On his first day as site manager of Eastman's St. Gabriel, Louisiana, facility in 2012, Tim Harris felt he had returned to his roots. That's because before he started working in industry, Harris qualified as a chief engineer for the U.S. Navy aboard a nuclear submarine.
"During my first day on-site, I was surrounded by pipes, valves, steam traps and operating noises," Harris said. "It all reminded me of my time on the submarine and those tours in the Navy."
Tim Harris, Site Manager, Eastman St. Gabriel
Harris was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, but grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He vividly remembers his first job, a summer job, working for a concrete contractor.
"It was hard work in the hot sun, and it taught me the value of a good education," Harris said. "I think that was my dad's plan all along."
Harris received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Tulane University and later earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. After completing his undergraduate degree, Harris joined the Navy.
"My time in the Navy was an unbelievable experience," Harris said. "It taught me responsibility and gave me some great sea stories to tell. I had a sea tour on the West Coast and served as a flag lieutenant for a shore tour in Washington, D.C. My time in D.C. allowed me to get an inside view of how our government works."
Following the Navy, Harris worked in several manufacturing positions that increased in responsibility.
"What I've enjoyed most during my career is stepping into leadership roles where I've been able to turn around struggling operations," Harris explained. "This is particularly rewarding because you can see the positive difference you have on an operation."
Ensuring the plant's safe operation
Today, Harris' primary responsibility is to ensure the safe operation of the Eastman St. Gabriel plant.
"We want this plant to operate as safely as possible," Harris stated. "In doing so, we also want to minimize the risk of personal injuries or process safety incidents. We don't want to do anything that could potentially impact the environment or be an inconvenience to our neighbors."
Harris emphasized that the site's employees have a zero-incident mindset, which provides a foundation for everything they do.
"We expect everyone in our operations to keep these four things in mind when making any decision. In order of priority, they are: safety, environmental, quality, and productivity and profitability."
- Safety. "Again, nothing is more important than this," Harris said.
- Environmental. "This is more than just compliance with our permits," Harris noted. "Our license to operate comes from the communities in which we live and work. We have a responsibility to be good citizens and neighbors."
- Quality. "We must produce quality products that please our customers," Harris said.
- Productivity and profitability. "We must be competitive if we're to survive," Harris stated. "But honestly, this is the easiest one. If we do the first three well, this one will take care of itself."
Materials matter more than ever
According to Harris, the St. Gabriel facility produces amines, a class of molecules built around a nitrogen atom.
Eastman’s St. Gabriel, Louisiana, facility is home to the world’s largest higher amines plant.
"We react ammonia with an alcohol and then react those to make an 'alphabet soup' of molecules," Harris said. "These are used to help enhance the quality of life for people every day, from ensuring safe drinking water to reducing energy costs. Additionally, our products go into personal care items such as shampoo and body wash, solvents for food packaging applications, pharmaceuticals and many others. It would be impossible for you to live your daily life without interacting with products made from molecules created in St. Gabriel."
During his nine years at the St. Gabriel site, Harris acknowledged that last year was the most challenging.
"Many times, it seemed like we were building a plane at the same time we were trying to fly it," Harris said. "In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had our largest turnaround in recent history, and we're currently in the middle of three large expansion and modernization projects. Demand for our products, especially those that have helped make pandemic living easier, has been very strong, requiring us to maintain a high operating tempo. We were still able to balance everything, despite the pandemic and the most active hurricane season ever recorded."
In order to mitigate the risk of COVID- 19, the St. Gabriel site made many changes, including adjusting shift schedules.
"This was highly disruptive to operations employees and their families, yet it was done without complaint," Harris said. "The rest of us learned how to work from home. Our success came from our common goal: No one catches it here. We have a culture of watching each other's backs, and this was just another example of that culture. I've been fortunate to work with great people throughout my career, but the team at this site is easily the best I've ever worked with."
Harris is ecstatic about the expansion and modernization projects taking place at the St. Gabriel facility.
"We've built a new control room and laboratory building, and we're installing a new control system," Harris said. "We're also building a new production unit. This will be the site's seventh unit and largest by volume. We expect to commission it in the third quarter of 2021. Our facility is growing, and I want to see that continue."
A good neighbor, responsible citizen
According to Harris, the St. Gabriel facility is heavily involved with community and industry organizations.
"We are a founding and active member of our local Community Advisory Panel (CAP), the longest continuously operating CAP in the country," Harris said. "We are a founding member of East Iberville Industry Neighbor Companies (EI INC). EI INC is a partnership with several of our neighboring plants where we combine resources in order to have a greater impact in our communities.
"We've also partnered with the local school district to promote STEM education and started an introduction to process technology program, where we've funded scholarships to help students obtain a process technology degree. We believe that part of being a good neighbor is helping provide good jobs for those neighbors. In addition, our employees regularly volunteer at the St. Gabriel Food Pantry."
Harris serves as chair of the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance and board member of the Louisiana Chemical Association. He is also vice chairman of the Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance and sits on the academic advisory board for the LSU College of Engineering's Department of Chemical Engineering.
What's next for Eastman?
According to Harris, it's crucial people understand the importance of chemical and specialty materials manufacturing.
"It's absolutely necessary to maintain and improve our quality of life," he said. "Most of everything we produce is unpronounceable, making it difficult for average consumers to connect their everyday lives with what we make. As an industry, we need to change that. Additionally, our processes are complex and difficult, but we have developed the expertise to thrive in that environment."
Harris explained that Eastman is now pivoting to use this expertise to solve some of the world's biggest problems.
"For example, we're dedicated to creating a truly sustainable world with a circular economy," he said. "We're working on processes to recycle all plastics, deconstructing those molecules back into their most basic forms, and then reconstructing them into the forms we need. This is cheaper than starting with traditional raw materials, creating an economic incentive to keep plastic waste out of our environment. I used to work in battery recycling. Almost 100 percent of batteries are recycled because there's an economic incentive to do so. We'll get there with plastics as well."
