The Greater Orange Chamber organized On Thursday 16th of August the first Industrial Exchange in the Golden Triangle Area to connect industries and suppliers. Their biggest challenges are safety and employee engagement.
Orange County Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce join forces to help local companies and industries. Recognized industrial organizations in the area had their booths like ExxonMobil, International Papers, ISTC and the Greater Orange Chamber of Commerce. Supporting partners for the event are Gopher Industrial, International Paper, Oldcastle Materials Gulf Coast and Workforce Solutions Southeast Texas.
There were four speakers invited:
- Ashley Alemayehu, ExxonMobil Public & Government Affairs Manager
- Jean Algate, DowDupont Site manager
- Mark Viator, Director, Government Affairs & Special Projects at Jefferson Energy Companies
- Ed Barr, International Paper Mill Manager
“The Industrial Exchange is an opportunity for local service providers and contractors to engage with Southeast Texas industry to facilitate the use of local resources. Southeast Texas is fortunate to be in the midst of an industrial boom,” Orange County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Jessica Hill said. “The Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce and the Orange County Economic Development Corporation are directing those opportunities toward Orange County in order to promote local businesses.”
The speakers talked about the continued growth the area is experiencing, as with the current plans of expansions the Golden Triangle will become one of the biggest refining areas in the US.
The main outcomes of the meeting were:
Keeping dollars local
The Jefferson refinery director of Government affairs said that location was key. “We are in the center of the gulf coast. Our area will be one of the biggest refining areas in the US”, so they are looking forward to keeping the dollars local. They are helping local suppliers to participate in various initiatives. Adding to that, ExxonMobil talked about their Go Local initiative to make it easier for local companies to become their suppliers. Further information may be found at http://exxonmobil.com/golocal .
Jean Algate with DowDupont also said that they were going to try to support the area and partner with local contractors.
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Talent in the area
Jean Algagte tapped into the talent in the area. “We focus on Safety skills and innovation. We need to move forward if we really want to be competitive in this world.” Everybody is looking for a skilled reliable workforce. International Paper said that their wages were higher than in any other area so that they could keep the best talent. “We really benefit from a strong community. We don’t go with the cheapest, we go with the best.”
Safety First
The four companies put safety first in their priorities. Ed Barr talked about the Safety attitude of the contractors: “We have a passion for doing the right thing. We want you to go out the same way you came in.” ExxonMobil always is focused on safety as their number one rules for any employees, from office personnel to contractors. They evaluate their suppliers first considering their safety score.
Employee engagement
Finally, David Jones from Gopher Industrial asked the speakers which were their biggest challenges. The four companies agreed it was to keep employees engaged. With so many opportunities in the area, the companies that do more to engage their employees are the ones that are going to keep the best talents. And then, highest safety scores will follow. When employees are engaged, leaves of absence are reduced, safety incidents are reduced and ideas for improvement increased.
Learn more: Implement CARES, the Culture Agile Re-Engineering and Safety Model
Enlisting frontline staff in your performance improvement and safety efforts play a substantial role in engaging them. Building a culture of engagement and teamwork is a win-win situation. The company, the employee and the local community gain.
Leaders should create a management system that lets people take pride in their work. It includes giving them the tools, education and management system that let them be successful.
RECOMMENDED COURSES: Agile Leadership
DowDupont mentioned that innovation was key for them. They are willing to engage the workforce to stay in the long term.
The question is how to engage the workforce to participate in innovation and safety initiatives? Executives and middle manager positions are key. They need to be trained as agile leaders as McKinsey experts suggest in one of their latest articles. Edwards Deming was also a supporter of employee engagement to increase safety. Safety is just a symptom of a bigger problem that a WE organization can solve.
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