more efficient operations. And meet Caitlyn McCall, a paper process engineer who found her way to International Paper through internships and a chemical engineering degree from the University of Tennessee — proof that careers connecting agriculture, forestry, and engineering are alive and thriving right here in North Georgia. From the forest to the fiber to the finished box — it's a process most consumers never see, but one that touches nearly every package shipped across America. 🌾 Subscribe for weekly Georgia agriculture, forestry, and rural community stories — only on The Farm Monitor.
Ever wonder where that cardboard box on your front porch actually comes from? Ranger Nick Fuhrman takes us inside International Paper's Rome, Georgia facility to trace the remarkable journey from Georgia timberland to the corrugated boxes shipping groceries, appliances, and online orders to doorsteps across the country. The Rome mill produces roughly 850,000 tons of container board annually, making it one of International Paper's major packaging operations in the Southeast. But behind those numbers is a deeply human story — one rooted in Georgia forestry, working timberland, loggers, truck drivers, and generations of dedicated professionals. Nick sits down with Alex Singleton, who brings 36 years of experience in the forest products industry, to talk about how dramatically the field has changed — from paper maps to cutting-edge GIS technology that helps foresters identify harvest sites and protect threatened and endangered species with precision that wasn't possible decades ago. Then, Clay Ingram shares how AI and advanced analytics are now driving real-time decision-making inside the mill, which runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week — turning millions of data points into smarter, more efficient operations. And meet Caitlyn McCall, a paper process engineer who found her way to International Paper through internships and a chemical engineering degree from the University of Tennessee — proof that careers connecting agriculture, forestry, and engineering are alive and thriving right here in North Georgia. From the forest to the fiber to the finished box — it's a process most consumers never see, but one that touches nearly every package shipped across America. 🌾 Subscribe for weekly Georgia agriculture, forestry, and rural community stories — only on The Farm Monitor.
