Podcasts about dow chemical

In this episode, host Jim Love kicks off his new profile series with a deep dive into the compelling career of Dr. Priscilla Johnson, an environmental advocate at the crossroads of technology and sustainability. Dr. Johnson discusses her work in building a data center in South Africa amidst a severe drought, her tenure as Director of Water Strategy at Microsoft, and her transition into cyber intelligence. She explains how her unique background and empathetic approach have informed her career decisions and advocacy for responsible resource management. The conversation also touches on the importance of situational awareness in cybersecurity, making this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersections of environmental engineering, infrastructure, and cybersecurity. 00:00 Introduction to the Series 00:29 Meet Dr. Priscilla Johnson 00:54 Challenges of Building a Data Center in Africa 01:16 Dr. Johnson's Background and Role at Microsoft 02:38 Addressing the Water Crisis in South Africa 06:34 Innovative Solutions and Collaborations 19:12 Dr. Johnson's Journey into Environmental Engineering 24:47 Discovering Texas and Dow Chemical 25:15 Environmental Impact and Agent Orange 27:00 Challenges in Environmental Management 29:00 Maternity Leave and Data Issues 34:46 Transition to Cybersecurity 37:19 Cybersecurity Threats and Preparedness 48:26 Mentorship and Career Advice 53:20 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus observed, “The only constant in life is change.” While change in our personal and professional lives is inevitable, adapting to it can be difficult and often leads to feelings of resistance. When it comes to organizational change initiatives, the ADKAR® model – which stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement – is renowned for guiding successful change, beginning at the individual level.  As a senior fellow at Prosci, the leading global change management research and training organization that developed the ADKAR model, Karen Ball has been helping individuals and organizations implement effective changes and achieve benefits not thought possible for over 40 years. Karen is an ACMP-certified Change Management Professional, a certified IDEO Design Thinking practitioner, and the author of Prosci's latest publication, “The ADKAR Advantage: Your New Lens for Successful Change.” In addition to her role as an executive instructor, Karen continues to develop Prosci offerings and engage with clients as a change advisor, working with organizations such as UNICEF, Wells Fargo, Bose Corporation, and Dow Chemical. In Episode 228 of The Mindset Game® podcast, Karen shares the following:  An overview of the ADKAR model and examples of how it might manifest in different contexts, as well as how it relates to the communication and training processes involved in organizational change initiatives Tips for individuals who may be resistant to proposed changes, as well as techniques their leaders can use to support them How ADKAR functions as a sense-making and way-finding tool that can help create a sense of calm and clarity for both individuals and organizations navigating complex change Why it's crucial for leaders to go through their own ADKAR journeys, as well as key steps that leaders must take in order to be effective sponsors of change   To connect with Karen, find her on LinkedIn, or visit https://www.prosci.com to learn more about the ADKAR model and explore other resources. To learn more about The Mindset Game® podcast, visit www.TheMindsetGame.com. To subscribe to The Mindset Game® podcast or leave a review, please visit https://apple.co/3oAnR8I. 

Europe's energy-intensive industries are struggling. The Antwerp Declaration, signed by industries almost a year ago, was a cry for help. A cry that will be answered next week when the European Commission presents the long-awaited Clean Industrial Deal. How bad is the situation? What should the deal include? And will it come in time? To answer these questions, I'm joined by Tabita Verburg, the President of DOW Chemical in Western Europe.

Hour 1 dives into the FDA's plan to ban Red Dye No. 3 by 2027/2028 and the growing concerns over processed foods and additives in the U.S. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's lawsuit against China over COVID-19 and allegations of PPE hoarding is explored. Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski discusses her work to secure compensation for Illinois communities, including Granite City, affected by Dow Chemical's radioactive waste. The hour also includes updates on the potential sale or merger of Granite City Works.

In Hour 1, the conversation begins with the FDA's plan to ban Red Dye No. 3 by 2027/2028, discussing growing concerns over processed foods and additives in the U.S. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's lawsuit against China over COVID-19 and allegations of PPE hoarding are also explored. Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski provides insights into her work securing compensation for Illinois communities affected by Dow Chemical's radioactive waste in Granite City. The hour concludes with updates on the potential sale or merger of Granite City Works. Hour 2 continues with Janet Ruiz from the Insurance Information Institute discussing the challenges of wildfire insurance in California, the role of the California FAIR Plan, and the complexities of insurance rates in high-risk areas. Janet also highlights the growing availability of private flood insurance as concerns about flooding expand beyond hurricane-prone zones. Matt Pauley joins the conversation to discuss the University of Missouri Athletics' $15 million budget deficit, the rising costs of college sports, and the ongoing struggles of St. Louis sports teams. This includes SLU's loss to VCU, Mizzou's win over a top-five opponent, and the Blues' push to stay in the playoff race. In Hour 3, Chris Rongey and Amy Marxkors continue the conversation on the ongoing Rams settlement saga, focusing on the two bills under consideration in St. Louis: one for immediate infrastructure spending and another to spread funds over time for matching grants. KMOX reporter Sean Malone provides an update on the St. Louis Police Department's 2024 crime statistics, reporting a decline in murders but an increase in shootings. He also explains how crimes are categorized under the new NIBRS reporting system and confirms the inclusion of hockey player Colin Brown's homicide in the 2024 homicide numbers. The discussion shifts to snow removal issues in St. Louis, with residents calling in to share their concerns about impassable streets, particularly in neighborhoods like Soulard and South City. The hosts highlight how these snow removal problems are a serious public safety issue, emphasizing the need for immediate action, especially with the city's current budget surplus.

“Stocks are pretty extended,” says Ted Weisberg, and it's up in the air whether we can see another record year. “The first thing you do when you enter the stock market is look for the exits,” he says, but right now he's still long stocks. He likes META “for the moment”, but is more focused on some of 2024's losers, including Nestle, Dow Chemicals, Schlumberger, Intel, and CVS. ======== Schwab Network ======== Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribe Download the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185 Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7 Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watch Watch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-explore Watch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/ Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetwork Follow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetwork Follow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

The Cash Flow Academy team unpacks the latest changes to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, including the removal of Dow Chemical and the addition of Sherwin-Williams. Corey and Noah offer their expert take on what these shifts mean for investors and highlight the value of focusing on long-term strategies. The discussion explores the appeal of owning businesses with strong brands and limited competition, the "Dogs of the Dow" approach, and insights on companies like Intel and Boeing. Throughout, the team underscores the importance of prioritizing cash flow, dividends, and business fundamentals over short-term price fluctuations.

