I am pleased to announce the first step in formalizing the Process Technology (PT) Department for the Houston Area to help drive Operational Excellence. Effective immediately, Kurt Griffith has been promoted to lead this department. In this role, Kurt will report directly to Maria Kraemer, Houston Area Operations Leader.

We are grateful for all of Kurt’s contributions to the Baytown Facility as Site Leader over the past several years and look forward to the establishment of this group under his leadership. As previously communicated in an earlier announcement, Vernon Harris and Michael Schelling will be taking the reins and managing the Baytown facility. 

Reporting to Kurt will be:

• Jerry Traylor and Romain Vidal-Michel: Process Technology, Senior Engineers
  • Both were originally homebased in our Bayport facility; now, they will bring their extensive degree of experiences to the PT group. Romain’s previous experience as Operations Manager and Jerry’s role of Capital & Engineering Manager will allow for improvements to go far beyond one singular site. Their contributions have been many, and we look forward to their impact over an expanded portion of the organization.
• Al Rabbat: Process Safety Engineer:
  • Al’s been filling (and continues to fill) an essential role around two key Process Safety Management (PSM) elements – Process Hazard Analysis and Mechanical Integrity. Al will begin to transition much of the day-to-day requirements of his role – and move toward a broader role within PSM to ensure the success of the PT groups efforts. We are currently recruiting a PHA facilitator role to help relieve Al.

This team’s priority will be guided by the Houston Area Business Management Team, led by Sarves Peri, with the end goal of safely delivering increased value to the business. Key areas of improvement include Process Safety & overall asset capability, quality, yield, energy use, etc. The team will also help in the development and implementation of new products and tolls as identified by the Commercial Development Team.

Please join me in congratulating Kurt and his team as we formally embark down this road.

Regards,

Adam