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THE MWV SPECIALTY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE / Winter 2012

JOURNEY

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The sky is the limit for MWV Specialty Chemicals.

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IN THIS ISSUE

From our PresidentEd Rose shares his thoughts.

Creating ChemistryTom Cuff’s passion for teaching inspires the students he teaches at the College of Charleston, while enriching his work as a Charleston Plant process chemist.

A Good LifeFocusing on what is important in life gave Katie Smith the strength to overcome cancer and be an advocate for others.

The Best Thing Ever Happened...With 37 years at MWV, Allen Duke has a unique perspective on the division and his production work at the DeRidder Plant.

Road TripAbhijit Mohinta sits squarely at the heart of the world’s most dynamic paving action.

Laying the FoundationRay Saunders is poised to lead a training revolution in Covington. As the plant’s new training specialist, he will standardize training so that, for the first time ever, it will be consistently offered, documented and tracked.

Très AppréciéeCarine VanRuyskensvelde joined the Brussels office in the midst of explosive growth, booming sales and increased European regulatory pressure. Her expertise managing complex administrative business issues has made an immediate impact.

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Editor: Rebecca Vaughan

Contributors: Ricki CarruthHeather Kent Brennan Wesley Chuck AlmarezBrad SmithAnne Marie KyzerKathryn Loudermilk

Please send your comments, story ideas and more to becky.vaughan@mwv.com

About MWVMeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE: MWV), provides packaging solutions to many of the world’s most admired brands in the healthcare, beauty and personal care, food, beverage, home and garden, tobacco, and commercial print industries. The company’s businesses also include Consumer & Office Products, Specialty Chemicals, and the Community Development and Land Management Group, which sustainably manages the company’s land holdings to support its operations, and to provide for conservation, recreation and development opportunities. With 17,500 employees worldwide, MWV operates in 30 countries and serves customers in more than 100 nations. MWV manages all of its forestlands in accordance with internationally recognized forest certification standards, and has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for seven consecutive years. For more information, please visit www.mwv.com.

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

MWV Specialty Chemicals

5255 Virginia Avenue

North Charleston, South Carolina

29406-3615

USA

Welcome to the Winter 2012 edition of Specialty Chemicals’ Journey magazine. The stories in this edition will remind you once again of the main reason why Specialty Chemicals

continues to be such a successful organization – our people. In “Creating Chemistry,” you’ll meet Tom Cuff a chemist and teacher

at heart who inspires his colleagues and students with the magic of chemistry. Tom’s long-standing tenure at MWV is a testament to his love of the field and his desire to share his experience, at both of his jobs – a chemist with the Charleston plant and a faculty member at the College of Charleston.

Katie Smith’s story, “A Good Life” reminds us of what is important in life – family, health, job and home. Katie was diagnosed with cancer and relied on her colleagues in Waynesboro to help her through a difficult time. Her perseverance is a shining example of the ‘can do’ attitude that is pervasive within the division.

All of our colleagues featured in this edition help to define our organization’s values of bold growth, commitment to safety, strength and dedication – the very values that have made our business so successful. This edition is a celebration of our people and of their values and experiences, both on and off the job. I hope you’ll enjoy reading the stories.

2011 was a momentous year for our division. Congratulations to each of you for all that you did to make it so successful. Throughout the company we are firing on all cylinders; there is so much to be proud of. The year ahead will bring many opportunities for our business, so let’s continue to look for a chance to apply a bold strategy to grow our business – with a constant focus on your safety and the safety of others – in mind.

Each of you plays a major role in the division’s success. Keep up the great work. We look forward to sharing our colleagues’ stories in our next edition of Journey.

JOURNEY FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Ed Rose

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The best teachers are those who understand the chemistry of learning. They become the catalysts to never-ending cycles of discovery and sharing. Tom Cuff, Ph.D., Charleston Plant process

chemist, has been drawn to that transformational power of teaching for as long as he can remember. “Teaching is in my genes,” explains Tom. “My mom was an elementary and middle school teacher for 30 years and still teaches. I got my focus on perpetual learning from her. My logical thought process came from my dad, an IBM programmer

The combination of those two family inclinations ushered Tom’s brother into a teaching career; Tom became a scientist. For 23 years now, he has worked as a chemist with MWV. His jobs include assignments in research, business support and business development. The last six years, Tom has supported the Charleston

Creating ChemistryA Natural-Born Teacher Harnesses the Power of Discovery

Plant’s production needs as a process chemist. Even as he flourished as an industrial chemist, Tom’s

passion for teaching never faded. And so 16 years ago, he decided to become a college professor as well. Now he lives in two professional worlds. Both demanding analytical thinking and scientific regimen. Both also calling for a strong focus on the creative discovery process.

