Spanning generations of career opportunities at JDI

Brian and Logan Stackhouse, father and son, may have chosen what may seem to some like diametrically opposite job fields, but both have found rewarding careers at J.D. Irving, Limited.

Brian is now the Director of Continuous Improvement with the Pulp and Paper division, joining the company in 1988. Logan, now a Data Solutions Developer with JDI IT, joined the company full time in 2022 after working three summer terms.

Ending up at the same company wasn’t a development either would have expected.

“I think when Logan decided he was going to take computer science in university that became a possibility. We have JDI IT right here,” Brian said.

Growing up seeing his dad work for the company also helped, Logan noted. Over the last 37 years, Brian has held numerous roles, starting at Irving Tissue as a process engineer, then in various other positions like machine superintendent and operations supervision before moving to Irving Paper in 2011.

“I think hearing so many positive stories and knowing that he really enjoyed working here was really influential,” Logan said.

Already in just the first few years of his career, Logan has held roles like business analyst, software developer intern and data analyst before moving into his current role.

“The challenge was a big aspect for me, because I didn’t want to just work, I wanted to be challenged and I wanted to actually push myself,” Logan said. “I knew this was a great place to make that happen.”

The two don’t often cross paths at work from day to day, but there are benefits to working at the same place as one’s family member.

“The carpooling is fun,” Brian said with a laugh.

“But just in general, working for this company, the concept of ‘Join one, grow with many’ is very real,” he added, reflecting on his career progression moving from Irving Tissue to Irving Paper to Irving Forest Services. “It’s the same language around the business.”