New equipment for Surfside Jetty Park will be made wholly from recycled plastics….
ANGLETON — Fifteen Brazoria County petrochemical companies have partnered to bring a new playground to a county park made from recycled plastics.
The representatives from the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council assembled Tuesday morning before commissioners’ court to announce the $210,000 donation. The money will allow the county to replace the playground at Surfside Beach Jetty Park, which had to be removed because it became a hazard after long-term exposure to the elements.
Representatives of the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council and Brazosport County Parks Department pose with county commissioners Tuesday after announcing the BCPC would donate $210,000 to provide a playground made of recycled plastics for Surfside Jetty Park.
“Anytime you look at investing dollars into something like that, you’re talking about some serious dollars. So we were prepared to go back to the drawing board,” Brazoria County Parks Director Bryan Frazier said. “What could we put out that would last a little longer?” The petrochemical council reached out about that time suggesting a partnership and asking what potential projects the parks department would have in mind. Installing playground equipment made from recycled plastics jumped to the top of the list.
“It gives the interpretive message of what we are all about anyway, which is, ‘Don’t throw your plastic bottles on the ground,’” Frazier said. “Do something positive with them; recycle them. And they answered the call.”
Contributors to the council’s donation include MEGlobal Americas, Dow Chemical, BASF, Freeport LNG, Shintech, K-Bin, Shin-Etsu, Olin Corp., Port Freeport, DSM, Vopak Industrial Infrastructure Americas Freeport, Ineos, Phillips 66, Chevron Phillips Chemical and LyondellBasell.
It likely will be about six months after the new equipment is ordered before the playground is open, Frazier said. The department hopes to place the order as soon as possible, and it will take several months to arrive, he said.
The $210,000 donation should cover most if not all of the cost of the equipment and installation, Frazier said.
Early Monday May 1, 2023 Aaron Ennis, Workforce Development chair along with Jax Lawson of Brazosport High School and Ashley Shugart of Columbia High School spoke live with Fox & Friends host Steve Doucey about ‘Signing Day.’ This was the first, live, nationwide television interview about Signing Day in its 5 year history.
While the interview was just over 4 minutes long, it took many hours over several days for Aaron, Jax and Ashley to prepare. Fitting specific ideas and messages into a tight timeframe is challenging for anyone. All three arrived before dark that Monday morning knowing what their messages were, how to deliver them while considering what the host and people watching wanted to know more about. It was great and all three were terrific.
The Facts covers Signing Day 2023 on the Front Page
Member of the BCPC were pleased to see their ‘hometown’ newspaper give a prominent, page one placement to the Workforce Development Committee’s Signing Day 2023 event.
Members and contract companies of the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC) offered 79 career jobs in skilled trades to select 2023 graduates from Brazoria and Matagorda County High Schools on ‘Signing Day.’ Skilled trade jobs include welding, pipefitting, millwright, ironworking, electrical, instrumentation, HVAC, carpentry, and more. Brazoria and Matagorda Counties are in southeast Texas near Houston.
Career Signing Day
Known as ‘Career Signing Day,’ and modeled after athletic scholarship signings, the public presentation of those who will transition from school to the workforce after graduation was Monday, May 1, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Brazosport College Dow Academic Center, 500 College Drive, Lake Jackson, TX 77566.
What Is the Job?
Graduates will work full time for local contract companies with assignments inside BCPC member plants and contract company shops. All will receive on the job instruction. There are also roles offered this year in what are known as ‘soft trades’ like construction scheduling, maintenance technician, environmental technicians, quality control and lab technicians.
Gaps to Fill
With an aging workforce and a growing industry, there is a broad need for craftspeople at refinery and petrochemical companies. High school graduates who are not interested in a four-year degree can attain specialized skills with wages that will support a family.
Members of the BCPC can recruit employees from the local population due to the career and technical programs at local high schools and the areas’ community colleges. Local recruits will often have a more profound connection to an area, as they are frequently more familiar with the culture, customs, and traditions of the region. They likely have existing relationships with people in the community, which can help them transition from high school into the workforce more easily.
