International Paper continued to prove its commitment to the Bogalusa mill this week with the hiring of Kalisa Hyman as communications manager.

Hyman started work on July 2, and laughed that she was able to meet “just about everybody” in the parish when Ellis Sampson, who will retire from his job as IP human resources director in March, took her to inauguration ceremonies in Franklinton that day.

Hyman was born in Long Beach, Miss. and moved to Tennessee to attend the University of Memphis in 1986. She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism/public relations, and remained in that city.

Throughout the intervening years, Hyman has found employment with advertising agencies, and she worked in the communications office for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for “several years.”

“That was a wonderful place,” she said of the hospital. “It’s such a good cause.”

Hyman already had her eye on IP, which is headquartered in Memphis, and when she saw the company was looking for somebody to relocate to its Bogalusa mill, she jumped into action.

The former Mississippian called a friend who grew up in Bogalusa and who told her about “the role of the mill and its importance to the community” and encouraged her to apply for the job.

This week, Hyman said she is happy to be “back in the Deep South” and pleased to represent IP.

“I’d been in Memphis so long I knew it was a good company,” she said. “I’ve always been very impressed. And it has a lot of good plans for the Bogalusa mill and the community, so it’s going to be important to share with everyone.”