“When I think about a common theme that ties the dif-ferent parts of my life together, it’s teaching,” says Tom. “I taught when I was an undergraduate student at Wil-liam and Mary and I taught all the way through graduate school at Duke. So, back in the 1990s when the College of Charleston was looking for new faculty members, I was naturally interested. I taught introductory chemistry for

Right: Tom Cuff at the Charleston Plant.

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years there and now teach an organic chemistry lab one evening every week.”

“I also teach here at work,” he adds. “Whenever we have new operators at the plant, for example, I enjoy sitting down to teach them how a certain pro-cess works. Teaching is something I do in different ways all the time.”

Experts in the field of education claim that vibrant classrooms and successful businesses have much in common. Each

thrives when “teachers” within them encourage the process of innovative exploration. These transformational teachers share qualities listed below. In-cluded with each are Tom’s reflections.

A great teacher is...1. A Catalyst for Change.

I tell my students that taking my class will give them a different perspective on chemistry. Because I work full-time in a production environment, I give them information on how the reaction or technique they’re learning is used in a real life setting. I also recommend im-provements to lab procedures or share my experience with other professors at College of Charleston. My colleagues in the Chemistry department take pride in making the kind of changes needed to make sure our students are educated properly.

In my job, I’m certainly responsible for advancing change. As I work with prod-ucts, my goal is to enhance them. This could be as simple as reworking old inventory to something more complex, like identifying an unknown material in a product. I also assess change in our processes and work to improve them. With our recently-completed OpEx ini-tiative, for example, proposed process improvements had to be evaluated for impact on products and plant opera-tions. Plus, I work with change at the business level. I see this in the scaling up of a new or modified process given to us from the technical groups in the Division and Technical Center. I trans-late that DTC manufacturing procedure into a batch sheet that plant engineers and operators can use to make a new product in plant equipment.

“Tom’s effectiveness as a teacher is directly related to his ex-ceptional professional competence and interpersonal com-munication skill. He is a consummate team player and works with the rest of the faculty and staff to provide the best pos-sible learning experiences for our students.”

Rick Heldrich, Ph.D.Interim Chair, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

2. A Believer in High Expectations. Students are expected to strive for

achievement. That’s what exams and grades are about. But to do justice to my students, I also know I need to be organized, prepared and fair. The stan-dards should be high for any teacher.

At work, the same is true. A good sci-entist must perform consistently to the highest standard. In my current job, I’m

all about excellence at the plant. In the past, even when I worked on projects that didn’t materialize, I never com-promised standards . . . even in chal-lenging situations. I devoted more than five years of my career to supporting a sterol project that never materialized. Our goal was to explore the commercial possibilities for purifying sterols from pitch at the Charleston Plant for use as a cholesterol-lowering agent. It was an exciting assignment and I was deeply

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involved with it throughout, even travel-ing to Finland nine times to work with our joint venture partners in the deal, the Finnish company Raisio. In the end, although the venture looked promis-ing in many ways, the market return in the U.S. just wasn’t high enough. It was great experience though, with a lot of lessons about performance and expectations.

3. A Master of Patience. As a college professor, patience helps

a lot, especially when listening to the excuses about why a lab report was handed in late.

Production can be a very hectic work environment. In this setting, you don’t make it without patience. Patience is re-quired to weed through all the informa-

tion you deal with daily so that you can understand which facts really matter.

4. An Enthusiastic Learner. As a teacher, it’s difficult to reach

a student who only wants you to tell them the answer. They have to want to learn. To me, a great student is someone who tries to understand the problem.

As a scientist, you’re driven to un-derstand challenges and find the right solutions for them. The thing I like most about my current job at the plant is that not a day goes by that I don’t learn something.

5. Driven by a Sense of Purpose. At the College of Charleston, I like the

straightforward process of organizing lectures and explaining principles and techniques to students who are inter-ested in learning. I like being able to reach students and make a difference in their studies.

Here at work, my goal has always been to advance our business. The jobs I’ve liked best are those with the most direct link to that purpose. I’ve been in research positions where the work seemed abstract at times. The roles I enjoyed most were those that were more directly tied to customer needs and business initiatives. Now, as a process chemist, my goals are very clear every single day. I’m part of a team that works together to get exceptional product out the door to our customers. It’s important work with a real sense of immediate reward – my favorite job yet.

“Paul Boyd and I are Charleston’s process chemists – two chemists in a sea of engineers. Although we have a different perspective, we’re part of a team that shares a common drive. That’s important. Everybody has to work together toward the same goals or else it just doesn’t happen here at the plant. What you find in a production environment is that you can’t have a weak link. We all have to learn from each other all the time so that we can move forward together.”