Focused Applicant Screening
There was intense candidate selection that included written applications, essays and 720 job interviews by 42 contract companies affiliated with the BCPC member companies. Each of the 180 students interviewed 4 times with hiring organizations.
Those hired will receive many bonuses with their new roles. One example is ‘Ace Image Wear’ will provide free fire-retardant clothing to students who are offered a job.
Full time work that includes specialized training, college, and certification.
Members and contract companies of the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC) will offer approximately 79 jobs for career in skilled trades to select 2023 graduates from Brazoria and Matagorda County High Schools. Skilled trade jobs include welding, pipefitting, millwright, ironworking, electrical, instrumentation, HVAC, carpentry, and more.
Graduates work full time for local contract companies with assignments inside BCPC member plants and contract company shops. All will receive on the job instruction. There are also roles offered this year in what are known as ‘soft trades’ like construction scheduling, maintenance technician, environmental technicians, quality control and lab technicians.
Career Signing Day
Known as ‘Career Signing Day,’ and modeled after athletic scholarship signings, the public presentation of those who will transition from school to the workforce after graduation will be Monday, May 1, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Brazosport College Dow Academic Center, 500 College Drive, Lake Jackson, TX 77566.
Gaps to Fill
With an aging workforce and a growing industry, there is a broad need for craftspeople at refinery and petrochemical companies. High school graduates who are not interested in a four-year degree can attain specialized skills with wages that will support a family.
Members of the BCPC can recruit employees from the local population due to the career and technical programs at local high schools and the areas’ community colleges. Local recruits will often have a more profound connection to an area, as they are frequently more familiar with the culture, customs, and traditions of the region. They likely have existing relationships with people in the community, which can help them transition from high school into the workforce more easily.
Focused Applicant Screening
There was intense candidate selection that included written applications, essays and 720 job interviews by 42 contract companies affiliated with the BCPC member companies. Each of the 180 students interviewed 4 times with hiring organizations.
Those hired will receive many bonuses with their new roles. One example is ‘Ace Image Wear’ will provide free fire-retardant clothing to students who are offered a job.
About the BCPC
The BCPC is composed of chemical, petrochemical companies and other organizations that manufacture, refine, convert, store, and/or transport energy, basic chemical, or specialty chemical products. The goal of the BCPC is to enhance the well-being of the member company employees, contract employees, their families, and neighbors, here in Brazoria County. The BCPC motto is: Earn the publics’ trust every day. More information can be found online at www.Brazoria-County-Petrochemical-Council.com.
Career Signing Day Wins Major Award for Helping Students
Find Careers in Industry
BCPC Signing Day Committee Accepts Award at CURT Conference
Greg Sizemore, Executive Vice President at CURT; Jim Ellis, President at CURT; and BCPC Career Signing Day Committee Members: Jessie Jennings, Executive Director at Brazosport ISD Education Foundation; Spencer Cole, Sr. Talent Acquisition Advisor at BASF, Wendy Irwin, Community Relations Liaison at Chevron Phillips Chemical; and Aaron Ennis, Brazosport ISD Resource Development Coordinator
The Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC) Career Signing Day was awarded the Workforce Development Award by the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT), an international recognition for extraordinary, exemplary, and innovative training and education programs that encourages individuals to pursue a career in the construction industry and/or enhance individuals construction skills. Additionally, BCPC Career Signing Day won the top award of $5,000 jointly sponsored by CURT, the National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER), and Ironworker Management Progressive Actions Cooperative Trust (IMPACT).
Created four years ago, the BCPC Career Signing Day has “signed” over 80 high school students into craft careers. Modeled after athletic signing days, Career Signing Day is an occasion for graduating high school seniors to be placed in full-time roles for work and on-the-job training. It connects the career and technology curriculum at local high schools to life-sustaining careers in the industry.
“This award is a reflection of everyone’s hard work and dedication to growing our future workforce,” said Aaron Ennis, Chair of the BCPC Workforce Development Committee and Brazosport ISD Resource Development Coordinator. “None of this would be possible without the collaboration of the people at owner companies, construction companies, school districts, and community colleges.”