Imagining After Capitalism (Triarchy Press, 2025) is the culmination of a decade-long exploration of what comes next after capitalism. It leverages previous work in developing foresight methodologies, which are featured in two previous books: Teaching about the Future and Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), both with Peter Bishop. It also leverages my work in identifying long-term values shifts—which are pivotal to After Capitalism—that are highlighted in ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape. Arguing that the absence of compelling positive alternatives keeps us stuck in a combination of fear, denial, and false hope, he offers three “guiding images” for the long-term future: an environmentally driven Circular Commons, a socially and politically driven Non-Workers' Paradise, and a technology-driven Tech-Led Abundance. Imagining After Capitalism argues “first things first.” Let us first decide where we want to go before building detailed plans for getting there. The three “guiding images” are not the answers, but are intended to provoke discussion about the possibilities. The book offers an alternative to the prevailing doom and gloom and suggests there are indeed positive alternatives out there and it's time to get started on crafting a different path to the future! Andy Hines brings more than three decades of experience as a futurist to the Imagining After Capitalism work. He has explored the future from multiple vantage points. He is currently an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator at the University of Houston Foresight program. He also spent a decade as an organizational futurist, first with Kellogg's and then Dow Chemical. His consulting futurists roles included Coates & Jarratt, Inc., Social Technologies/Innovaro and currently his own firm Hinesight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Imagining After Capitalism (Triarchy Press, 2025) is the culmination of a decade-long exploration of what comes next after capitalism. It leverages previous work in developing foresight methodologies, which are featured in two previous books: Teaching about the Future and Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), both with Peter Bishop. It also leverages my work in identifying long-term values shifts—which are pivotal to After Capitalism—that are highlighted in ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape. Arguing that the absence of compelling positive alternatives keeps us stuck in a combination of fear, denial, and false hope, he offers three “guiding images” for the long-term future: an environmentally driven Circular Commons, a socially and politically driven Non-Workers' Paradise, and a technology-driven Tech-Led Abundance. Imagining After Capitalism argues “first things first.” Let us first decide where we want to go before building detailed plans for getting there. The three “guiding images” are not the answers, but are intended to provoke discussion about the possibilities. The book offers an alternative to the prevailing doom and gloom and suggests there are indeed positive alternatives out there and it's time to get started on crafting a different path to the future! Andy Hines brings more than three decades of experience as a futurist to the Imagining After Capitalism work. He has explored the future from multiple vantage points. He is currently an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator at the University of Houston Foresight program. He also spent a decade as an organizational futurist, first with Kellogg's and then Dow Chemical. His consulting futurists roles included Coates & Jarratt, Inc., Social Technologies/Innovaro and currently his own firm Hinesight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Imagining After Capitalism (Triarchy Press, 2025) is the culmination of a decade-long exploration of what comes next after capitalism. It leverages previous work in developing foresight methodologies, which are featured in two previous books: Teaching about the Future and Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), both with Peter Bishop. It also leverages my work in identifying long-term values shifts—which are pivotal to After Capitalism—that are highlighted in ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape. Arguing that the absence of compelling positive alternatives keeps us stuck in a combination of fear, denial, and false hope, he offers three “guiding images” for the long-term future: an environmentally driven Circular Commons, a socially and politically driven Non-Workers' Paradise, and a technology-driven Tech-Led Abundance. Imagining After Capitalism argues “first things first.” Let us first decide where we want to go before building detailed plans for getting there. The three “guiding images” are not the answers, but are intended to provoke discussion about the possibilities. The book offers an alternative to the prevailing doom and gloom and suggests there are indeed positive alternatives out there and it's time to get started on crafting a different path to the future! Andy Hines brings more than three decades of experience as a futurist to the Imagining After Capitalism work. He has explored the future from multiple vantage points. He is currently an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator at the University of Houston Foresight program. He also spent a decade as an organizational futurist, first with Kellogg's and then Dow Chemical. His consulting futurists roles included Coates & Jarratt, Inc., Social Technologies/Innovaro and currently his own firm Hinesight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Imagining After Capitalism (Triarchy Press, 2025) is the culmination of a decade-long exploration of what comes next after capitalism. It leverages previous work in developing foresight methodologies, which are featured in two previous books: Teaching about the Future and Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), both with Peter Bishop. It also leverages my work in identifying long-term values shifts—which are pivotal to After Capitalism—that are highlighted in ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape. Arguing that the absence of compelling positive alternatives keeps us stuck in a combination of fear, denial, and false hope, he offers three “guiding images” for the long-term future: an environmentally driven Circular Commons, a socially and politically driven Non-Workers' Paradise, and a technology-driven Tech-Led Abundance. Imagining After Capitalism argues “first things first.” Let us first decide where we want to go before building detailed plans for getting there. The three “guiding images” are not the answers, but are intended to provoke discussion about the possibilities. The book offers an alternative to the prevailing doom and gloom and suggests there are indeed positive alternatives out there and it's time to get started on crafting a different path to the future! Andy Hines brings more than three decades of experience as a futurist to the Imagining After Capitalism work. He has explored the future from multiple vantage points. He is currently an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator at the University of Houston Foresight program. He also spent a decade as an organizational futurist, first with Kellogg's and then Dow Chemical. His consulting futurists roles included Coates & Jarratt, Inc., Social Technologies/Innovaro and currently his own firm Hinesight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we sit down with Ralph Witcher, a dynamic leader with expertise spanning healthcare, estate planning, and community empowerment. Ralph is the Founder of WitcherWay Wellness Insurance Agency, where he has become a trusted authority in Medicare education and enrollment, serving nearly 1,000 clients across multiple states. With over 20 years of experience, Ralph has earned numerous accolades, including being named UnitedHealthcare's Agent of the Year for four consecutive years. We explore his journey from healthcare to estate planning, where he helps clients navigate both medical coverage and legacy protection, ensuring peace of mind for generations to come. Ralph shares insights from his roles in corporate strategy and sales, where he worked with industry giants like Salesforce and Dow Chemical, and his ongoing commitment to community leadership through volunteer work with organizations like the Rotary Club and Word of Life Church. In this episode, Ralph also reflects on his philosophy of growth and empowerment, inspired by the metaphor of a chess pawn – proving that with determination and strategic thinking, anyone can achieve greatness. Tune in to hear about Ralph's dedication to service, leadership, and his holistic approach to empowering individuals and organizations.

When is the last time you heard someone say, “I love email?” I would bet, probably never. Every day it seems like we're swamped with more spam. And when we do actually rely on email for something important, well, you know how that goes. You send someone an email and ask them three questions. They reply to one. You reply with a comment about their reply and re-ask your other two questions. They reply with a comment on a whole other subject and before you know it you've got a long list of back and forward messages you're scrolling through looking for who said what, when. It's just so totally inefficient. Now, imagine that you're an architect and you have to rely on this kind of communication with multiple contractors and sub-contractors to manage a construction project. This is what actually happens in the real world. It's crazy. And that's why Chuck Perret created a company called Centerline. Chuck says the goal of the company is, “to kill email.” Centerline is cloud-based data management for architects that pulls all of their project-related information out of their inbox and puts it into what's called a Project Information Model. Chuck launched Centerline in 2021, began taking clients in 2022, saw 350% growth in 2023, and today the company has architectural firm clients across the country. If  Centerline is a software solution that solves a problem for a specific industry, imagine a company that solves any kind of problem, by simplifying any kind of task with software solutions, for any industry. Oil and gas. Maritime. Healthcare. Even sports, and local government. You might be thinking, “That sounds a bit ambitious.” Well, sometimes shooting for the stars works, because that's what Kellen Francis's company, Codegig, does. One of Codegig's major clients is Shell. Not a local Shell gas station, but 30 different departments of Shell Oil, including the entire Gulf Coast. They also work with another couple of companies you may have heard of: Dow Chemical and Valero. Anyone who's ever had a job has had "one of those days" at work. One of those days where whatever we're doing is so tedious, or the opposite – so mind-bogglingly difficult – that you just stop in your tracks and think, “Theres' got to be a better way.” What happens after that, typically, is that we suck it up and get on with it. But every once in a while, guys like Chuck and Kellen come along and actually invent a better way. Ann Edelman sits in for Stephanei Riegel on this edition of Out to Lunch which was recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show by Ian Ledo and Miranda Albarez at itsbatonrouge.la.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the KVMR Friday News Magazine Paul Emery speaks with Hydrogeologist Steve Baker to bring you the latest in the world of water news. The two talk about how communities in Northern California worked together to remove a dam from a regional river and how a few cities in Central California successfully held DOW Chemical and Shell Oil accountable for polluting groundwater wells. KVMR Youth News Corps Reporter Graham Gardemeyer covers the annual Lake Tahoe Summit. Nevada City poet Molly Fisk brings us her Observations from a Working Poet focusing on this year's Olympics.