Tom Cuff, Ph.D.Process Chemist, Charleston

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A Good Life

Perhaps first and foremost health because Katie knows you can’t enjoy any of the rest of life’s treasures if you don’t have that. It was this time last year when Katie learned that lesson

in a powerful, personal way. December 2010 was the month she was told she had cancer. The months since have been full of treatments, recovery and “spreading the word” about what she has experienced.

The way Katie sees it, she’s been given a new lease on her life. Filled with deep appreciation and a

Katie Smith of Waynesboro, Georgia believes in keeping life simple. She knows what’s important and that’s exactly where she keeps her focus.

profound understanding of every person’s responsibility for protecting their own health, Katie now shares her heartfelt message with all who will listen.

“It’s up to you to take care of yourself. Cancer is a disease that touches so many people out there in this world these days. But you can beat it by making

Right: Katie completes visual inspections of 1,600 41 mm honey-combs or 2,600 29 mm honeycombs all through the course of one day on the job.

Family. Home. Job. Friends. Health.

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“I tell everyone – women and men both – that when you get to a certain age, make sure you start getting every one of those regular checks for cancer. I want everyone to be as lucky as me and catch any problems as soon as possible. If you do get it early, cancer can be beat. It’s up to you.”

Katie Smith

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sure you get those yearly screenings the way you’re supposed to,” Katie says.

“When I had my annual mammogram, they saw a spot about the size of a pea. We jumped right on it and I had a lumpectomy in January. I finished my chemotherapy in April and had my last radiation treatment in July. I’ll keep taking medication every year and getting mammograms every six months for the rest of my life, but that first round of treatments is behind me and I went through it all with flying colors. Now, the doctors say everything’s looking good. I’m cancer free.”

“I did what I was supposed to do, and the way I look at it, I’ve got about 50 years left in this world now because of that. I got my life back. And it is a good life. It surely is.”

Taking charge of life comes naturally to Katie. At Purification Cellutions, her official title is team coordinator and visual inspector. But Katie’s involvement reaches far beyond the scope of a job. She cares about everyone and every aspect of work at the plant.

“In a normal day, I spend five to six hours doing visual inspections. As a team coordinator, when the supervisor is out, I make sure each production area has enough people and that all’s going the way it should. I also do production reports, head counts, and month end reports. Also, I’m chairperson of the Incident Analysis Team. There’s always plenty to do.”

And often there’s more than plenty to do. Purification

Katie’s family is close to her heart. She is surrounded by extended family, having grown up just 17 miles from Waynesboro. Although her older son, Tannie, and youngest daughter, Kearia, are now in Atlanta, she stays in close touch with them. Her oldest daughter, Yolanda, lives not far away in Hephzibah, and her youngest son, Anton, lives close by in Waynesboro. Katie is blessed with nine grandchildren, Ken-yonta, Kerybria, Rihanna, Ange’, Azahn, Amari’, Dennis, Marcell and Charledra.

Cellutions has earned a reputation for achieving the impossible when it comes to getting their distinctive activated carbon honeycombs out the door to customers. Last year, for example, the Purification Cellutions team was faced with huge emergency orders for custom-designed filters to cleanse polluted air on board response fleets battling the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The team made the impossible possible fulfilling the order through hard work and sharp attention to detail. No matter how tight the deadline, how complex the custom design, Katie and her colleagues make it happen.

“I’ve been here eight years, since this plant started, and we’ve never missed a shipment yet. We’re always on time.”

It makes a difference that every one of the Waynesboro plant’s 26 production employees is cross-trained to work all areas in the plant. “Being as small a team as we are, we need to be able to cover for each other. If someone’s out or if we have a big deadline to meet, we can always pull from one area to help out in another. We all support each other when we need to.”

That tradition of support explains Katie’s openness about her cancer at work. “We all know each other well and work together closely. So when I was sure of my diagnosis, the first thing I did was call everyone together and announce what was going on. I didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for me. I wanted to let everyone know we’d found the cancer early and that I was going to get it taken care of.”

The response was truly amazing, Katie says. “When

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I took the radiation, that meant I had to drive 32 miles to Augusta for 33 treatments. My co-workers gave me money for the gas. It felt like they were with me every step of the way.”

“I had to take off six weeks for the treatments, but I couldn’t stay away. I’d come back in just to see how everyone was doing and to find out what was going on.”

“To tell you the truth, I like everything about Purification Cellutions. This company allows us to grow. They trust us and they listen to us. We get the job done. That’s why I care so much about sharing what I’ve learned about this cancer with my friends here. I want them to be healthy and I know taking care of yourself is an important part of that.”

“Katie is full of life. She’s both a formal and informal leader here at Purification Cellutions. She’s an inspiration to all of us.”