CURT is an association of leading corporations in the United States and Canada dedicated to promoting
cost-effective construction methods. CURT members recognize that training, education, and recruitment are essential to excellence in construction project delivery. As a result, CURT founded the Workforce Development Awards to recognize companies and organizations for extraordinary, exemplary, and innovative recruitment, training, and education programs, encouraging people to pursue construction careers.
The BCPC Career Signing Day application will be open for high school seniors in January 2023 and closes on March 3. Interviews will be on April 5 with May 1 being the 5th annual BCPC Career Signing Day.
Brazoria County Petrochemical Council Emphasizes Prevention of Injuries Caused by Dropped Objects
There are more than 50,000 “struck by falling object” OSHA recordable injuries every year in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Preventing these types of injuries in the workplace motivated approximately 200 professionals to spend an afternoon at the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC) Environment Health & Safety (EH&S) Committee’s ‘Stop the Drop’ safety symposium.
This was the BCPC EH&S committee’s first safety related event. It took place May 19, 2022, at the ABC Texas Gulf Coast located in Freeport, TX. Alex Martinez from Brock Group and Michael Gill from Turner Industries presented the latest and best information available on dropped objects injury prevention to the industry professionals present. Later, a meaningful Q&A session was held with the audience and panel members from BCPC owner and contractor companies.
BCPC Motives
The members of the BCPC have one primary goal; to collaborate with each other and our community so that we earn the public’s trust every day. The dropped objects safety symposium and other activities from the BCPC are to always act as good neighbors. “The BCPC membership works and behaves in socially responsible ways so that everyone who works inside member facilities goes home in the same condition in which they arrived every day,” according to Paul Spinks, Shintech’s Freeport, TX site leader and president of the BCPC. “This event helps define what this group of petrochemical companies are about, to engage in the best, safest ways to work that preserves everyone’s health and safety.”
Prevention as the Remedy
Those annual “struck by falling object” OSHA recordables equate to one injury caused by a fallen item every 10 minutes. This level of risk is on par with the consequences of other petrochemical industry hazards like
confined space entry. Working at heights should receive the same attention. “The members of the EH&S committee chose dropped object prevention because it is a common risk that we all face,” said Dirk Perrin, plant manager for Chevron Phillips Chemical in Sweeny, TX and chair of the BCPC EH&S Committee. “There is value learning from each other to eliminate this hazard.”
Good Housekeeping Prevents Hazards and Injuries
Activity in elevated spaces will often result in tools and materials left behind on scaffolding. “An emphasis on housekeeping at raised levels prevents things from accidentally being kicked off an elevated platform,” Perrin said. “Objects that fall can bounce up, impact, or ricochet off other surfaces while falling, posing a threat to people who are working in adjacent areas.”
Dropped Objects Injury Prevention
Considering the millions of scaffolding parts, tools, and materials at elevated heights in facilities, there are many opportunities for a dropped object to come in contact with a person. “There is no level of caution that is too much effort for dropped object prevention,” Perrin said.
Consider the Following When Planning Elevated Work
With prevention in mind these steps will aid those working off the ground:
Place nets around and underneath scaffolds to ‘catch’ things that drop straight down.
Use tethers on tools that could slip out of someone’s hand.
Put barricades around areas where items could fall and ricochet.
Keep the worksite tidy, both on and off the ground. Tidiness also eliminates tripping hazards on the ground and above.
Do not wait. Immediately retrieve anything left on the ground or on a scaffold.
Make dropped object injury prevention part of job planning and hazard evaluation/recognition activities.
“If these simple steps are followed, then the number of injuries due to falling objects will definitely decrease,” Perrin concluded. “It is up to each of us to be mindful of where we are while at work and especially when working on a scaffold.”
Damage done to a hard hat was just one example of the harm that can come from a falling object in the workplace. The damage a falling sledgehammer does to a hard hat illustrates the potential for injury on the job caused by dropped objects at the BCPC Environment Health & Safety (EH&S) Committee’s ‘Stop the Drop’ safety symposium.