This Day in Legal History: Switzerland Federal Charter SignedThis day in legal history marks the anniversary of the signing of the Federal Charter on August 1, 1291, which laid the foundation for the Swiss Confederation. This historic agreement united three Alpine cantons—Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden—establishing a pact for mutual defense against external threats and maintaining internal peace. The Federal Charter, known as the "Bundesbrief," is one of the earliest examples of a written constitution in Europe, symbolizing the birth of Switzerland as a confederation.The signatories pledged to support each other in disputes and conflicts, emphasizing the principles of cooperation and self-governance. This alliance was crucial in resisting the influence of the Habsburg dynasty, which sought to dominate the region. Over time, additional cantons joined the confederation, expanding and strengthening the alliance.The Federal Charter's emphasis on mutual defense and collaboration laid the groundwork for Switzerland's longstanding tradition of neutrality and federalism. It remains a significant symbol of Swiss national identity and independence. The principles enshrined in the charter continue to influence Switzerland's political structure and commitment to direct democracy. Today, August 1 is celebrated as Swiss National Day, commemorating the unity and enduring legacy of the Federal Charter.Accounting regulators and industry leaders are drafting reforms to state CPA licensing rules to expand the profession's workforce by allowing new pathways to earn the credential. These changes may include skills acquired outside the classroom. Draft changes to model legislation, serving as a template for state regulations, could be ready for public comment by September. The goal is to finalize these changes before next year's legislative sessions, according to Sue Coffey, CEO of public accounting for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.The reforms aim to address declining graduation rates and a workforce that has shrunk by 17% since the pandemic. Proposed pathways for earning the CPA credential may include a mix of formal education and work experience, potentially eliminating the requirement for 150 college credit hours and specific schooling.A recent report suggests offering skills-based paths without traditional education requirements, which could attract more candidates, including minority students. The report also recommends increasing starting wages, improving the profession's image, and providing more flexible schedules.The pipeline task force is collaborating with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy to develop model language and outline essential skills for credentialed accountants. In September, a broader group of industry leaders will discuss advancing these recommendations and developing a scorecard to measure progress.States are already exploring flexible education requirements, with some proposing alternatives such as apprenticeships and different combinations of education and experience. Coffey emphasizes that any licensing reforms should maintain the rigor of the CPA license while accommodating state-specific solutions.CPAs Pitch More ‘Flexible' Licensing Rules to Expand WorkforceRudolph Giuliani has agreed to pay $100,000 in cash and use proceeds from future sales of his multimillion-dollar homes to settle administrative bankruptcy fees, concluding his Chapter 11 case. Giuliani and his largest creditors reached an agreement outlining how he will exit bankruptcy without having to testify about his finances. Despite a judge ruling that the case must be dismissed due to a lack of progress, Giuliani initially struggled to guarantee payment for an estimated $400,000 in fees. Under the proposed order, Giuliani will immediately pay $100,000 to Global Data Risk LLC, with the remaining fees to be covered by proceeds from the sale of his Manhattan penthouse or his Palm Beach condominium. GDR will have liens on both properties and may foreclose if fees are not paid within six months. Giuliani's Manhattan penthouse is listed for $5.7 million, and his Florida home is valued at approximately $3.5 million.Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December following a $148 million defamation judgment. He has $10.6 million in assets but failed to provide full financial records during nearly seven months in Chapter 11. Additionally, he faces a defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems, criminal cases related to the 2020 election, and a $10 million lawsuit from former employee Noelle Dunphy for sexual harassment and assault. The case is In re Rudolph W. Giuliani, Bankr. S.D.N.Y., No. 23-12055.Giuliani Reaches Bankruptcy Dismissal Deal to Pay Legal FeesCrowdStrike has been sued by shareholders, accusing the cybersecurity company of concealing inadequate software testing that led to a massive global outage on July 19, affecting over 8 million computers. The proposed class action, filed in Austin, Texas, claims that CrowdStrike misled investors about the reliability of its technology, which was proven false when a faulty software update caused significant disruptions worldwide, including to airlines, banks, hospitals, and emergency services. Following the outage, CrowdStrike's share price dropped by 32% over 12 days, erasing $25 billion in market value.Chief Executive George Kurtz is required to testify before the U.S. Congress, and Delta Air Lines has hired attorney David Boies to seek damages, reporting $500 million in losses from the incident. The lawsuit references a March 5 conference call where Kurtz described the software as "validated, tested and certified." CrowdStrike, based in Austin, denies the allegations and intends to defend itself vigorously. The lawsuit, led by the Plymouth County Retirement Association, seeks unspecified damages for holders of CrowdStrike Class A shares between November 29, 2023, and July 29, 2024.The case is named Plymouth County Retirement Association v. CrowdStrike Inc et al, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The aftermath of the outage and the subsequent drop in stock prices might lead to more lawsuits against CrowdStrike.CrowdStrike is sued by shareholders over huge software outage | ReutersPaul Hastings has recruited Brian Israel, the former chair of Arnold & Porter's environmental practice, to co-head its environmental litigation practice. Israel, based in Washington and Los Angeles, brings over 20 years of private practice experience and a decade of leadership in environmental law. He is known for representing major corporations such as BP in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill case, as well as companies like Chemours Co., CSX Corp., Dow Chemical, Honeywell Inc., Monsanto Co., and Motorola Solutions Inc.Israel's decision to join Paul Hastings came after collaborating with its lawyers on a significant environmental case, which convinced him of the firm's potential to become a leading force in environmental law. Paul Hastings' environmental practice is co-chaired by Navi Dhillon and has a strong presence in California. Israel sees his move as an opportunity to help build a nationally recognized environmental practice.This hiring continues Paul Hastings' trend of attracting top legal talent, including recent additions like a 12-lawyer white collar team in Paris, trial lawyer Renato Mariotti in Chicago, and cybersecurity expert Michelle Reed in Dallas. On the transactional side, the firm recently added an 11-partner private credit and restructuring team from King & Spalding.Israel noted that his area of focus is evolving due to national low-carbon initiatives and recent Supreme Court rulings, which have reshaped the environmental regulatory landscape. These changes are increasing demand for high-level expertise in environmental law, a demand that Israel is well-positioned to meet. He joined Arnold & Porter in 2000 after serving as a trial attorney in the environmental enforcement section of the US Department of Justice and has authored a leading treatise on Natural Resource Damages claims.Paul Hastings chair Frank Lopez stated that Israel's addition enhances the firm's capability to handle complex and important matters for its premier clients.Paul Hastings Lures Arnold & Porter Environmental Chair Israel This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Charli has treat for you this week listeners as Heather Cykoski joins the pod. Heather Cykoski, Senior Vice President, Industrial and Process Automation, Member of the Executive Leadership Team, leads the Industrial Automation business in North America to be our customer's digital and automation partner for sustainability and resiliency. A passionate global business leader with 25 years of international experience leading multi-divisional, multi-cultural teams across the energy value chain, Heather brings a strong track record of excellence in both business and leadership. She began her career at the Foxboro Company in 1998, as a member of the Professional Leadership Program, with roles in engineering and business development.Starting in 2005, she held several leadership roles at ABB in marketing, sales, and strategic investments. Joining as North American Manager for British Petroleum and Shell in 2007, Vice President, Group Accounts, working with The Dow Chemical Company, successfully executing chemical plants and new investments in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. In 2010, she led ABB's partnership with Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco's joint venture in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. A partner from concept through lifecycle. In 2012, she managed Group Strategic Project investments including East Africa's liquid natural gas and North America's gulf coast chemical and liquid natural gas investments. Most recently, leading ABB's global Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Industry business. In August 2023, Heather returned to Schneider Electric with a clear mandate to be an “impact maker” in energy transition, harnessing the full portfolio and strength of our company, AVEVA, and strategic partnerships. In addition to her professional experience, Heather is deeply involved in the community and is a fierce advocate of women in STEM. She serves on the Board of Directors of Fluitron and the World of Affairs Council. She has been honored with the Gamechangers Progress Champion Award in 2022 and 2023; WeQual Americas Leadership Excellence Award in 2021 and named a Global Leader of Influence, World Affairs in 2021; 10 Most Influential Women in Technology 2020 and a member of the Global Women's Forum for Economy & Society, Paris France. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Distribution from the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University and IMD's Executive Leadership from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay tuned for more news about EPIC in Atlanta this November!Find us @EmpoweringPumps on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter and using the hashtag #EmpoweringIndustryPodcast or via email podcast@empoweringpumps.com 