John NicholsPlant Manager, Purification Cellutions

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The Best Thing Ever Happened...Perspective is a curious thing. In MWV’s fast-paced world, many throughout our company track progress on a global scale. Business deals zap across time zones. Customer needs and consumer trends are assessed in multiple languages. Subtleties of countless cultural nuances are constantly considered.

Allen Duke knows about that level of trade sophistication. It’s one of the strengths he counts on MWV commanding so that his production work at DeRidder, Louisiana can remain strong. And although Allen’s job has never taken him away from the DeRidder plant in his 37 years there, his perspective on Specialty Chemicals’ progress over the years is as solid and insightful as that of any international executive.

Wisdom – like humor – is built on a keen sense of the “little” things in life. Here are a few of Allen’s discoveries from his decades at DeRidder:

“As soon as Westvaco bought the plant, we all knew it was the right thing. They had the resources and the know-how to get things done. The marketing. The strategy. The connections all over the world. The Westvaco team – and now the MWV team – was and still is awesome. They took this place and ran with it.”

“It was great for the business and when you get right down on the personal level, it was a great move too. I couldn’t have been happier. When I started off working at Crosby Chemicals, I was making $2.02 an hour. Back then, gas only cost 30 cents a gallon, but I still wasn’t making enough money to drive home on. When gas shot up to 45 cents a gallon, we thought the world was coming to an end, so I was real pleased when my pay graduated to $4.20 an hour. But when Westvaco came along, they made it $5.30! We all thought that was something.”

Right: Allen Duke at work in DeRidder.

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Allen Duke went to work at the DeRidder plant in 1974. He was a fresh graduate of Louisiana’s Pickering High School, full of energy and eager to move beyond the jobs of his youth as a gas station attendant and pulpwood harvesting crew member. At that time, the DeRidder plant – built in 1946 by Louisiana’s Crosby family – was in its final phase as Crosby Chemicals, a regional manufacturer of turpentine and wood rosin products. For nearly three decades, Crosby Chemicals specialized in a line of turpentine products manufactured from massive, old pine stumps left in surrounding forests after widespread timber harvesting at the turn of the century. By the 1960s, that original raw material supply was finally disappearing and a move was underway toward higher-quality rosin products.

Allen’s first job was a pipefitter’s helper. He soon began his move up through the hourly workforce ranks, learning the basics of pipefitting and welding. Allen had set his sights on a job as a shift mechanic just as DeRidder was about to take on an entirely new life. When legacy Westvaco purchased the DeRidder facility from the Crosbys in 1976, Allen described it as the “best thing ever happened.”

In the years since, Allen continued his move through jobs at the facility, taking on production responsibilities for the operation of DeRidder’s kettles and boiler house before moving to the job he’s held for years as general operator. At first, he worked night shifts, watching over all aspects of plant operations while most of his co-workers slept. Allen is now one of DeRidder’s five general operators, working straight day shifts and continuing his rounds to every corner of the plant he knows so well – the old “stump plant” transformed during his years there to the world’s most sophisticated tall oil refinery.

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“It’s so much water under the bridge since then, it’s hard to keep up with all the changes. Along with all the expansion at the plant, the working environment has changed too. Management takes an interest in you now and listens to what you have to say. There was a time that wasn’t true. That makes a big difference.”

“I appreciate seeing that safety really is our number one focus these days. We keep working every day on how we can continue to improve it.”

“Oh, I’ve seen some things over the years. There was that time an emu ran in to the plant. Yep. An emu. He just showed up. Don’t know where he came from. He was just running around and we could hardly believe it. I took a rope and lassoed him. One guy I was working with said, ‘I want that thing,’ so we loaded that emu right up in his truck and he drove off with him at the end of the day.”

“There was another time I was making up a batch of opus. That’s the raw material that forms the coating on carbon paper, the kind you use for duplicating copies. I was adding the raw materials into a batch one day when it was coming down real hard rain outside. I picked up a bucket and the next thing I knew, that bucket went flying. It was a doe and her little fawn running right through the

building that knocked it out of my hand. As quick as they came, they ran out the back. I didn’t say anything, was afraid no one would believe me. But pretty soon this fellow says ‘Did you see that deer?’ We both shook our heads and were glad we weren’t crazy.”

“Visitors to the plant? I’ve seen plenty come and go. From all over the world. I’ve seen both the senior Mr. Luke and his son visit. I was always glad to see them come. It meant we got to show them what we were doing here plus we got to get everything cleaned up real nice.”

“DeRidder has expanded tremendously. Not just the plant, but the town too. Used to be you’d see all these grand old Southern mansions. The town’s streets were lined with beautiful old live oak trees. And everybody knew everybody else. There’s lots of new development now. They cut the trees when they widened the streets. And I don’t know half the folks around here. It’s still a good place to call home though.”

