Portland Tycoon Pamplin Pursues His Unique Philanthropy

PORTLAND - He is among the nation's 400 richest, but the ranking he seeks is to be the nation's most creative philanthropist, the one who gives to his full potential in money, time and talent.

Robert Pamplin Jr.'s personal gifts in Portland each year - around $3 million - exceed the sum given annually by U.S. Bank in Oregon.

Pamplin, worth a reported $525 million, spends $750,000 a year to feed the hungry in Oregon. The only larger provider is the Oregon Food Bank.

Benefits colleges

The doors of the University of Portland remained open because of him, and he helped turn Lewis & Clark College into an institution of national prominence.

Pamplin and his father, Bob Pamplin Sr., built and run the R.B. Pamplin Corp., a Fortune 400 private company that owns 18 textile mills in their native South plus the Ross Island Sand and Gravel in Portland.

Their company donates 10 percent of its pre-tax profits - up to $10 million each year - to about 200 charities and causes nationwide.

Buyout king

The elder Pamplin is legendary for the leveraged buyouts he engineered in building Georgia Pacific from a small Southern sawmill into one of the nation's timber giants before he retired in the 1970s.

The younger Pamplin says it is his duty as a Christian and his responsibility as a wealthy industrialist to give both money and talent.

He calls his model the "Next Generation."

"Success is that person who accumulates the most values, not the most money," he says. "Gold is worth a lot, but it's finite. Love, caring, dreams, imagination and innovation are infinite."

After completing a doctorate of ministry degree in 1982, Pamplin founded his own church, Christ Community Church, to begin distributing food to the poor. The food ministry is completely financed by Pamplin and delivers a truckload of food every month to 62 relief and social agencies.

The aim of the food giveaway is not just to feed the hungry, Pamplin says; it's to hook them up with programs or services that will lift them out of poverty. With each box of food, recipients are asked to address needs beyond their hunger through another agency or church.

"We'll continue to feed them as long as they make an effort to get out of the loop," Pamplin says.

Still an enigma

Despite his record of giving, Pamplin remains something of an enigma among Portland's old-line philanthropic set, many of whom describe him as a passing acquaintance with only a sketchy knowledge of the man.

"People are skeptical of him. They just don't buy his motivation," says Jeff Bullock, rector of the Episcopal Church that Pamplin attends. "Bob tries to fully engage the Bible in the world. He's a man really struggling to be faithful at a time when it's not very popular. He's not an ideologue, and that throws them."

Although Pamplin describes himself as a conservative and traditionalist, he has given steadily to Portland's liberal politicians.

This year he contributed $9,000 to openly gay City Council candidate Gail Shibley, whose liberal politics hardly match his.

"I don't give to issues," he says. "The one thing I require of a politician is to be honest. I'm for care and compassion."