On this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, host Andrew Lewin is joined by Anthony Merante, Oceana Canada's senior plastic campaigner, to discuss the results of the UN Global Plastic Treaty's INC4 meeting held in Ottawa. Dive behind the scenes of the meeting and learn about the goals and outcomes of this significant event. Discover what actions are being taken to protect the ocean and how you can get involved in creating a better future for our oceans. Listen now to stay informed and inspired to make a difference! Check out the last episode where Anthony was interviewed before the UN Global Tratey meeting: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/show-179/ Follow a career in conservation: https://www.conservation-careers.com/online-training/ Use the code SUFB to get 33% off courses and the careers program.   Sign up for our Newsletter: http://www.speakupforblue.com/newsletter   Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3NmYvsI Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube The INC meeting for the UN Global Plastic Treaty in Ottawa brought together representatives from over 170 countries to negotiate the terms of the treaty. This meeting marked the fourth out of five sessions held in Ottawa, Canada, where countries collaborated to develop a global plastics treaty. The negotiations revealed significant divisions among countries, with some expressing ambitious goals while others were more conservative in their approach. Previous meetings in Budapest, Paris, and Nairobi set the foundation for the discussions in Ottawa, where progress was made, albeit not as swiftly as anticipated. Throughout the INC meeting, various contact groups were established to concentrate on key aspects of the treaty, such as setting production caps, phasing out harmful chemicals, and addressing single-use plastics. The negotiations delved into intricate topics like product design, the elimination of non-recyclable polymers, and the management of chemicals in plastics that pose risks to human health and the environment. Financial mechanisms and implementation strategies were also discussed to ensure fair execution of the treaty across different nations. The presence of lobbyists from the fossil fuel and chemical industries at the meeting aimed to advocate for their interests in the negotiations. These lobbyists emphasized the significance of plastics in various sectors, including healthcare and food packaging, to influence the negotiators. Conversely, environmental groups like Oceana Canada engaged in lobbying efforts to push for ambitious objectives in the treaty, focusing on reducing plastic pollution and promoting sustainable solutions. The INC meeting in Ottawa underscored the intricate and challenging nature of negotiating a global plastics treaty involving over 170 countries. The discussions covered a wide array of topics, from production limits to product design and the health concerns associated with plastics. The involvement of diverse stakeholders, including environmental groups and industry representatives, enriched the discussions and ensured a balanced approach to tackling the issues posed by plastic pollution on a global scale. Lobbying efforts from both environmental groups and industry associations played a significant role in influencing the negotiations during the UN Global Plastic Treaty meetings. Environmental groups, such as Oceana Canada, actively lobbied for ambitious goals within the treaty, advocating for regulations on plastic production, the phasing out of non-recyclable polymers, and the promotion of refill and reuse practices. On the other hand, industry associations, including companies like Dow Chemical, Exxon, Shell, BP, and Formosa, participated in lobbying activities to express their concerns about the potential negative impacts of the treaty on business, the environment, and the economy. The government of Canada adopted a balanced approach by considering perspectives from both environmental groups and industry associations. Stakeholder engagements, roundtable discussions, and meetings provided a platform for these groups to present their viewpoints side by side, fostering a transparent exchange of ideas. Environmental groups utilized these opportunities to question industry associations on their sustainability initiatives, recycling efforts, and waste management practices. The involvement of environmental groups and industry associations in the negotiations ensured a comprehensive discussion on the complexities of plastic pollution and the necessary measures to address it. Through lobbying activities, these stakeholders influenced the negotiation process, highlighted key issues, and advocated for their interests within the framework of the UN Global Plastic Treaty meetings. Transparency in plastic production and waste management is crucial for ensuring accountability among businesses and governments. The federal government of Canada's release of a federal registry of plastics, covering the entire lifecycle of plastic products, allows for tracking of production, usage, and disposal. This level of transparency promotes accountability and facilitates informed decision-making. Consumer-facing companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Pepsi have been advocating for regulations within the Global Plastic Treaty negotiations, supporting measures such as phasing out non-recyclable polymers and promoting refill and reuse practices. On the other hand, non-consumer facing companies, such as Dow Chemical, Exxon, and Shell, have been more resistant to transparency and accountability in the plastic industry. However, with increasing awareness of the environmental impacts of plastic pollution, there is a growing need for these companies to be more transparent about their practices. Overall, transparency in plastic production and waste management is essential for holding businesses and governments accountable. By providing clear information on plastic usage and waste disposal, stakeholders can work towards sustainable solutions for managing plastic pollution. This transparency fosters a culture of accountability, encouraging businesses to adopt environmentally friendly practices and take responsibility for their impact on the environment.  

Lake Jackson is a small town developed as a company town for Dow Chemical.

In this episode, our guest, Joe Hamm, a trust scholar from the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University, explores various themes centered around the concept of trust, particularly in the realms of criminal justice, policing, and environmental health. Joe discusses how trust plays a crucial role in the interaction between the public and law enforcement. He differentiates trust from legitimacy, explaining that while legitimacy concerns the acceptance of authority and its inherent power, trust focuses more on managing the vulnerability associated with this power. Hamm emphasizes that trust in police is significantly influenced by the public's perception of potential internal harms (e.g., misuse of authority or excessive force) rather than just the external harms (like crime) that police are expected to protect against. His studies highlight variations in how different racial and ethnic groups perceive these harms and trust law enforcement. Joe also talks about trust in the context of environmental contamination, specifically referring to a case involving Dow Chemical in Michigan. He illustrates how high levels of trust in Dow Chemical led the local community to underestimate the risks of dioxin contamination in nearby waters, which, in turn, affected their engagement in protective behaviors like avoiding consumption of contaminated fish. This part of the discussion underscores the complex impact trust can have on public health behaviors and risk assessment. Joe advocates for bridging the gap between academic research on trust and its practical applications. He suggests that media platforms like podcasts can facilitate better communication between researchers and practitioners, potentially leading to more effective trust-building strategies in various sectors.

In this episode of Building Texas Business, we delve into the remarkable journey of Jason Hayes and his family's business, Top Coat Fabrication. Despite the tumultuous nature of the markets, they managed to emerge as an industrial leader, a testament to their resilience and adaptability. He shares Top Coat's blueprint for navigating change while excelling in oil, gas, and petrochemicals. Intentional culture-building through staff gatherings and challenges instilled trust and community, cornerstones of Top Coat's prosperity. In conclusion, his journey to company president wove together personal learning, workplace achievements, nurturing customer bonds, and proactive growth to create the powerhouse that Top Coat is today. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Jason Hayes discusses the transformation of Top Coat Fabrication from its sandblasting roots to becoming an influential player in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. We explore Jason's early involvement with the family business, starting straight out of high school and eventually becoming president, as he emphasizes the value of hands-on experience. Jason shares how Top Coat navigated the challenges of the oil industry's downturns and how strategic diversification into fabrication opened new opportunities in the petrochemical sector. Jason and I delve into the pivotal moment in 2010 when Jason embraced intentional leadership and continuous learning, transforming his personal and professional outlook. Jason highlights the cultural shift within Top Coat, illustrating how he cultivates a positive work environment through team-building exercises and weekly staff meetings. We discuss the significance of building strong customer relationships, with Jason explaining his personal approach to post-project follow-ups and the search for honest feedback. Jason reflects on the importance of networking and trusted advisors, detailing how open communication within the leadership team is essential for resolving conflicts and fostering growth. We delve into Jason's leadership style, his efforts to understand team members' goals, and his commitment to maintaining a balance between work and family life. Jason explains the importance of hiring for culture fit, noting that while skills are necessary, alignment with the company's ethos is crucial for long-term success. Personal anecdotes are shared, including Jason's love for Tex-Mex, his first job experiences, and his aspirations to travel more with his family. LINKSShow Notes Previous Episodes About BoyarMiller About Top Coat Fabrication GUESTS Jason HayesAbout Jason TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Chris: In this episode, you will meet Jason Hayes, president of Top Coat Fabrication. Jason is the second generation of leadership in a family-owned business and tells how he went from hope to learning to be more intentional about growth. Jason I want to welcome you to. Building Texas Business. Thanks for taking time to come on the show. Absolutely Glad to be here. So I think the best place to start is just tell us a little bit about Topcoat. What is the business and what? Jason: does it do? Okay, we're an industrial fabricator, so we fabricate oil and gas and petrochemical equipment, a lot of welding, piping, structural steel, pressure vessels pretty much anything you see when you drive by chemical plants. That's the type of stuff that we fabricate. Chris: Okay, and y'all been in business. Now for what? 40 plus years, 40 plus years. Jason: This is our 44th year. I think it started in 1980. Okay, yes, it started as a sandblasting and painting company, and that's how they got the name Top Coat. Chris: Oh, okay, that makes sense. And so started by your father, I believe. Mom and dad, okay, still 100% owners. Very good, so what was the I guess, the inspiration that had them start Top Coat to begin with? Jason: I think honestly, if I remember the story right, my dad was working for a contractor down in Freeport and I don't remember the whole story but he didn't get treated right so he got let go or whatever happened. So he decided he was going to start his own thing. So he did they and they started this blasting and painting and it just kind of took off. His work ethic combined with everything else and industry in our area, so there was a lot of oil and gas in our area at that time. Mobile had a big shore base down there, so his contacts led to him doing some blasting painting for mobile and then they asked him if he could do some work offshore on their platforms, because they have platforms out there. So that that led to that part of the business and it just kind of started growing a little bit from there so it's interesting. Chris: So many people that I've talked to have you know unique stories, but there's a there, there's some that have a common theme that it's kind of, out of that hardship or disappointment or something, they decide to go on their own and do it their own way. It sounds like that was the case for your dad. Jason: Yeah, absolutely. I don't know exactly what drove it, you know, but yeah, that's what led to it. Chris: Tell us a little bit then you know how did that lead to. You know what the company is today as it relates to you know the focus and the mission and the purpose of the company. How has those early days influenced where you are today, some 44 years later? Jason: Well, let me give you a