“I thank the Lord for my job every single day. I’m asked to do my job to the best of my abilities and put in a good day’s work. That’s all you can ask of anyone, and I give all I can. It’s meant a good life for me and my family. I just might want to keep on working here until I’m 100.”

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1946 – Plant built by Crosby family to produce wood rosin product line1960s – DeRidder’s first refinery added to enhance wood rosin quality1976 – Legacy Westvaco purchases plant1981 – Post Refinery added, with its 10K reactor and 22K emulsifier 1986 – Florida’s St. Johns Chemical acquired, with product lines and equipment moved to DeRidder, including four 10k Resinate reactors and three phenolic reactors1992 – Second 10k Resin Kettle installed in Post Refinery1993 – Acrylics Plant started up1994 – First Hydrocarbon Reactor installed in St. Johns area1995 – Third 9k Reactor installed in Post Refinery2002 – Second Hydrocarbon Reactor installed in St. Johns area2004 – Emission Reduction Process Control Equipment enhanced2006 – Converted V-11 in Post Refinery to a processing vessel2008 – Expanded Refinery, including addition of fourth column 2008 – Converted Acrylic tank farm and warehouse for oilfield chemicals2009 – Converted Kettles 5 & 7 to produce adhesives2009 – Completed Dispersed Size project

Historic Highlights of DeRidder Expansions

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Road TripPaving an Exciting Journey Through India

Wherever you go in India, you’ll see the potential for new roads. Lots of them. By all accounts, India is set for an unparalleled highway construction boom.

That puts Abhijit Mohinta, MWV’s Indian asphalt business manager, at the heart of the world’s most dynamic paving action. He’s covering vast territories and gaining lots of attention as he introduces India’s road contractors, asphalt producers and paving industry leaders to MWV’s distinctive asphalt technologies.

India’s pending paving revolution adds up to big opportunity for the world’s asphalt additives leader – MWV Asphalt Innovations. Abhijit recognized the potential several years ago. He knew India’s highways well and was intrigued by what MWV’s paving technologies could mean to his country. Following are highlights of a recent conversation with him about his decision to build his career with Specialty Chemicals.

In 2011, India awarded a record 7,300 kilometers (4,536 miles) of road building contracts as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) pushed a massive overhaul of the country’s infrastructure to boost India’s economic growth. India boasts 3.3 million kilometers (2.05 million miles) of roads that link every corner of this country to its impressive growth aspirations. But currently most of India’s highways are narrow and congested, unpaved or with poor surface quality. To remedy that, the NHAI’s $12 billion in 2011 highway construction projects will be dwarfed by the $1 trillion in investments projected for new and improved Indian highways between now and 2017.

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Q. Please tell us about your job with MWV.A. I am working as the business manager for MWV Asphalt

in India. I’m responsible for spearheading the asphalt business in my country, with technical support from our global asphalt team. I’ve been in this position for two years, having joined the company in 2009.

Q. What interested you about this opportunity?A. I liked MWV’s long-term plan of being involved with

the rapid growth of the road construction business in India. This is a business I know well and I liked what I saw in MWV when I applied for this job. Before joining MWV, I worked in infrastructure sectors in India, including power projects and highway construction. My asphalt background goes back to the year 2000 when I joined Novophalt Construction, a company promoted by the Richard Felsinger group of Austria. Later, I worked for Shell India as their technical manager for India and the Middle East.

Q. What is your educational background?A. I am a Masters of Civil Engineering, with specialization in

Foundation Engineering.

Q. What is the most exciting aspect of your work?A. Starting from scratch, introducing MWV to the

stakeholders of India’s road construction sector.

Q. What is your biggest challenge?A. To get our products established properly to make them

suitable to Indian highway conditions. I work closely with our technical team on this.

Q. Why is your job important in India right now?A. India is going through a massive road development

program. The MWV asphalt business has a bright prospect here to leverage on India’s growth story.

Q. What are your interests outside work?A. I am a great fan of cricket and do not miss an opportunity

to watch Indian cricket playing. I also love to spend my spare time with my family, my wife Poornima, and my daughter Astika. With my frequent travel to paving jobs throughout India, I am often away from them so my time at home with them is very important to all of us.

Q.Andfinally,doyouhaveimportantgoals–atworkorinyourpersonallife–you’dliketoshare?

A. My immediate professional goal is to establish MWV asphalt technologies on Indian soil. Most importantly, as a professional, I am keen to maintain my own individual identity and social status, which I have earned in the Indian road construction field.

As far as my personal life is concerned, my major goal is to keep my family happy and smiling.

