Dear business, industry and community friends, welcome to our June/ July 2017 issue of Business & Industry Connection Magazine. As we enter the summer, our kids and grandkids get out of school and many of us go on vacation, there is no better time to remind our family, friends and co-workers about the importance of safety on and off the job.
To help remind our staff, BIC Alliance marketing partners and BIC Magazine readers about safety, we always discuss safety in our plant manager and executive articles and interviews and run several articles and columns each issue about on-the-job safety. We also include at least one article about off-the-job safety. Last month, it was about spring cleaning and electrical hazards, and this month it is about becoming an organ donor. In addition to these articles, we also have some great contributing writers like Bennett Ghormley and others who write about safety in each issue, plus several writers like Kerry Siggins who talk about leadership and communication topics. Also, to better serve our BIC readers and the entire energy sector, we have expanded our speakers bureau, which includes many who write regular columns in BIC, including Shawn Galloway and Dr. Shirley White.
As I look back over the summers since going to work in industry in July 1965, one event always stands out that I began attending in the 1970s and is still going strong today: the TEEX fire training school at Texas A&M. As I told a group during a recent speakers bureau event, what I learned from my co-workers, mentors and peers in industry about operations, management, and fire and safety from 1965-1983 helped forge the success we have had at BIC Alliance since launching our company in the summer of 1983 and BIC Magazine in April 1984. While there are hundreds of lessons learned from listening to networking to getting along with our bosses, there are none more important than those we learn about communications and safety on the job and off.
We continue to bring you the latest on these topics and more in BIC Magazine. In this issue of BIC, you will find insight and best practices from Tahir Faruqui, president of Shell North America LNG and general manager of Origination -- North and Central America, Shell LNG Marketing and Trading; Wayne McDowell, plant manager, Sweeny/Old Ocean Facilities, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP; Greg Bowser, president, Louisiana Chemical Association and Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance; Dr. Treasa Turnbeaugh, CEO, Board of Certified Safety Professionals; Ted Hagberg, vice president, business development, Stellar Materials LLC; and Paul Tyree, COO, Total Safety.
We also feature the latest information on maintenance planning, turnaround success, safety culture and leadership, technology, manufacturing growth and more.
At BIC Alliance, we believe in the importance of sharing those lessons learned, having mentors and bringing you the best information. We also believe in partnering with the best people, and I am grateful every day for our readers, our friends in industry and our BIC staff. In 2005, I began turning over the day-to-day operations of BIC Alliance, IVS Investment Banking and BIC Recruiting to my able partner and son-in- law, Thomas Brinsko, who is our president and COO; our excellent management team composed of Jeremy Osterberger, Theresa Kennedy, Heather Cavalier and Kaye Benham; and staff. Since then, we have been building our partnerships and management team with the additions of IVS Investment Banking's John Zapalac in 2007, BIC Recruiting's Hazel Kassu in 2010, Mark Hertzog in 2012 and, most recently, Mark Peters, who joined us in May. As others began taking over and growing all our companies in 2005, I also took another step toward less day-to-day involvement with our core business when I launched BIC Media Solutions for the sole purpose of publishing inspirational and educational books that could help others find greater faith, hope, peace, and happiness. In 2014, John Zapalac and I expanded beyond books into helping fund and co-produce faith- and family-friendly films with "A Gift Horse" and, in 2016, with our book and film "Rock Bottom and Back."
Now, as we enter the summer of 2017 with our largest IVS transaction ever between Hastings Equity Partners and Specialty Welding and Turnarounds (SWAT) having closed in April (see article on page 149) and Mark Peters -- a seasoned energy publishing executive -- on board, we have even greater plans for the future of our BIC Alliance companies. At BIC Media Solutions, many companies are buying our books and films to help enhance lives and build relationships. We are also wrapping up an operations management book we are co-writing with Barry Hardy of TDS Inc. and Ted Moon of Launchpad that will be out this fall. Additionally, John Zapalac and I are partnering with Matt Keith and Teddy Smith, who we worked with on "A Gift Horse," to help fund and co-produce our next inspirational film, "Urban Country."
As everyone who reads BIC knows, May is always among our busiest months for networking events in the energy sector. With our increased effort to share lessons learned in print, videos and online this year, we had BIC Media Solutions and our film partners at Mission Media in New Orleans film my "Networking Tips" seminar at our 10th Annual Industry Appreciation Crawfish Boil & Jambalaya Dinner in April in La Porte, Texas. Not only are we sharing this 14-minute video with our BIC Alliance marketing partners, we also posted it on our BIC Alliance and BIC Media Solutions websites and Facebook so our BIC Magazine readers and others globally can access it throughout the year (view videos at BICMediaSolutions.com). We also filmed our BIC Alliance and partners' networking event during the AFPM event in May, and it is available for those who may have missed it.
We hope you have a safe and happy summer and encourage you and your family to make some wonderful memories and enjoy some great books and movies. Blessings from our BIC family to yours.
earlheard@bicalliance.com