little bit of history about that. So when he started working offshore for Mobile at some point, he was just doing sandblasting and painting, well, on a project. They had asked him if he had any welders or knew any welders, because they needed some welding done out there. So he said yes, as a matter of fact, I do so. Welders because they needed some welding done out there. So he said, yes, matter of fact, I do so that he started hiring welders and doing construction on the platforms as well. So the offshore oil and gas was our bread and butter for many years, 20 plus years at least. So that even when I came on board in 98, that was our biggest business was oil and gas offshore construction. We'd send crews to the platforms and do maintenance and platform installations, platform removals, kind of everything in between. So that was great. The downside was, you know, when oil and gas is great, it's great, but it's dead, very cyclical too, right Big time. So we had a lot of struggles and I didn't see any other struggles that they saw. My mom and dad went through so many downturns that it was everything they could do to survive, but they did Well. Then, after the BP spill, macondo incident. Then the government really cracked down on offshore industry. So pretty much all the platforms we used to work on started coming out of the water. So all the stuff that we used to do existed no more. So that's when we really had to decide and make a big pivot in the business and say you know what we've been doing? A little bit of fabrication that supports the oil and gas, the offshore let's, let's focus on that. We have the knowledge base, we had some experience in it. Let's let's focus on that. So we literally changed the name to top coat fabrication and we didn't do anything off-site anymore. We focused strictly on fabrication and we would ship our stuff, you know, kind of all over. So it opened another big door to us for the petrochemical industry, because down in our area, you know, we've had Dow Chemical, all these chemical plants right in our back door. But it was almost like we swore we'll never work for the plants, we'll never work in the plants, just because it has that stigma of okay, once you get in, you know your foot in Dow, you know it's, it can be great. But then they people say they own you or you know whatever, and so we never did. Well then now with just the fabrication, that's when we started reaching out to these chemical plants and started really digging in and started doing a lot of work for them. So, and then, another big blessing was not too long after that, we got approached by a big company that had property next to us, had a, a facility, and then they wanted to buy our facility for an expansion. So we were on the water, we were on the intercoastal canal because we had crew boats coming in and out. We did a lot of dock services, so none of that existed anymore. So this was just a huge place that we didn't need, so that we used that to actually buy a piece of property, built a brand new shop where we're at now, a brand new facility. We built it the way we wanted. That was, you know, based on fabrication. So that's where we still are. Chris: Okay, that's great. So you know, I guess, a good lesson in the adage of don't put all your eggs in one basket. Yeah, y'all learned to diversify pretty quickly, right? Yes, yeah, exactly. Jason: So now you know we still do oil and gas work, but it's fabrication. We do a lot of stuff for West Texas oil and gas and we ship our stuff out there. We do a ton for the petrochemical industry right in our back door. We're getting into commercial building fabrication now not the buildings themselves but the structural components that go into them. We're looking into the offshore wind generation, solar, anywhere. We can do our fabrication in different industries for that exact reason to diversify. Chris: It's a good lesson right for people out there that you know. Start a business, maybe with that one big customer, that focus. It can be good when times are good, but you got to think about you know what. If this goes away, what else do we have? That is a compliment to it. It's a big liability yeah, if you don't, yeah, it ain't no different than what you were saying if, if you got too far in with someone like Dow, that'd be no different than you know, kind of that singular focus. So let's talk a little bit. How did you get involved and kind of come up through the business? Because you're now the president, I definitely want to talk a little bit once I hear kind of the back story about at some point there was a transition in leadership, so I definitely want to dive into that. Sure. Jason: So right out of high school I worked for Topcoat for the summer between high school and college and I went off to college that next semester. I went to Texas A&M. I was in mechanical engineering program. I wasn't ready for college, so I was there for two semesters and then they suggested that I leave. So I left. After that I came home and started working in 98 at some point and started at the bottom, started as a helper. The summer before college I was just a weed eater. We had this huge facility on the shore basin. I literally just weeded it all summer pretty much. So then when I came back I was a helper, just doing whatever you know in the shop around the facility. At one point we also made a realization or my dad did, because I had nothing to do with management then, but he made a realization that we needed somebody that would take care of the safety. We always had good safety records and good practices, but we needed somebody that could take charge of the program. Right? So I got volunteered to be the safety man. There you go. So I did that for a few years. They call that voluntold. Chris: Yes. Jason: I was being polite, you're exactly right. So I did that for a couple years and then I don't remember how the transition it was kind of a slow transition into just kind of taking more of the reins of the management. So at some point I can't tell you when, but he named me as the general manager. Okay, so he was the president, I was the general manager and then so I had, you know, a couple of people that kind of reported directly to me and then all the work happened underneath them. So that, and that was the case for a pretty good while. And I mean I'll be brutally honest that I was not into leadership back then. I wanted to be the top dog, right, I wanted to be the guy in charge, but leadership as I understand it now was not in my repertoire. Chris: Yeah, well, I mean, it's easy to want to be the guy, yeah, but there's a lot that goes with it that not everyone understands. Right To do it, the right way To do it right? Yeah, I knew nothing about leading people. Well, what have you done to try to help educate yourself, get some experience to become a better leader? Jason: I think it started with a desire wanting to be better. When you hit that point in 2010, I hit a really low point in my life. That's when I turned my life over to God and became a Christian. It just really changed the way I was thinking. So that kind of led me into leading my family and at some point, you know, I started reading books, I started learning more, listening to podcasts, and that just literally flowed into work. Okay, there's a realization. Okay, now I need to be a better leader at work. And what does that look like? So I started going to conferences, reading books, listening, just consuming as much content as I could, yeah, and then just slowly started putting things into practice at work, which was awkward, you know, at times when you try to bring some new thought processes and stuff to the team where it's never been before. You know, this is the way we've always done it type of mentality, and I was the same way. Chris: So it's a struggle, it's a beautiful story. It's an easy trap to fall into, right For people. Well, we were just doing it this way, because we've always done it that way. That is a eventually that becomes a death sentence for a company because no one will. Eventually that becomes a death sentence for a company because no one will innovate or think differently. And so I definitely applaud you for coming to that point. And you know, and as you know, now it's a, it's an everyday. You know you got to keep learning and keep growing, yeah for sure. So let's go back to the kind of the transition, because at some point you become president I don't know what your dad's title is now, but you kind of take over the reins. Let's talk about how did that decision kind of come about? And then how did y'all manage through the transition where you became kind of the. Jason: It was gradually happening already, so my dad is still the CEO now and he was like saying he was the president back then and it was just I, I probably just. It was a combination of me taking more and taking more initiative and him being able to release more right. So there wasn't anything set like, okay, I'm going to give you more, I need you to take more. Chris: It was just kind of I started pulling and he started giving well the given parts, probably the hardest of those two, oh, I'm sure'm sure, allowing himself to let go and trust. How did y'all manage the communication within the company? Did you just let it happen by kind of osmosis? The actual? Jason: leadership just happened. So I've worked really closely with most of my leadership team for gosh I guess 16 or 17 years now several of them and so it just happened. We started really clicking together, growing. A lot of us have the same kind of mentality we want to get better personally, we want to get better in the business. We're, all you know, looking at the big picture type of thing. But the actual transition from me to GM to president, I didn't even know about it. So we have a staff meeting every Monday with the entire company. We have breakfast and I typically show some type of motivational video, tell the whole staff a few things that might be going on within the business. And in one of those meetings my mom shows up. And my mom, she just doesn't. She's never been involved in the business since I've been there. She's part owner but never been involved in it, and so she's. So you know, I said hi to her before I'm going to the meeting and I didn't think anything about it. Well, during that meeting my dad gets up and says okay, I want to announce that jason is now the president of the business and I'm he. I don't think he said this, but he was stepping up to the ceo. So it was like a we both kind of moved up okay. But he mentioned, you know, that he just that he just wanted to. He knew I was passionate about it, I was passionate about the business, passionate about the people, and he knew I wanted to take it to new places. So he named me president. So nobody knew, not me, not anybody else, it just happened one day oh, we don't. So it was a cool honor and you know it didn't change much. It didn't change much because the structure was already there. Yeah, it was just a matter of a title really then. But I think I started taking it even more serious then. Chris: Makes sense. So I guess we talk about as it exists today. Then you're still working with your dad, but more the responsibility for the day-to-day falls on you, Right? Yes, definitely. Jason: He's there almost every day. I mean he's there every day that he's around. If he's not, you know, gone out of town or something, he's there. He's typically in his shorts and flip flops or you know shorts and shoes and fishing shirt. But he is there, which is great to have him. I'm honored to be able to work with him. He still lets me pretty much do what I want. I mean trusts me. Chris: So one of the things I noticed in getting ready to meet you today was on your website, the company's website. You're very big on your people and your culture, so let's talk a little bit about how you would describe the culture at Top Coat and what are some of the things you think you've done to help kind of build to get to that type of culture. Jason: The culture is amazing at Top Coat and that's my passion. My passion is the culture. That's one of the biggest things I think spend most time thinking about. One of the first things I did was start having a just a like a weekly meeting with my, the leadership team. We started doing that, I would bet, six or eight years ago, Just a weekly