“We plan to establish our business in India so we can catch the paving boom that’s coming there, just as we did in China. Abhijit is key. He’s leading some cool initiatives in his country right now, like working with the Indian military to promote cold-weather paving in remote regions of Kashmir. Our Evotherm® products and technologies are perfect for this application. His work is innovative, exciting and extremely promising. It’s great to have Abhijit as a member of our global team.”

Andrew CrowVice President, Asphalt Innovations

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It was the right move. When Ray Saunders stepped into his new job as Covington’s first Specialty Chemicals training specialist just four months ago, he brought with him more than a

dozen years experience as a Kaizen trainer with two previous employers. He also had seven years working knowledge of the Carbon Plant and its organization.

He knew training. He knew Covington Operations. And he knew what a difference a commitment to continuous improvement can make.

What he didn’t fully understand was just how big the job ahead of him would be.

The FrameworkOf Covington’s 178 employees, 109 work in hourly

positions. These are the co-workers -and friends- Ray is targeting. He knows them well.

Laying the Foundation

“I worked in the plant myself in hourly jobs, in nine different positions,” says Ray. “I started as a laborer, then moved to janitor, Carbon Technical Center janitor, utility assistant, bulk loader, size carbon operator, and Carbon Plant 3rd assistant. I was working as Carbon Plant 2nd assistant and had been trained as Extruder 2nd assistant when I made this move. All the time I was in those jobs, I wanted to do more with continuous improvement. I knew we could do better, but we didn’t have the tools or the system to work with. That’s why I was so interested when I saw this training job posted. I wanted to make a difference for the employees who operate this plant.”

The difference Ray’s talking about will be a revolution in Covington’s on-the-job (OJT) training approach for shift employees. As the plant’s first training Subject Matter Expert (SME), Ray is helping to invent a comprehensive, cutting-edge Learning

“The foundation of any structure is the base for all future strength.”Jim Locke, author, The Well-Built House

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Management System (LMS) to reach those who work all hours of the day and night. His first step is to create the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that will provide the foundation for this new training system. Next step is to incorporate those SOPs into the plant’s SAP system so that training can be consistently offered, documented and tracked for the first time ever.

There are lots of new acronyms in Ray’s life these days. Lots of time-consuming reviews and edits of his SOPs. Lots of challenging computer interfaces as those SOPs are incorporated into the plant’s information system. It can all be mind-boggling.

“In my first two months on the job, we worked on 80 – 90 SOPs and I wrote about half of those. That’s a very small drop in a very large bucket – maybe one tenth of one percent of what’s ahead,” explains Ray. “If you stop to think about it too long, it can be almost overwhelming.”

Almost. But not quite. Ray’s not the kind of person to be overwhelmed.

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Piece by Piece“It’s a lot like eating an elephant,”

he laughs. “You just have to take one bite at a time. I look at the little things and know they make a big difference. If you just go about your work, tackle what you can and keep at it, you’ll get it eventually. It’s going to take awhile, but this is the kind of work that will change the future of this plant in the long run.”

His new boss, Allison Southall, Covington’s learning systems manager, agrees.

“Ray’s role is vital,” she explains. “We absolutely need the expertise and experience of our operators to develop realistic and meaningful training. As we focus on building a strong and solid program – that covers everything from new employee training to training on specific pieces of equipment to development training for different job classifications – Ray is our most important contributor to this huge overall effort.”

To Ray, the task ahead is a lot like laying bricks. Every piece is essential. One SOP may seem like a small part. But if it works as it should, it becomes part of a foundation that supports everyone throughout the organization as they work to run the plant at its peak.

“Training has to happen,” says Ray. “It starts when you look at one specific area that has a problem. You fix that small problem by getting everyone who knows the area involved. Then you update all the training manuals associated with that area so that everyone knows about the changes you’ve made. You don’t want the same mistakes made again. You get a little bit better. More consistent. And then you do the same thing in another area. Before long, on a large scale, you’ve changed your whole organization.”

“Consistency is what it’s all about,” he adds. “If everyone understands a consistent process and everyone consistently has a role in making improvements, you make continuous improvement happen in an organization. And that’s powerful.”

A Career CapstoneThe timing for Ray’s new job

couldn’t be better.

On a personal level, he and his wife, Susan, are enjoying the fruits of all those years of gentle guidance and direction as parents. They now proudly visit daughter, Kelly Marie, in Atlanta, where she landed a great job as catering sales manager with the Emory Conference Center Hotel after completing – with honors – both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at West Virginia University. “She’s one great kid!” Ray boasts.

Wife Susan continues to enjoy her work as bell stand coordinator at the world-famous Greenbrier Hotel. “We both say she likes to tell people what to do, so it’s the perfect job for her,” Ray laughs. Ray even plays the occasional round of golf at The Greenbrier, although most of his spare time is spent at Valley View Country Club in their home town of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Ray

“Ray is a ‘go-getter.’ He’s not slowed down or discouraged with road bumps along the way. He keeps charging toward the end result. Each obstacle he encounters, he addresses, corrects and moves on to the next thing.”

