Our History

Fleenor Paper Company was established back in 1962 by its founder, LeRoy Fleenor. LeRoy was a true entrepreneur. As a young man he worked along side his father and brothers as a typesetter and printer at small local newspapers throughout the United States – moving west with his brothers and their families from Missouri, through Kansas and Colorado - eventually settling in Northern California.

LeRoy saw an opportunity in the waste paper that was at that time habitually thrown into dumpsters at the newspapers where he worked. He asked if he could take some of the newsprint roll ends (butt rolls) home, and using a homemade drum sheeter with his wife's kitchen carving knife attached, converted this scrap into sheeted newsprint in his garage. He bundled the paper into a mover’s "put up" and after over a week of working at night he had accumulated enough to make one pallet of sellable paper. He loaded the pallet onto the back of his beat up pick up truck and went door to door to local movers until he sold his first pallet to Macy's Movers.

This was the start of Fleenor Paper Company.

LeRoy eventually quit his "day job" as a printer and began looking for more scrap paper to buy, convert and sell to movers. Over the years he bought numerous used machines and cleverly adapted them to suit the raw materials he was able to get for free or cheaply, or he simply made the machines he needed from scratch.

By the late '70's LeRoy had a large Hamblet sheet, a drum sheeter with a guillotine and a paper pad machine which was used to make paper blankets (van paks) for the same movers to whom he sold sheeted newsprint. Around this time, he also designed and created a giant roll cutter, which for years Fleenor used to cut down and resize jumbo rolls for printers and corrugators throughout Northern California.

In the early 1980's LeRoy sold his business to his son, Dr. Bill Fleenor and his wife, Janine Rochex. LeRoy left for greener pastures in Hawaii were he once again started a small newsprint converting business using local butt rolls as his paper supply. He worked and lived in Hawaii until he became ill and passed away in the late 1990's. At the time of his illness, Fleenor Paper Company purchased LeRoy's Hawaiian business and consolidated it with their own Hawaiian distribution operation.

Soon after Janine and Bill took over Fleenor Paper Company, Bill's sister, Rebecca, joined the team and a few years later, Janine's brother, John Rochex came on board. This second generation team grew the small Oakland based company by opening distribution warehouses in Hawaii, Alaska and Washington State. These distribution warehouses sell products made by it's own manufacturing facilities as well as corrugated cartons and other types of packaging materials. During this time the company tripled in size.

Since then, the bulk of Fleenor's growth came from a shift from focusing on distribution to what it does best: manufacturing. To support this growth trend and the extra manufacturing capacity it required, Fleenor acquired a similar converting company in Macon, Georgia in 1994. This gave them the capacity they needed and transformed them into a nationwide company. The ability to provide consistent quality products throughout the United State and beyond afforded numerous growth opportunities with nationwide distribution companies who liked the ideal of buying from one supplier for all their locations.

In late 1996 Bill resigned as CEO and moved to Oregon to launch a successful career in politics. Janine, John and Rebecca stayed on at Fleenor with Rebecca taking over as CEO, Janine as VP-Finance and John as VP-Sales and Marketing. With John leading Fleenor's growing sales force, Fleenor has continued to grow at a steady clip, doubling once again over the last ten years since Bill's departure.

Next, they purchased yet another converting company's assets and consolidated it with their Oakland facility by moving both plants and numerous other newly acquired machines into a 130,000 sq. ft. building in Stockton, CA. Now with large converting plants on each coast, Fleenor became the largest manufacturer of packing materials for the moving and storage industry in the United States.

The owners of Fleenor continue to honor and emulate its entrepreneurial roots. They continue to purchase odd lot scrap paper and they continue to adapt and invent machines and processes that better allow the utilization of the dwindling paper supply available in today's changing market.

The second generation management also prides itself on having created an excellent work environment, not only for the owners, but also for everyone who has worked along side them over the years. Most of Fleenor managers have been with the company for over twenty years and have contributed as much to Fleenor success and growth as any other factor.

The goal today is to continue to stay the path with steady growth and to look forward to the next generation who will continue in Fleenor's entrepreneurial spirit!