meeting. We didn't really have any structure, I just wanted us to meet, put our heads together and talk about things going on. So that was the first thing I started. And then, after that, we started the full staff meetings. After we moved to our new place, we actually had a place we could meet, but we started having our full staff meetings once a week too, and we kind of used that as a transition. I don't remember how it came about, but we started doing a type of physical challenge where every Monday after our staff meeting, we'd have some kind of challenge where it would be, we'd do push-ups, we'd do dead hangs. We've done just about everything you could imagine. Some of them are physical, some of them are not, but we do that and it's we literally make the people pay. If you want to play five bucks, Everybody puts in five bucks and wants to do it. Winner takes all, unless it's a team sport. You know, we've done tug of war, We've done dodgeball tournaments and little things like that. It just creates like maybe 15, 20 minutes of fun and there's trash talking from all the you know, the audience and everything else. But it's that's just a tiny layer that just it just adds a little bit of fun into the workday. It makes it a little more human, right? Yes, and that's one of the biggest things my dad fought me on at the very beginning was doing these. You know his mentality was you know, think about what that's costing the company. You know you have this entire crew shut down for 30 minutes additional. What do you think that's costing us? And I wrapped my head around it and I thought about it and I understood. But at the same time I tried to make him understand. I think it's way more valuable to spend that time and spend that money on this time, because I think overall it's going to be well worth it. Chris: Yeah, kudos to you for that, because it's easy to look at the black and white and ensure there's a cost to that. But I think you're right when you evaluate it holistically. If you're creating engagement and fostering that environment where everyone kind of knows each other better and feels more like a team, I think the returns are exponential. Right, you can't necessarily put dollars on it, but you probably can't look at lack of turnover, maybe better productivity once they're back at work. So I think to your point it was it's a wise investment to making your people yeah, I agree, and I mean to this day. Jason: If you look on our LinkedIn page or Facebook, when I put up videos of the challenge that we do, that's even on LinkedIn. Those are the posts that get so many comments, so many shares. It's people connect with it and so many people say, man, I wish we did that at our place, or I wish my company would do stuff like that. And it's like it's those little things that people I don't know if they don't think about them or they just don't think it's worth it, but for us it's been kind of a game changer. Advert Hello friends, this is Chris Hanslick, your Building Texas business host. Did you know that Boyer Miller, the producer of this podcast, is a business law firm that works with entrepreneurs, corporations and business leaders? Our team of attorneys serve as strategic partners to businesses by providing legal guidance to organizations of all sizes. Get to know the firm at boyermillercom. And thanks for listening to the show. Chris: So one of the things you mentioned kind of as the company's evolved is, you know this diversification into fabrication and doing other lines of business. What are some of the things you do as the president of the company to kind of create those relationships with the new customers, new vendors, and maintain those strong relationships? Jason: We have a sales team that does a lot of the actual interaction. But most of our customers I'll know their name, I'll know their contact information and I'm the one that reaches out to them personally. For if we're going to do it, then let's say we sponsor a lot of golf tournaments, you know skeet shooting teams for fundraisers and that sort of thing, and I'm the one that normally reaches out to the people and ask them if they want to you know, participate with us. We had an industry night a couple of weeks ago and I call all the what the customers that I know and have the contact information. I'm the one that calls them and I also do customer follow-ups. With every project that we do that ships out, I do a customer follow-up call with everyone. I call them personally, just as me, thanking them, number one for their business and then number two just seeing if there's anything we can do to improve that I love. Chris: And I'll tell you we tried here and we're not consistent with it. Love, and I'll tell you we tried here and we were not consistent with it, but that kind of what I would call customer survey, satisfaction survey. So you've got it baked into your routine to do it on every order. Jason: That's amazing, I learned that from Mattress Mac. Okay, we bought some furniture from him and I think twice now, and every time sometime afterwards he calls personally and just thanks us for his business. Oh we darn. Chris: Yeah, Well, I think it's a great lesson for people you know that are listening to this and have their own business. That personal touch and that follow-up can go so far in creating that customer loyalty Right. So that's amazing. I guess you report back to your people on what you learned from that so that's amazing. Jason: I guess you report back to your people what you learned from that. Yeah, so we have a Teams, our Teams folder that we open up every day or every week in our leadership meeting and I keep the spreadsheets in there so we review it every week. Any ones that I call, you know, I'll be honest, I'll let them build up, because our project coordinator sends me. Every time we ship one out, he sends me the contact, you know, until I know what the project was, who the contact name is and so forth. And I will, all honesty, I let them build up because sometimes I'll procrastinate doing it, you know, because I'm like, oh, it's one more thing I gotta do, right, right. But then after I do, let's say, just the day before yesterday I called six, six clients and every time I do it I'm so glad that I did because I feel better, I'm sure you know, I feel better because I let them know, number one I that I them. Number two we're trying to ask them if there's anything that we can do to improve and be better. We want to know and I don't think. I think it's so uncommon that people don't people say they want feedback. But I think they want the five-star rating Right. They don't want the honesty, they just want okay, how many five stars can we get? Chris: Yeah, they want the high google rating, right right which it feels good to get that. Jason: But we're not going to get any better if, especially if there's a client that's not happy about something, some most of them aren't going to come and just out and tell us, hey, so and so went wrong. But if I ask, is there anything we could do to better, that's when they're going to say, as a matter of fact, there is. Yeah, I haven't got that yet, but we will sure you will. I mean, that's the point, that's what I want. Chris: I think that's great. You know, sitting here thinking I need to do more of that. You know that, as I told you before we came on, I learned from all the guests and I've at least learned that from you today. I think that's wise advice. Jason: And it has to come from the top. If my project coordinator is talking to the clients, you know 24 seven7. It's not going to be the same Right. Chris: That's right. So let's talk a little bit. I mean, it's been up and down in the economy the last few years. What have you experienced at Top Coat kind of as it relates to the last four or five years and kind of the you know turbulent environment, and what are some of the things you've done to kind of manage through? Jason: that We've stayed pretty steady the last several years. Now. Last year ended up being our best year in history revenue-wise. Revenue and profit-wise. Several stars aligned for that, some great projects from some longtime customers. But the few years before that we were okay, we were steady, right, and that's. I think that's one thing that Vistage taught me is to be proactive. I'd sit back for years and say, man, I hope this company grows, I hope this company grows. And then, with you know, the Vistage group and just everything that I've been involved in so far with that has just really taught me that you have to be intentional, you have to, we have to make it happen. So we going to grow, how are we going to make this happen? So that's where the big focus is now. I mean we since I've been there, you know, 26 years we've had some horrible years. I mean when we first take great story, when we first built our new facility beautiful shop, beautiful, everything we had no work, zero. We got down, I believe seven people in the company completely, and I remember just like it was. Yesterday we're having my staff meeting, so it's a small group, but I'm kind of telling them look, we literally had 75 grand in the bank and we said this is all the money we had left. We had all this money from selling our property, but we'd spent on this new facility and we had some money, but it had just dwindled down to nothing because the work had died, and so that was in 16, I think 2016, 2017. Okay, so I'm telling the whole team look, guys, I don't know what we're going to do. We're going to figure this out, but I really don't know what I do, what we're going to do. And then, literally during that meeting, our phone, our office phone, rang. There was nobody in the office, so I turned around and I answered the phone. Quick, five-minute conversation. It was a guy driving by our facility. He was an inspector for Chevron, phillips and Sweeney and he said I'm leaving the shop and I'm the inspector and I can't stand Something along the lines of I can't stand working with these guys. They keep lying to me, I need to find another shop and I've just been driving by your place. I want to see if I can come talk to you about doing some fabrication work for us. That led to us doing $2 million to $3 million a year for them almost every year since. Oh, wow, and so that was. It was like that was. Since I've been in the business, that was the lowest point that I felt, because I was really feeling that pressure of what am I going to do? What am I going to do? And there was no strategy to this. It was like it was a God moment of having him drive by all this stuff at the same time by having a new facility help? yes, absolutely if we had not been there, he never would have driven by our place, because where we were before nobody drove by right, so nobody knew so so that's it. Chris: I mean well, that's an incredible deal. So 2016 is seven employees, $75,000 in the bank. How did you end 2023? How many employees and what was your revenue? Jason: 2023,. We had $22 million in revenue and for most of the year we were probably around close to 100 employees. Wow. Chris: That's an amazing turnaround, congratulations. Appreciate it yeah, congratulations, appreciate it. So, yeah, I like what you said earlier, when it was you were hoping to grow and you've learned to go think about how to grow and be intentional, because that otherwise you hear there's another cliche hope's not a strategy, right? So sounds like you mentioned vistage, so you're a vistage member, that sounds like, and other vistage members, including myself. I know how valuable it can be to grow as a leader, but then how you think about your business. Jason: Sure, absolutely yeah. And, like I was telling you earlier, the network that you meet the people, the different people in every area of business yourself for legal, whether it's taxes, insurance, whatever has to do with business. There's people that I'm connected with, literally one-on-one, that I can call, I can sit down with. Most of them will just meet me for lunch. If I need to bounce an idea off of them. That's the biggest thing. Chris: Something I tell people that have businesses all the time is you've got to build a solid network of trusted advisors that you can reach out to, whether it's a banker, insurance person, accountant, lawyer, another entrepreneur or business owner right, that you can just reach out to, because even