PORT TOWNSEND — A 35-year veteran of the paper and packaging industry will be the new president of Port Townsend Paper Corp.

Roger P. Hagan will assume all financial, operational and external communications responsibilities May 1, said Dale Stahl, the company’s executive chairman to whom Hagan will report.

Stahl made the announcement Monday in a memo to employees of the Port Townsend mill, Jefferson County’s largest private employer.

Roger Loney, who announced his resignation as president last month to return to the East Coast, is remaining in Port Townsend to help Hagan with a “quick and seamless transition of company leadership,” Stahl’s memo said.

Hagan’s has been working as vice president, operations at Zilkha Biomass Energy/Fuels in Houston, Texas, for the past year.

He has managed six different mills during his 35-year career, including RockTenn’s Solvay mill in New York, Hodge mill in Louisiana, and Stevenson Mill in Alabama.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in pulp and paper technology from the University of Washington, and an Master of Science from the Institute of Paper Science and Technology.

“Born and raised in the area and the son of a commercial fisherman, Roger is excited about returning to the Northwest,” Stahl said.

“He and his wife, Lynn Marlow, will be relocating to Port Townsend in the near future.”

Port Townsend Paper Corp., owned by Port Townsend Holdings, operated by GoldenTree Asset Management, a New York-based equity investment company.