1995
John W. Newlin
1959 B.S. Chemical Engineering

During his nineteen years as vice president, manufacturing, for Tootsie Roll industries, John Newlin has seen the company grow from 34 million dollars in sales to 296 million dollars. This growth and profitability has led Forbes to single out the company regularly as one of the nation's Top 200 Small Companies. The company product line includes cultural icons such as Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Mason Dots, Charleston Chew, Sugar Daddies, Jr. Mints, and Cella's Chocolate-covered Cherries.

Mr. Newlin worked in a number of companies before joining Tootsie Roll. His first job was as a project engineering for Koppers Chemical Company. While there he developed a first-hand appreciation of the importance of operations and enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Business to earn an MBA.

He next joined the Nestle Company as the third shift foreman in a coffee plant in Freehold, New Jersey, and went on to become, at the age of 27, Nestle's youngest plant manager ever. During his tenure there, he held plant management positions in a mild plant in Marysville, Ohio, and instant coffee/instant tea plant in Granite City, Illinois, and a chocolate plant in Fulton, New York.

Before joining Tootsie Roll as vice-president-manufacturing in 1976, Mr. Newlin was production manager for the Fleischmann Division of Standards and Brands. In that position, he was responsible for eleven plants across the country.

Mr. Newlin also maintains an abiding interest in basketball - not only as a fan but as a player for the Chicago A.A.U. Masters team that competes in national and international tourtaments. He started playing after a growth spurt during his first year at Penn State and he "walked on" his junior year to become a practice player on the Penn State varsity.

Current as of 1995

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