BCPC Signing Day Discussed on The Michael Berry Show
The Trade School Affect
On July 1, 2022 the BCPC Signing Day event was a topic of conversation on The Michael Berry Show. Berry’s commentary begins around the 15 minute mark. The recording should start to play at that time.
Berry was named among the Top 25 Talk Hosts in America by NewsMax Magazine, and has been ranked with the country’s top 10 talk hosts by iHateTheMedia.com. His program can be heard on KTRH-AM. Click the media below to listen. Berry’s commentary begins around the 15 minute mark.
Modeled after athlete letter of intent commitment letters, ‘Career Signing Day’ is an occasion for graduating high school seniors to be placed in full time roles for work, on the job training and classroom instruction that often leads to professional certification.
Four dozen Brazoria County high school seniors will walk from the graduation stage this month to a job site after accepting job offers from Brazoria County Petrochemical Council member companies.
The members of the BCPC are Air Liquide, Ascend Performance Materials, BASF, Braskem, ChampionX, Chevron-Phillips Chemical, Dow, DSM, Freeport LNG Development, Huntsman, INEOS, K-Bin, Linde, Lyondell-Bassell, MEGlobal, Mineral Research and Development, Olin, Phillips 66, Port of Freeport, Shin Etsu Chemicals, Shintech, SI Group, and Vencorex.
There is a shortage of skilled labor for industry in Brazoria County. The demand for certified pipe-fitters, welders, machinists, mechanics, boilermakers, and other skilled persons exceed availability. These craft persons help build and later run the petrochemical plants currently in place, under construction, or planned in Brazoria County. “We need the help,” Witte said. “Career Signing Day is one of the ways we can ensure sufficient access to skilled labor. We also like that the signees are from the area and share a commitment to it.”
Not Only a Local Issue According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 8 million skilled-labor jobs were lost from the labor force during the Covid-19 pandemic. About half were filled, but approximately 4 million vacancies remain. National Association of Workforce Boards President Ron Painter said the so-called “Great Resignation” was fueled by tradesmen who chose early retirement, work from home, or less labor-intensive jobs.
About the BCPC The Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC) organization is composed of chemical, petrochemical companies and other organizations that manufacture, refine, convert, store, and/or transport energy, basic chemical, or specialty chemical products. The goal of the BCPC is to enhance the well-being of the member company employees, contract employees, their families, and neighbors, here in Brazoria County. The BCPC motto is: Earn the publics’ trust every day.
May 10, 2022 – A record number forty-eight (48) graduating seniors from Brazoria County, Texas high schools ‘signed’ for full time jobs with work inside one of the twenty-three Brazoria County Petrochemical Industry (BCPC) manufacturing plants shortly after graduation in late May 2022. Brazoria County is just south of Houston, Texas. Each signee was announced at the BCPC fourth annual ‘Career Signing Day.’ The series of signings were at the ABC Building in Freeport, Texas. Those selected start work after graduation.
Modeled after athlete letter of intent commitment letters, ‘Career Signing Day’ is an occasion for graduating high school seniors to be placed in full time roles for work, on the job training and classroom instruction that often leads to professional certification.
Record Number of Jobs for Signees. The record setting number of signees is good news for BCPC members as skilled labor is critical to the present and future of the petrochemical manufacturing industry. “This number of signees is the most ever,” said BCPC Workforce Development board representative, BASF senior vice president and Freeport site leader Chris Witte. “By contrast, there were only 38 applicants for the 2021 Career Signing Day. It shows how much interest there is in the skilled trades and how dedicated the BCPC member companies are to recruit, train and retain local people for good paying, lifetime career positions here in Brazoria County.”
BCPC Membership The members of the BCPC are Air Liquide, Ascend Performance Materials, BASF, Braskem, ChampionX, Chevron-Phillips Chemical, Dow, DSM, Freeport LNG Development, Huntsman, INEOS, K-Bin, Linde, Lyondell-Bassell, MEGlobal, Mineral Research and Development, Olin, Phillips 66, Port of Freeport, Shin Etsu Chemicals, Shintech, SI Group, and Vencorex.
