Age: 35
President, MillTown Paper, Inc.
Starting as a summer utility worker at MillTown Paper in 2005, Trent Duerr worked his way through nearly every role on the floor before becoming president in 2020 and sole owner in 2021.
Today, that ground-up perspective shapes how he leads the paper sales and converting company his father Greg started in 1992. When a significant fire struck the Neenah facility in 2024, Duerr’s team had the first machine back online within a week. “Most importantly, no one missed a paycheck,” Duerr says.
Now his focus is managing growth in a capital-intensive industry where decisions take time to play out.
The Neenah resident serves on the boards of the Fox Valley Hunger Project, Safe Families for Children Wisconsin and Trees for Tomorrow, among others.
Biggest break: The people in my life. First, my family. From an early age, my parents instilled great values in me and shaped me into who I am today. More importantly, I knew that whatever happened in life, I was loved and supported. From there, I’ve been incredibly lucky to have such an awesome team at MillTown. Finally, and most importantly, is my wife, Liz. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.
Biggest fail: I fail often, but I try to do it quickly enough — and cheaply enough — to learn from it and make better decisions moving forward. My biggest failure may be a specific product line we were running too long. I was too prideful to admit it was a failure. Now we’re proud to fail all the time — if ya ain’t failing, ya ain’t trying.
Best advice received: Intensity drives short term results; consistency drives long term results.
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