Before the pandemic hit, the nation’s manufacturing sector — including the refining and petrochemical industries — was wrestling with how to find and train enough young people to replace the wave of Baby Boomers retiring from the workforce at a rate of nearly 6,000 per day.
Marathon Petroleum Corporation has a longstanding tradition of supporting community and educational initiatives around the country, such as the Boys & Girls Club in Carson and Los Angeles Harbor, California.
With some of the strictest environmental standards in the nation, Chevron’s El Segundo refinery in Los Angeles County, California, shows what is possible when industry works hand-in-hand with the neighboring community.
It was 2010 and Jerry Wascom, ExxonMobil’s Americas refining director, was worried. Despite fuel and petrochemical manufacturers making significant improvements in the safety of their individual operations, across the industries there was an uptick in serious incidents. Workers were getting injured, surrounding communities were losing confidence, the reputation of the industries was being tarnished and regulators were becoming increasingly engaged. Wascom turned to his counterparts within the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association (AFPM), the industry trade group, and asked, “Are we doing enough to protect people?”
As industries with deep-running safety cultures and critical roles in product supply chains, the fuel and petrochemical industries are uniquely positioned to share vital products with some of those most in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fuel and petrochemical industries have a long history of supporting the communities in which they live and operate, and they have amped up that support during this difficult time.
We enter the official 2020 hurricane season in June with a full appreciation that this year brings additional challenges as our nation continues a fight against a different yet deadly type of storm.