Our Stories & Events

Everyone loves a good underdog story — and call us biased, but there isn’t one quite like that of Monument Brandenburg. From the beginning, the team has faced tough economic times, multiple leadership changes, and employee turnover, but always finds a way through it and a new reason to celebrate. Over the last ten years, the Brandenburg team has continued to diversify their portfolio, strengthen customer relationships, improve services, and make a positive impact on their community.

This year, the Monument Brandenburg team is celebrating a full decade of taking on every challenge with resilience to become even stronger than ever. They’re celebrating 10 years of TENacity — 10 years of Brandenburg success.

On December 14th, they held their 10th Anniversary celebration for the team. All employees were invited to stop by the cafeteria to take a break and celebrate together by enjoying refreshments and snapping photos in front of their 10 Year anniversary logo “red carpet” banner.

“More recently, it’s become so evident of our ability to take on bigger and better challenges,” Tonya Jeffries, HR Manager, explained. “Everyone on the team shares this can-do attitude that has always pushed us to see what else we can do. It’s truly astounding to see how far we’ve come and what we have accomplished thus far — in our own community and for the entire company.”

Paul Raymond, CEO of Monument Chemical, and Adam Pingel, VPO of Global Operations, were both in attendance to help celebrate. And after the viewing of Brandenburg’s 10th Anniversary Video, Adam gave a phenomenal speech sharing memories from his own experiences as a site leader at Brandenburg, which had everyone laughing, reminiscing, and feeling even more excited for what the next chapter holds.

“It didn’t really strike me until I had the opportunity to talk with the team during the event, but Brandenburg is on my mind every single day,” Adam shared. “Yes, they are tenacious and they are resilient. And yes they have accomplished incredible things. But what I don’t think the team knew was all the great memories I took from the site — and the community. Brandenburg has had a real tangible impact on me; the team has demonstrated such incredible character over the last 10 years, and I feel privileged to be a part of their story.”

Of course, Brandenburg’s continuous improvement efforts don’t start and stop within the chemical industry. They make it their goal to positively impact as many people and organizations as they can — from “Kiss a Pig” events to annual grants to youth education programs. This past holiday season, Brandenburg’s annual Angel Tree Drive was just another wonderful example of that.

With employees’ incredible generosity, the team helped make the holidays brighter for Meade County children. Over three months, they held three luncheons and a Silent Auction, where all food and gifts were donated by Brandenburg team members and Monument Chemical.

“Instead of the typical Angel Tree where each employee can ‘adopt’ one child to buy gifts for, we provided multiple opportunities for our employees to contribute and raise money for the kids,” Tonya shared. “Monument hosts donation-only luncheons from October to December and does a Silent Auction with nice items donated by various units within our company or individuals. We also have a snack table set up in the cafeteria with homemade cookies and candies that employees can take for a donation amount of their choosing throughout the workday. It’s just a great way to reach a lot more kids and help provide for angels who haven’t received items on their wish list. And it’s very much appreciated by the Angel Tree Ministry.”

And the Brandenburg team certainly gets into the spirit every year. This year’s Angel Tree drive was one of the team’s best yet — in addition to Monument’s contribution of $1,000, the team raised $3,218 and collected a giant bag of toys through the events, while having a great time doing it!

“Our events committee handles the logistics, but Leslie Hoxsie, Training Coordinator, really puts a lot of time and effort into every event,” said Tonya “And all of our employees are awesome. They truly make each activity special with their thoughtfulness and generosity. We’re all grateful to give back to our community in a meaningful way.”

With so many reasons to celebrate over the last decade, each year at Brandenburg just keeps getting better.

“To the Brandenburg team: we are all proud of how far you’ve come and the impact you’ve had on our company and our community,” Adam shared. “We can’t wait to see what the next 10 years will bring!” 

 If you haven’t yet seen Brandenburg’s 10th Anniversary Video, please check it out!