Sharon Hulgan, site director of Dow's Oyster Creek site in Texas and production leader for Dow's world-scale TX-9 Ethane Steam Cracker, is currently overseeing the expansion of the cracker, which will increase its nameplate capacity to 2,000 kilotons per annum (KTA) of ethylene, establishing it as the largest ethylene plant in the world. The expansion is nearing the end of the construction of new furnaces that will increase overall ethylene capacity.
As a leader, Hulgan has long been acutely aware of her responsibility to keep others safe. A native of Denham Springs, Louisiana, Hulgan said she first learned this responsibility while working as an after-school daycare teacher for her church when she was 13. Even as a teenager, she understood the profound responsibility she'd been entrusted with: the development and safety of others' children. She has since carried that sense of responsibility and ownership with her in her career.
"The realization of that same responsibility compels me today as I make decisions to ensure the safety of the people working in our facility and earn the trust of those in the community where we operate," Hulgan explained.
Dow was founded in Midland, Michigan, in 1897 by Herbert H. Dow, who famously quipped, "If you can't do it better, then why do it?" Hulgan said this mindset lives on today in the men and women of Dow who embrace change with the knowledge that better is always different.
Oyster Creek employees know Hulgan has an open-door policy and a sincere interest in helping them achieve their professional potential, so they are always welcome to come talk with her. She even mentors employees and others and can often be heard saying that if anyone needs to meet with her, she is happy to stay late at work to ensure they get the attention and assistance they need.
She stays active in the industry, volunteering and devoting time to understanding current legislation and issues. By reading industry publications including BIC Magazine and IHS Markit, along with serving on the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council, Hulgan stays abreast of events that affect the industry as a whole.
"Legislation that would negatively impact shale gas production would be devastating to our ability to compete in the global marketplace and would yield undesired consequences for the entire U.S. economy," she explained.
A broad background of experience
While attending Louisiana State University (LSU), Hulgan was a co-op student for Dow. She graduated from LSU with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1994 and, upon graduation, accepted a position with AlliedSignal as a process engineer in the fluorocarbons business. There, Hulgan earned a Six Sigma Black Belt certification and worked on many value-generation projects during the transition away from chlorofluorocarbons refrigerants. She left AlliedSignal in 1997 to join DuPont Dow Elastomers as a pilot plant supervisor supporting Tyrin chlorinated polyethylene.
In 1999, Hulgan transitioned to working full time for Dow R&D, later taking on roles in Six Sigma, capital project execution and production engineering with an emphasis on water chemistry and large site integration. She moved into plant leadership in 2006 as an operations leader and later as small site leader for Amerchol Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Union Carbide, in Greensburg, Louisiana.
After Dow's acquisition of Rohm & Haas in 2009, Hulgan served as the EHS leader for Dow Coating Materials, traveling internationally to implement Dow's safety and loss-prevention standards at heritage Rohm & Haas facilities. During this time, she also supported the construction and start-up of new plants in Vietnam and Dubai. She then served three years in supply chain operations at Dow St. Charles, ensuring safe, cost-effective movement of raw materials and finished products.
In 2015, Hulgan took on the role of production director for Dow's acrylates plants, relocating her family to Deer Park, Texas. There, she successfully optimized asset operations to deliver improved value contributions to both the Performance Monomers and the Dow Coatings businesses.
Since taking her role as site director at Oyster Creek in April 2018, Hulgan has helped champion safety at the plant. The TX-9 cracker has gone two years without a recordable injury, and all of Dow Texas Operations boasts a total recordable incident rate of 0.08.
"We have a high level of employee engagement in positive safety interactions within the facility," she explained. "We are nurturing a culture where intervention is natural and appreciated."
Hulgan strives to be an active listener and acknowledges this type of leadership role requires effective communication and strategic planning. By actively listening to those around her, she empowers herself to utilize the full knowledge of Dow's workforce. With such a talented group of individuals, listening and communicating with everyone ensures the best ideas are heard and implemented, she said.
"My goal is to inspire a culture of ownership and teamwork that translates into world-class reliability, process safety excellence and value creation for Dow," Hulgan said.
Mentoring for the future
Hulgan remains an active member of her local church and volunteers her time to professionally mentor others. Her main passion in mentoring is setting a good example for and empowering others to see what is possible in their career choices and advancement. Often, Hulgan coaches employees one-on-one, taking extra time to share what she has learned in her own career.
She is actively engaged in Dow's Women's Innovation Network, having recently served as a speaker at Dow's POWERUp Conference in partnership with Ernst & Young. Hulgan is also a frequent presenter and coach in Dow's leadership development programs, "Lead to Exceed" and "Inspire to Serve," which have enabled her to connect with and inspire other leaders.
Hulgan is a proud member of Dow's VetNet resource group and the Texas Operations sponsor for the Global African Affinity Network. She currently serves as the Community Outreach Chair for the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council, whose mission is to understand the concerns of county citizens relative to the chemical manufacturing industry. She is also a member of the LSU Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, providing insight into what is needed from future graduates to ensure they are prepared to meet the needs of industry.
Hulgan and her husband have been married for 27 years. Together, they have three children. Hulgan's oldest son is a medical student at Baylor University in Houston; her middle son is a West Point graduate and second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, currently in flight school; and her daughter is pursuing a chemical engineering degree at Texas A&M University in College Station. Her father and husband are both chemical engineers, and Hulgan feels honored that her daughter looks to her as a role model and has also taken steps to become a chemical engineer. "I am blessed," she said.
Dow Oyster Creek 2301 N. Brazosport Blvd. Freeport, TX 77541 (979) 238-2011 www.dow.com
Employees: Approximately 365 employees in Oyster Creek and Stratton Ridge, Texas. Around 3,600 employees and 2,000 contract workers make up Dow Texas Operations.
Products: Ethylene and propylene, butadiene and pygas byproducts. Oyster Creek is also home to Dow's propane dehydrogenation unit, producing polymer-grade propylene, and Dow's TX-8 ethylene facility.
Size: Dow Texas Operations consists of four major facilities -- Plant A, Plant B, Oyster Creek and Stratton Ridge -- around Freeport, Texas, covering 20 square miles.