when you're having a bad day and maybe they can you know, hey, I've been there before, so you'll feel, because a lot of times you feel alone. What are some of the things I guess, as you've evolved as a leader that you've found to kind of whether it's a particular book or conference you go to that have really been valuable to you to kind of grow as a leader? Jason: I can't think of a specific book, but I think, the mentality of giving your people the tools that they need to do what they have inside their head. You know, I think so many times I've learned that even our leadership team at work they have so many ideas and great ways to do different things, but they don't always let them out. So I think creating number one, creating a safe place, like our leadership meetings that we have every Wednesday morning, that's a safe place. Whether it's a conflict that we have, whether it's an issue that they've been holding in, whatever it may be, that is the place where we draw those things out and we squash them or whatever we need to do. To me, that's probably been the biggest thing. Chris: It's a hard thing to do, but you're so right that safe place where people feel like they can share without being judged or criticized is unique, I think, but so important. Jason: And it's so simple, but we're all humans, especially at work. Yeah, and it's so simple, but we're all humans, especially at work. I'm sure we all swallow a whole lot more at work than we do anywhere else, because maybe we're afraid of our job, we're afraid of whatever. But I think it's been really good for us. We've solved so many issues just because we've created the structure for it. Chris: So one of the things I like to ask folks that come on is can you tell us a setback you've encountered in your professional life? Maybe it's your personal life, but something that sets you back. But you learned so much and you grew from it that you're better off because of it today. Man. Jason: I know there's plenty of them. Chris: That's what most people say. Jason: Yeah, there's plenty of them. Chris: I'm just trying to think what would come to mind, maybe something right after you kind of took over being either general manager or president at Topco, maybe something in those early days. Jason: I think one of the real struggles is it's not a moment but learning the business finances. You know I struggle a lot with okay, we need this piece of equipment to get better, we should just go buy it. Well, my dad has the finances and the history of the accounting behind it and I've struggled because he and I butted heads quite a bit on things I think would be a good investment and things he thinks wouldn't be a good investment. So that's become something we both had to work on. Really, I mean, I lean on him a lot for his knowledge and different things when we're purchasing, making big purchases or expanding our facility, whatever we're doing. But I think having those conversations was probably some of the toughest things we've had to do. Gotcha, and it's just like anything else, it's just like with the leadership team. It's creating a space that we can have those. I mean, he and I have worked together for literally 26 years, so we work well together and we communicate fine together. But it's me getting up the courage to ask those questions too. That's been a struggle. Chris: So what I hear you saying in that and I think it's a natural struggle for people in leadership because, like you said, from day one, you wanted to be the top dog. Sure, it's having the humility to ask your father or mentor someone that you don't know or don't know enough, right. Sure, so that takes a lot of humility, yeah, for you, and I think it's also a blessing that you have the courage to use it. Jason: Is you have a built-in, you know, advisor, mentor, right there, you know, letting you grow and being there to kind of guide you along the way yeah, and I don't utilize them as much as I should, but every time we have a conversation like this, it reminds me how much I should I, how much I do and should you know, put more value in that another thing that you mentioned was mentioned was y'all can butt heads. Chris: So what have y'all done? Because I guarantee I've had other people that have done what you've done on the show, that have taken over a family business. I guarantee there's people who are going to listen to this, that are doing that or see that in their future when you get to that place of how will you and your dad communicate on big issues. If you all kind of got it agreed upon, let's do this in private and really hash it out and not let other people see what's going on. I mean, is that something that's one that you all kind of have a practice of doing? If so, how does that work? Jason: Yeah, definitely. I mean, he's in our leadership meeting. He sits in our leadership meetings pretty much every week. He's pretty quiet, you know, off to the side, he's just mainly listening, but there's plenty of times where I'll you know if I have an issue with something he said, or vice versa. He'll either come to my office and shut the. I always, I constantly, have to remind myself that this is his baby. This whole company is. I've had a lot to do with the growth and where we're at in you know the current state, but at the end of the day, this is his and he. He created it and I'm just a part of it. Yeah, so I have to constantly remind myself of that. And then he I mean, he tells me multiple times that you know I'm doing a good job of running it. So he's constantly having to remind himself that he gave me the authority and the power to run it. But it's definitely a team effort. Chris: I think it would have to be. The other thing that comes to mind again, kind of unique to family-owned business and second generation of leadership of that family-owned business is how well do you and your dad do at leaving the issues at the office versus trickling over to the Thanksgiving table or anything like that? Jason: Yeah, he's probably better at that than I am, but even I don't know. From the time I was born, he and I have had an absolutely solid relationship always. He was gone a lot when I was growing up for many years because he was doing a lot of offshore work. So he was gone a lot when I was growing up for many years because he was doing a lot of offshore work. So he was gone a lot, but we always had just a top-notch relationship. Yeah, so I think without that it would have been a hundred times worse. Yeah, but I don't think I can't remember a single time where any tension between me and him ever stayed very long period, but certainly much less made it out the door. Yeah, yeah, we could have this tough discussion and then say, all right, let's go get some lunch yeah, you know that's good here and you know. Chris: The other thing is, I think when you're an entrepreneur and you own this business, you live and breathe it, so you you're going to be thinking about it when you're at home and those conversations could come up versus, just as natural, when they happen at the office right it. Jason: It always has. Yeah, I mean, whether we're at my house, his house, it's typically something with work is going to come up and we're going to talk about it. Chris: It just happens. So let me ask you this just about your own personal leadership style. How would you describe your leadership style today? How do you think it's evolved or developed over the last several years? Jason: I would say my style is to. This is just off the cuff, but I would say my style is to help anybody that I'm leading, make sure they have the tools to do what they need to do. You know I'm really passionate about I haven't been extremely proactive about mentoring all of my leadership team, but I want to know their goals, not just professionally but personally too, and I think a lot about like, what can I do to help them succeed? If the person is going after what they were put on this earth to do and I can be a part of that and help guide them to that, I think that is the ultimate definition of success when it comes to leadership. Yeah, so that's kind of my passion. I haven't been as good at the mentoring side and maybe the personal side. We talk about business roles and stuff quite a bit but I really want to be more involved with their goals in life overall. Sure, Not involved in them, but what can I do to help? How can I help? Chris: Well, at least understand them, so you know how you can be a resource. Jason: Yeah, and again, I want all my resources to be their resources too. Chris: So that brings up kind of a good subject. When you think about that, and maybe I'm going to ask you about yourself, what do you do to try to maintain some type of balance in your life right between work and family, knowing that you're always thinking about the business, right? Jason: I've done pretty good with that for the most part. I've never been a workaholic, just not me. I've been a huge family guy always. I have four kids, ages 15 down to 7, so we stay busy, sounds like it, but that's another. Passion of mine, too is just the kids and the family. I've never had a struggle with staying at work when I should be at home. Chris: Now having the leadership team that I have is what makes that possible. I was going to say you got to have some tools in place to help facilitate that. So hiring good leaders to work with you, Anything that you look for, or when you do interview or interview someone for a leadership position and or think about promoting them to one. Jason: Culture is the number one thing. That's what I always start with. Will this person be a fit for our culture? And that's typically if we're going to hire not just leadership team, but maybe even the level right. You know, underneath that, most of the time I'll. I want to know the person. I want to have a one-on-meeting. You know, I've met several people for coffee that we were interviewing for a project manager position, just because I want to just get to know the person. The resume says what they've done. The resume says everything that they've accomplished. But I want to know are they going to fit with us? And if they don't, then that's an immediate no. So I think that hiring for the culture is the number one thing. Chris: So many people, including myself, believe that right. Lots of people have skills that could fit with what you do, but are they a type of person that fits with who you are and who you want your people to be? Right, and I believe the people that are culture fit. Jason: You never know where they might end up, even with the company. We've hired a couple of people that were a great fit for us and they were doing one thing. Well then, as soon as we get, they get in and they're a great fit, and then we start seeing all the stuff that they're capable of. Then they start getting snagged by this person and next thing you know they're just keep moving up because everybody's starting to see. Chris: You know they're capable of yeah, but it started with the fit right. That's great. Well, jason, I love the story and the family transition. I think it's a beautiful story when they're done right. They're not always are. I want to always wrap up on a few off-topic personal things. Okay, what was your first job? Was it something at Top Coat or something other than that? Jason: Yeah, it was Top Coat, the one right after high school, so weed eating, yeah, it was great. Chris: So great. All right, what's your preference? Tex-mex or barbecue Tex-Mex? I could eat it every day. I mean, I didn't even finish the sentence. Jason: I know you jumped on that one, I know. Chris: No question. Jason: So I always ask people if you could take a sabbat Ooh 30 days, oh man, for at least a week I'd take my wife and we'd just sit on a beach somewhere. Yeah, without a doubt. Yeah, and then I would just do some traveling, a lot of traveling. I want to do a lot more traveling. The only place out of the states I've been is to Mexico, for me and my wife on our honeymoon. Okay, so I've got so many places I want to see, but I just don't make the time or make the plans to do it. Chris: Well with the four kids as you described, you got your hands full right. Yeah, well again. Jason, thanks for taking the time to come on the show. Really enjoyed getting to get to know you better and meet you. Jason: I appreciate the opportunity man. Special Guest: Jason Hayes.