Allison Rust SouthallLearning Systems Manager

Covington Carbon Plant

Above: Ray and his wife Susan pictured with their daughter Kelly Marie.

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“The only things in life you worry about are those you can fix. I don’t worry about what I can’t change. I focus on what I can make a difference with. For me, that’s training.

Right here at Covington right now, we’re successful, very successful. But we all know we can’t stand still. We want to keep getting better.

The best time to make changes is when you don’t think you need to. While our business is strong, it’s the perfect time to makes some changes that will make us even stronger in the future. I’m proud to be a part of it all.”

Charles “Ray” Saunders

serves on Valley View’s Board of Directors and is an active volunteer maintaining the golf course and club grounds.

At work, Ray is at a point in his career where experience has settled in. He knows what he can do if he believes in it and works at it steadily. He needs that kind of mindset to stay the course at the Covington Carbon Plant, where work life can be unsettling in its demands these days.

“You wouldn’t believe how busy we are,” he says. “Sure, I’m busy with this new training job, but the whole plant is working in overdrive. We’re crazy busy. Sometimes it seems we just can’t make our product fast enough.

“I know lots of people are struggling in the economy out there right now, but not us. We don’t see a bit of slack. We make carbon that goes into emissions control for every single car made in the United States and a lot around the world. Plus our carbon is going in to more and more new applications like water purification.

“There are folks here at the plant who remember when times weren’t so good, so we know what it means to be struggling. And right now we know what it means to be successful. What we want is to do everything we can to be more efficient, to be even better at what we’re doing so we make sure we keep building on this success. That’s what it’s all about.”

Ray Saunders served in Vietnam where he is pictured in the photograph above.

Two major forces in his life define much of who Ray is today. First and foremost is his family – wife Susan and daughter Kelly Marie, pictured to the left.

Ray is also a proud Vietnam Vet. During his service as an egress repairman with the United States Air Force (working on jet fighter ejection seats), he was stationed at Vietnam’s DaNang Air Force Base and Thailand’s Takhli and Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Bases. Pictured below (from left to right) are Ray with three lifelong friends Craig Wood, Ronnie Maddox and Bill Holland (aka Sandy, Maboo, Lester and Holly) who all served together in Thailand. This photo was taken during one of their recent reunions.

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Très Appréciée

One might wonder why collecting registered letters for the Specialty Chemicals’ Brussels, Belgium headquarters is such a satisfying experience these days. It’s a

routine act. Not something you think about much. Unless you’re Carine VanRuyskensvelde.

During her first month on the job, Brussels’ new business services lead carefully considered the office’s mail procedures. Then she quietly, efficiently set up a new proxy system for collecting registered mail at the front desk. Now, the process is quick and convenient. Streamlined. Like everything Carine does.

“This is a great example of Carine’s work,” explains Johan (Jan) Verriest, Europe, Middle East, North Africa (EMENA) regional manager. “Although it may seem a simple thing, you have to be aware that the possibility for improvement exists and then put in place a solution. Carine does that. This particular initiative will save us quite a few trips to the post office. When you consider small projects like this one combined with the large, complex assignments

she’s taken on, you see the difference she’s making is tremendous.”

Carine’sJob–SmoothandSteadyCarine is the first person to fill the job of business

services lead for MWV’s Belgian legal entity. It’s a job suited for someone quick on their feet who embraces challenges. Her responsibilities include administrative support for the 17-member team, which besides the people working in Brussels extends to two engineers working in Specialty Chemicals’ new asphalt lab in Lille, France; two home-based sales people in Paris, France, as well as three MWV Packaging Resources Group employees.

Carine handles coordination with the payroll providers for the employees in Belgium and France as well as with MWV’s financial team in Austria and with Deloitte Belgium, MWV’s fiscal representative in Belgium. Already, she’s consolidating and clarifying the reporting process with all these parties. She deals with insurance, legal and tax issues. She interacts

Right: In 2012, MWV’s Specialty Chemicals team moved into new offices on the third floor of this building close to the Brussels airport and NATO headquarters.

However you say it . . . Carine is a Welcome Addition to the Brussels Team

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with Corporate teams in Richmond and Geneva (MWV’s new European Headquarters) on ITC, risk management and human resources issues. She supports Specialty Chemicals’ customer service teams in Brussels and Charleston, handling complicated reporting requirements for the European Community’s REACH regulations that strictly govern chemicals and their safe use. And she constantly strives to make sure her teammates’ work flows smoothly across country lines around the world.

