As ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas, Chemical Plant undergoes a $2 billion expansion, Site Manager Kate Lightfoot's responsibility is to ensure operations continue safely and reliably.
The expansion includes a new VistamaxxTM performance polymer unit, which will allow the site to produce 400,000 tons of Vistamaxx polymers and about 350,000 tons of linear alpha olefins a year.
Lightfoot said she has been excited to learn more about the updated technology that will be utilized in these expansions, as well as how it will impact both ExxonMobil and the overall economy.
"I'm heavily involved in how we're setting ourselves up to be successful with the plant," she said. "We're at the point now where my team and I are starting to engage a lot in understanding the operational aspects of the new unit and what we will need to do to effectively manage it once it is up and running."
The expansions are expected to go on line by 2022.
Becoming a leader
Lightfoot started her role as the Baytown Chemical Plant site manager in August 2018 after spending the majority of her career with ExxonMobil in the Baytown area.
Growing up in south Arkansas in a town known for farming and logging, Lightfoot said she originally didn't have much exposure to the petrochemical industry. When she decided to study chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, she still had no plans to go into the petrochemical industry.
"I thought about it more from a medical point of view," Lightfoot explained. "I was interested in going to medical school."
However, once she earned her degree in 1998, she pursued a career in the industry and began working for a petrochemical company. After about three years, Lightfoot joined ExxonMobil in Baytown as an experienced hire. She served at the Baytown plant from 2002 until 2011 in various technical and process roles before moving to the ExxonMobil Baytown Olefins Plant until 2016.
"All of my ExxonMobil experience - just over 18 years - has been here in Baytown, minus one year," Lightfoot explained. In March 2016, she moved to the Spring, Texas, campus, serving as its polyethylene growth business readiness manager. In June 2017, she returned to the Baytown Chemical Plant as process manager before being promoted to site manager in 2018.
She said her extensive experience at the site enables her to be a credible and approachable leader to employees.
ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas, Chemical Plant is undergoing a $2 billion expansion, which will include a new VistamaxxTM performance polymer unit. The expansions should be completed by 2022.
"To be in a leadership role like this, you've got to have a way you develop relationships so people trust you," she said. "You've got to have that credibility with the organization. I do that through a lot of personal interactions with people, but also with transparency. If someone asks me a question, I'm going to give them an answer, and I don't try to hold back information."
Lightfoot said a leader develops credibility when his or her employees understand the full story and trust they will be given an honest answer and opinion. In turn, that leader also creates a reputation for approachability.
"Different people in different career stages or areas of operation have different concerns so, as a leader, you've got to be able to take in that full picture to make sure you're addressing all of those," she said. "Ultimately, our engaged workforce is what can help us deliver on our objective, which is being safe, reliable and a good community partner."
A continued focus on safety, developing people
For Lightfoot, maintaining a strong safety culture at her site is not only a company objective, but a "moral imperative."
"My role is to make sure the people who work here understand the culture and are safe, and also that we protect those who are outside of our fence line," she said.
Ensuring safety on-site is also personally important to Lightfoot, as a wife and mother of three. In leading her site, Lightfoot said she takes her role of being an example to her employees seriously.
"I'm always mindful of how I spend my energy and time to balance being the most effective leader I can with also being a mom," she explained. "One of my goals in this role is to demonstrate and set a clear example that someone can be a wife and mother of multiple children and have a role like this. It doesn't mean it's easy, but it's important for me to set that example that it's doable."
Even though being a full-time mother and leading a chemical plant is difficult and full of important decision-making, Lightfoot considers it all worth it. She said she is still figuring out how to make conscious choices about where she spends her time and energy, but she hopes she is making a difference to those around her.
"I think it's important people see a leader who has a full life but still maintains that personal and approachable touch within the organization," she said.
Lightfoot has served on the local United Way board of directors, and her site maintains a frequent volunteering presence with the charitable organization. The Baytown Chemical Plant employees participate in an annual Day of Caring, where they spend time performing projects in the community. Employees are also involved with local efforts such as Meals on Wheels and mentoring area students.
In light of concerns due to COVID- 19, Lightfoot and her site have remained committed to safe, reliable operations, producing ingredients vital to the country. As a company, ExxonMobil is continuing to manufacture isopropyl alcohol for hand sanitizer, as well as the chemicals used to produce medical face masks, IV bags, ventilator machines and hospital gowns.
The Baytown Chemical site has taken collective efforts to minimize any exposure to COVID-19 while still remaining open for business, recommending employees work from home if they are able and those on-site maintain good health practices.
"We are taking the necessary actions to keep each other safe, our environment protected and our company competitive," Lightfoot noted. "These products are essential for everyday life, and we are grateful to the communities in which we operate, as well as our trade associations, and all elected officials and advocates who have supported us in the midst of this crisis."
As a representative for ExxonMobil, Lightfoot participates in the East Harris County Manufacturers Association and the Texas Chemical Council to stay abreast of current events and make sure her site, along with the overall company, stays proactive in addressing ever-changing policies and public concerns. ExxonMobil Baytown-area managers split participation in trade associations to maintain a wide company presence in the community and industry.
Even as policies continue to evolve and new industrial and economic challenges arrive, Lightfoot said the plant's role will not change.
"We clearly have a continued focus on developing our people and always creating the most inclusive work environment we can," she said. "Our role is to run our site safely, reliably and also efficiently so we can be the most competitive producer of the products we make."
