Chad Jennings has only served as plant manager of Chevron Phillips Chemical's (CPChem's) Pasadena Plastics Complex in Texas since September 2019, but his extensive worldwide experience in the petrochemical industry makes him a shoe-in. In fact, previous positions he's held with CPChem have taken him as far as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
"I have managed a maintenance turnaround in Saudi Arabia, and cultural differences played a big part in that onboarding. Communication efforts were crucial," he explained. "Despite being halfway around the world, I discovered that most people want the same thing: to go home safe to the families they love.
"It is important to share plant activities with the public so there is awareness and accountability" - Chad Jennings, CPChem
"Shortly after I took the Pasadena plant manager role, a maintenance turnaround was also executed here, and the workforce was again challenged with inexperienced contractors. The same principles I utilized in Saudi Arabia to drive safety awareness were applied to this turnaround. A significant upfront communication and field engagement effort was required to have a positive impact on the short-term contract employees. This helped drive home the message that we care about their safety and want to ensure all employees take the time to work safely and look out for their co-workers, so each can return home to their loved ones."
The Pasadena Plastics Complex was named "Best in Texas" by the Texas Chemical Council in 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2018, there were no OSHA recordable injuries at the facility. "Our company's 'Journey to Zero' initiative aims to eliminate events that could inflict serious injuries to employees or contractors," Jennings remarked. "This initiative utilizes many principles to reduce risk and take time to do the job the right way every single time."
Originally from Kingsport, Tennessee, Jennings holds a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Tennessee Tech University and a Master of Business Administration from Rice University. His first job was as a process engineer at Stone & Webster Engineering in Houston, and since then he has held a total of 10 separate positions for CPChem. The plant manager role in Pasadena makes 11.
Jennings said his main priority as plant manager is to ensure "safe, reliable and environmentally compliant operations of the facility." But it's also important to create a workplace environment where employees want to come to work.
"In order to be an effective plant manager, you must have a good understanding of how each of the departments supports the others, as well as of process technology, particularly with respect to safe operation of the plant," he explained. "Developing solid working relations with all departments to build trust with the employees is key, particularly when you are new to the facility. I also make it a point to have working knowledge of facility and corporate resources to better work through challenges and develop new opportunities for the plant."
Improving lives locally and abroad
The Pasadena Plastics Complex is located 12 miles east of Houston on the Houston Ship Channel. The 650-acre facility opened in 1949 and currently has three process units manufacturing metallocene linear low-density resins (mLLDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The site employs approximately 400 people.
"Chevron Phillips Chemical is always looking at future investment opportunities," Jennings said. "There continues to be steady growth in the petrochemical industry as more families join the middle class worldwide. These families want to have the same amenities that most of us in the U.S. enjoy, and plastics allow for improved, lighter-weight packaging and products that have an overall reduced environmental footprint compared to alternative products. With the increased global demand, new polymers plants will be constructed to keep up."
In addition to its support of increasing standards of living worldwide, CPChem's Pasadena Plastics Complex is heavily involved in global and regional environmental initiatives as well as local educational programs that promise to contribute to a robust future industry workforce.
"We strongly support managing the lifecycle of plastic and are proactively engaged in sustainable activities," Jennings said. "Chevron Phillips Chemical is a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a sponsoring effort to find methods to recycle plastic and prevent plastic waste from ending up in unintended places in the environment, such as our world's oceans.
"We also believe in supporting educational initiatives to help foster interest in STEM fields, as well as other community and sustainability events."
The Pasadena site's local academic outreach in the Pasadena Independent School District includes sponsorship of the Society of Plastics Engineers PlastiVan program for eighth-graders at Jackson Intermediate School, sponsorship of the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering Trailblazer for seventh-graders at Jackson Intermediate and Queens Intermediate schools, and Junior Achievement classroom lessons at Kruse Elementary School.
"We are also the title sponsor of the City of Pasadena's 'Team Up to Clean Up' initiative and the Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo's 'Rodeo Run' fundraiser," Jennings added. "Every spring, we join forces with the Texas Conservation Fund's 'Trash Bash' clean-up crew to pick up debris along Sims Bayou."
Moving forward, Jennings said accountability and transparency will be key to the plant's success in the community. "It is important to share plant activities with the public so there is awareness and accountability," he stated. "I attend the Pasadena Community Advisory Council meetings every month and serve on the board of directors of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce. Our Pasadena facility works with citizens and other industry operators to ensure we are a good neighbor."
The journey never stops
Although there are no expansions currently underway at the Pasadena complex, Jennings said continuous improvement is a goal for all CPChem's operations and cannot be underestimated in importance.
"I'd like to see improvements made to the existing units at our Pasadena facility that allow us to continue to compete efficiently against the mega-units built in recent years," Jennings explained. "I'm also focused on hiring and training employees who embrace our vision to be the premier chemical company, allowing future capital investment at the site.
"Our workforce needs to understand Chevron Phillips Chemical's values and expectations to make sure everyone works safely and is personally committed to following the company's life-saving rules and [utilizing] stop-work authority.
"There's always a need for continued improvements in processes and personnel safety that reduce risk as well as improve reliability so unit operations are predictable. I envision an improved use of digitalization that allows more in-depth knowledge of the operating deviations of the equipment so proactive measures can be taken."