Intense Screening ‘Career Signing Day’ is the culmination of an intense screening process for high school seniors who are interested in trade or craft jobs. Welding, pipe fitting, instrumentation, and boilermakers are most of the roles available. Each requires a great deal of instruction, practice, and skill. “Students must submit written applications including an essay, and interview with hiring managers,” said Aaron Ennis, BCPC Workforce Development committee chair and resource development coordinator for the Brazosport Independent School District. “It is a rigorous process because these jobs represent a substantial investment by the contract and BCPC member companies. We need to know that these applicants are serious about their commitment because they can potentially last an entire career.”
Why This Matters There is a shortage of skilled labor for industry in Brazoria County. The demand for certified pipe-fitters, welders, machinists, mechanics, boilermakers, and other skilled persons exceed availability. These craft persons help build and later run the petrochemical plants currently in place, under construction, or planned in Brazoria County. “We need the help,” Witte said. “Career Signing Day is one of the ways we can ensure sufficient access to skilled labor. We also like that the signees are from the area and share a commitment to it.”
Not Only a Local Issue According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 8 million skilled-labor jobs were lost from the labor force during the Covid-19 pandemic. About half were filled, but approximately 4 million vacancies remain. National Association of Workforce Boards President Ron Painter said the so-called “Great Resignation” was fueled by tradesmen who chose early retirement, work from home, or less labor-intensive jobs.
About the BCPC The Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC) organization is composed of chemical, petrochemical companies and other organizations that manufacture, refine, convert, store, and/or transport energy, basic chemical, or specialty chemical products. The goal of the BCPC is to enhance the well-being of the member company employees, contract employees, their families, and neighbors, here in Brazoria County. The BCPC motto is: Earn the publics’ trust every day.
Signing Day, when soon-to-be high school graduates pledge to attend a particular college or university, has always been considered a special occasion.
Now students who commit to a career in the skilled trades are being celebrated, too.
Brazoria County, Texas, high schools had a record turnout for this year’s Career Signing Day. Michael Martinez wanted to be an airline pilot. But as he got older, Martinez, now 18, decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a professional welder instead. In fact, the senior at Brazoswood High School in Clute, Texas, has already landed a job that will start immediately after graduation. “My dad always wanted me to be in the white-collar class,” he said, but “he’s proud of me.”
Wendy Irwin speaks to the crowd at Career Signing Day 2022.
In Texas, where Martinez lives, there are a growing number of industrial job openings but fewer people to fill them.
These seniors from Brazoria County, Texas high schools committed to full-time jobs on Career Signing Day, 2022. Photo: Billy Loveless, Brazosport College.
Part of the labor shortage is due to experienced workers aging out of the field, according to Chris Witte, a senior vice president and site leader for BASF, a chemical company in Freeport, Texas.
“We want to grow the talent pool and we want to give students opportunities,” Witte said. “The goal is to show them that these are very good, high-paying jobs.”
To encourage more students to consider careers in the field, Martinez’s school district hosts an annual Career Signing Day.
“This Career Signing Day came out of nowhere,” Martinez said. “I thought I might as well try it.”
More people are accustomed to the fanfare that surrounds signing days, when soon-to-be high school graduates pledge to attend a particular university.
For college-bound athletes headed to big-name schools, these occasions are particularly celebrated among friends, family and the community at large.
Now, school districts are throwing their support and praise behind high schoolers who make a similar commitment to a skilled trade.
“Just as we would celebrate a football player or any other athlete, we want to celebrate just as proudly our skilled tradesmen and women and their decision to pursue a career,” said Chelle Travis, executive director at SkillsUSA, a national nonprofit aimed at connecting students with technical careers.
Michael Martinez on Career Signing Day, 2022. Source: Harold Nicoll
“What they do is essential work.” This spring, more than 1,000 students across 33 states took part in Career Signing Day.
In Brazoria County, just south of Houston, 48 graduating seniors, including Martinez, signed for full-time jobs at one of the chemical and petrochemical companies that make up the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council.
This was Brazoria County’s fourth annual Career Signing Day and by far its most popular. More than twice as many students applied and were hired into full-time positions than last year.