“Every country has its specifics on reporting and documentation,” explains Jan. “It is critical that we deliver on these with a solid understanding of the regulations and processes behind them AND that we communicate internally about why and how we’re doing that. If we don’t, small issues can quickly create big problems.” For instance, just two weeks into Carine’s new job, a Belgian VAT (Value Added Tax) inspector, on extremely short notice, asked our Austria-based finance manager for background information specific to the Belgian legislative framework. Carine was able to immediately address the questions. Shortly thereafter, the landlord of MWV’s asphalt lab in France asked for verification of details on our liability

It’s important that your work is recognized for its value. That question of recognition is essential. Here, you know your contribution is appreciated and that you have the opportunity to always continue developing.”

Carine VanRuyskensveldeBrussels Business Services Lead

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insurance for the new lab. Carine quickly clarified the complex resource network involved with insurance coverage to address the request. In doing so, she discovered duplications within accident insurance coverage and was able to negotiate a refund of no less than 14,000 EUR!

“Before I came to MWV, I worked for a medium-sized company that handled intellectual property rights,” says Carine. “We launched a subsidiary that allowed customers to order on-line patent registrations. I was in charge of financial and human resources administration. My background is also in cost control and I worked as a financial controller for 10 years, with the opportunity to work in many small companies regarding everything within business administration, from accounting, to HR administration, to cost control. All this experience is very useful to me now at MWV. Although MWV is a big enterprise, here in Brussels we have a small team, much like a small company, and we have to handle everything. Because of my background, I am able to help with that.”

“Last year, our European team reached an absolute record for Specialty Chemicals sales – more than $50 million. That was huge. But this year, by the end of July, we’d already topped that record. With this kind of growth, our pace of work and the details needed to support our day-to-day business can be overwhelming. We simply have to have someone we can rely on who is knowledgeable about the complexity of administrative business issues. Carine is that person.”

Johan VerriestRegional Manager

From left to right, Stefan Pischedda, asphalt sales representative; Jan Verriest (kneeling), Europe, Middle East, North Africa (EMENA) regional manager; Odette Everts, customer service team leader; Linda Lukusa, customer service representative; Tamas Berzsenyi, customer service repre-sentative; Carine VanRuyskensvelde, Brussels business services lead; Kay Destrebeck, customer service representative; and Carlos Rif, asphalt key account manager based in Paris.

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SpecialtyChemicals’BrusselsOffice--Explodingwith Growth Demands

The timing of Carine’s arrival couldn’t be better. She arrived on the job just weeks before administrative assistant Sabrina Phaetos left for maternity leave. “We were able to organize everything together,” says Carine. “We reorganized some tasks, thinking about how to handle things more efficiently. That time allowed us to catch up on the backlog a bit and begin looking at the workload in a different way.”

With Specialty Chemicals’ European

“Carine has brought so much experience and skill to the team . . . . She’s joined us at a time when she’s been able to step in and make an immediate impact.”

Gillis McAllister Pine Chemicals Business Director

business poised to nearly double over last year’s record levels, that workload is enormous. The team’s rapid evolution from a historic base in paperboard sales to a transformation to Specialty Chemicals sales and support has been challenging, to say the least.

Gillis McAllister, pine chemicals business director, has watched as sales boomed, business complexity increased and European regulatory pressure heightened. The demands kept the European team “in the weeds” he says, trying to keep up with all the administrative details accompanying Specialty Chemicals’ expansion in Europe. “Jan desperately needed someone with experience who could step in and immediately make a difference by taking some of the minor and major details off his plate, plus fill in generally as needed,” Gillis stresses.

The Right Match“I like everything about this job and

am very happy with the move,” says Carine. With her extensive career experience and a master’s degree in politics, she is keenly tuned in to the global opportunities offered by her new MWV position. She is fascinated with languages and welcomes the chance to practice her English at the Brussels office, where business transactions are conducted in Dutch, French, German, English, Portuguese, Italian and more.

“Another point I like is the strong team spirit I’ve found here,” she adds. “Jan is very careful about this point and everyone is very open to help me learn more about MWV, its policies, procedures and products. I like that.”

“Carine is bringing a fantastic perspective and great help to our organization,” says Jan. “She does it in such an unassuming way; others might not realize her impact. But we certainly do.”

It’s not all about business with Carine. Classic rock music fills her spare time away from work. Lenny Kravitz (left) and The Straits (right) were the most recent in a long string of concerts she’s attended. Among Carine’s other favorites – Patty Smith, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Eric Clapton, Santana, Queen, Little Feat, Doobie Brothers, America, Simply Red, Simple Minds, Roxy Music, Ultravox, Massive Attack...

Specialty Chemicals Division & Technical Center - Charleston, SC

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