“The response has been phenomenal,” said Aaron Ennis, a committee chair and resource development coordinator for the Brazosport Independent School District.
Adrianna Webster on Career Signing Day, 2022. Source: Harold Nicoll.
“We are on the cusp of being one of the largest signing days up and down the Gulf Coast,” he added. “That’s our goal.” To be considered, students must submit written applications, including an essay, and interview with hiring managers. “We need to know that these applicants are serious about their commitment because they can potentially last an entire career,” Ennis said.
“It is a rigorous process because these jobs represent a substantial investment by the contract and BCPC member companies,” he added, which now includes 25 employers, such as Chevron-Phillips Chemical, Dow, Huntsman and Vencorex.
“I was excited and scared because there were four girls that were [applying] and I wasn’t sure if all, or any, of us would get a job offer,” said Angleton High School senior Adrianna Webster.
Webster, 18, was one of the students offered a full-time position at KCG Industries as a welder, earning $16 an hour. “Nobody in my family has gone to college,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do; I thought welding looked interesting and I was good at it.”
She starts in July, after competing in a national welding competition (Webster is a Texas state welding champion). Increasingly, teenagers are rethinking the value of college.
Amid the heightened demand for workers, rising cost of tuition and growing student loan burden, more students are choosing career-connected pathways over four-year colleges, according to recent reports.
As enrollment falls, skilled trade programs are booming.The likelihood of attending a four-year school sank 20% in the last two years — down to 51%, from 71%, according to ECMC Group, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit. ECMC Group polled more than 5,300 high school students five times since February 2020.
Meanwhile, more than one-third of high school students said they believed a career and technical educationcould lead them to success. “Today’s students have experienced the pandemic’s impact, and they want to forge their own path — a path that is shorter in duration, more affordable and connects directly to a career — especially a career in a field that needs workers,” said Jeremy Wheaton, ECMC Group’s president and CEO.
A separate study by YouthTruth, which polled more than 22,000 students in the class of 2022, found that more than one-quarter, or 28%, of high school seniors said their plans have changed since the start of the pandemic with fewer students interested in going to college at all.
Four dozen Brazoria County high school seniors will walk from the graduation stage this month to a job site after accepting job offers from Brazoria County Petrochemical Council member companies.
The number of hires, spread across 18 companies, was the most in the four years of Career Signing Day, which took place Monday night at Associated Builders and Contractors in Freeport.
The offers for the students to step immediately into a trade followed the BCPC’s interview day April 21, during which each student could speak with four participating companies.
“About 70 students were interviewed and we had about 25 companies that came on board to interview with us, so we did over 280 interviews,” Brazosport ISD CTE Director Jessie Jennings said. “These students are here tonight to be recognized for their hard work and input that they’ve done these last four years. We’re so proud of each and every one of these students and we’re so grateful to the industry representatives.”
ICS Inc. hired the most students for the second year in a row, with seven agreeing to start their careers at the company.
“I’ve been involved with it since the start, and so we try to make sure we try to get as many of them as we can,” ICS General Manager Ray Lopez said. “They have to keep the position. We give them the job, but they have to work at it. This is helpful because there are not enough people. We hired seven people. It’s going to teach them about life because they’ve been sheltered. This gives them a different outlook. It will teach them a lot about life.”
Using the BCPC program and taking advantage of the growth of Career and Technical Education education in public schools benefits both the student and company, said Aaron Ennis, resource development director for Brazosport ISD who also serves as workforce development chairman for the BCPC.
“One thing I want to point out is that it couldn’t be done without the backbone of our community — contractors and all of the organizations that are willing to hire, train and educate the students,” he said. “With CTE, I believe it’s starting to hit the mainstream where our companies are starting to recognize that as a recruiting field for the future talent.”
Two of the new ICS hires were Angleton High School students Miguel Mendez and Andrew Lanzas.
“This is the greatest opportunity ever,” Lanzas said. “I’m glad I got the job offer. It’s amazing we get to start off this early with jobs this good. Also thinking about college, of course; that’s a big thing. I’m going to go bigger and make more money. That’s the goal.”