Our love for the world around us and our passion for protecting that world can come from many different places. It can come from a connection to the land, or a magical experience we had with other people in a particular place, or our sense of awe from the beauty of the living creatures that inhabit these ecosystems. But that love and passion can also come from seeing or experiencing the destruction of the same ecological web, from pollution in the air that rains down onto a playground, or the clearing of a wildlife habitat to make way for a fossil fuel pipeline.Dave Cortez has been organizing for environmental justice in Texas for the better part of two decades. He lives in Austin now, but the love and passion that guides him came from the Rio Grande, the Sierra Madre Mountains and the high desert of West Texas. And from fighting a copper smelter and other threats to the land, air and water in and around his native El Paso. Dave has a fierce love for his El Paso Community. But cutting his teeth as an environmental justice organizer in his hometown wasn't easy. Dave is now Director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, where he's bringing his El Paso roots and years of experience on the streets and in the communities around Texas to the Sierra Club's statewide campaigns.I've known Dave for many years and used to regularly attend environmental justice meetings in Austin that he helped organize. I've seen him rise from an on-the-ground organizer to the leader of the Texas chapter of one of the oldest and largest environmental organizations in the world.Our conversation tracks his education as an environmental justice organizer. From the playgrounds of El Paso to the gentrifying neighborhoods of Austin, his story reflects the changing nature of the American environmental movement and the exciting possibilities of more robust connections between community-based frontline environmental justice struggles and the large and powerful environmental organizations with nationwide influence.You can listen on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.Please rate, review, and share to help us spread the word!Dave CortezDave Cortez is a 3rd generation El Pasoan now based out of Austin where he lives with his partner and six year old daughter. He grew up and learned organizing on the frontera, where industrial pollution, poverty, gentrification, racism and the border wall are seen as intersecting issues. Dave serves as the Director of the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, and has been organizing in the Texas environmental movement for 18 years. Dave is supporting staff and volunteers across Texas who are organizing for power by centering racial justice and equity alongside frontline communities directly impacted by polluting industries.Quotation Read by Dave Cortez"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives. Malcolm knew this. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this. Our struggles are particular, but we are not alone. We are not perfect, but we are stronger and wiser than the sum of our errors. Black people have been here before us and survived. We can read their lives like signposts on the road and find, as Bernice Reagon says so poignantly, that each one of us is here because somebody before us did something to make it possible. To learn from their mistakes is not to lessen our debt to them, nor to the hard work of becoming ourselves, and effective. We lose our history so easily, what is not predigested for us by the New York Times, or the Amsterdam News, or Time magazine. Maybe because we do not listen to our poets or to our fools, maybe because we do not listen to our mamas in ourselves. When I hear the deepest truths I speak coming out of my mouth sounding like my mother's, even remembering how I fought against her, I have to reassess both our relationship as well as the sources of my knowing. Which is not to say that I have to romanticize my mother in order to appreciate what she gave me – Woman, Black. We do not have to romanticize our past in order to be aware of how it seeds our present. We do not have to suffer the waste of an amnesia that robs us of the lessons of the past rather than permit us to read them with pride as well as deep understanding. We know what it is to be lied to, and we know how important it is not to lie to ourselves. We are powerful because we have survived, and that is what it is all about – survival and growth. Within each one of us there is some piece of humanness that knows we are not being served by the machine which orchestrates crisis after crisis and is grinding all our futures into dust. If we are to keep the enormity of the forces aligned against us from establishing a false hierarchy of oppression, we must school ourselves to recognize that any attack against Blacks, any attack against women, is an attack against all of us who recognize that our interests are not being served by the systems we support. Each one of us here is a link in the connection between anti-poor legislation, gay shootings, the burning of synagogues, street harassment, attacks against women, and resurgent violence against Black people. I ask myself as well as each one of you, exactly what alteration in the particular fabric of my everyday life does this connection call for? Survival is not a theory. In what way do I contribute to the subjugation of any part of those who I define as my people? Insight must illuminate the particulars of our lives." - Audre LordeRecommended Readings & MediaTranscriptIntroJohn Fiege  Our love for the world around us and our passion for protecting that world can come from many different places. It can come from a connection to the land, or a magical experience we had with other people in a particular place, or our sense of awe from the beauty of the living creatures that inhabit these ecosystems. But that love and passion can also come from seeing or experiencing the destruction of this same ecological web: from pollution in the air that rains down onto a playground or the clearing of wildlife habitat to make way for a fossil fuel pipeline.Dave Cortez has been organizing for environmental justice in Texas for the better part of two decades. He lives in Austin now, but the love and passion that guides him came from the Rio Grande, the Sierra Madre mountains, and the high desert of West Texas—and it came from fighting a copper smelter and other threats to the land, air, and water in and around his native El Paso. Dave has a fierce love for his El Paso community but cutting his teeth as an environmental justice organizer in his home town wasn't easy.Dave Cortez  Two of my close family members worked at the plant. My dad's brother worked at the plant and then worked at Chevron on the other side of town. And then his brother in law, worked at the plant and retired. And here I was, this younger punk, you know, sort of just not super close to the family, showing up at events and they asked what I'm doing and, oh, they think I'm a paid protester, you know, forget my education, forget what's at what I'm actually saying. You know, it's, deep cultural assimilation. It's deep colonization, sort of this Stockholm syndrome that develops out of poverty and repression. It's horrific, and it's sad to watch. People fiercely defend the only thing that has helped them in their eyes and not be able to acknowledge the harm that's been done. It's not different from, you know, addiction in that way, or depression.John Fiege  Or domestic abuse. Dave Cortez  Exactly. It's heartbreaking. It still hurts me to talk about. John Fiege  I'm John Fiege, and this is Chrysalis.Dave Cortez is now Director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, where he's bringing his El Paso roots and years of experience on the streets and in the communities around Texas to the Sierra Club's statewide campaigns.I've known Dave for many years and used to regularly attend environmental justice meetings in Austin that he helped organize. I've seen him rise from an on-the-ground organizer to the leader of the Texas chapter of one of the oldest and largest environmental organizations in the world.Our conversation tracks his education as an environmental justice organizer. From the playgrounds of El Paso to the gentrifying neighborhoods of Austin, his story reflects the changing nature of the American environmental movement and the exciting possibilities of more robust connections between community-based frontline environmental justice struggles and the large and powerful environmental organizations with nationwide influence.Here is Dave Cortez.ConversationJohn FiegeWell, you grew up in El Paso in Far West Texas, and it's right on the border of Mexico and New Mexico. Can you tell me a bit about growing up there, and your family and how you saw yourself in relationship to the rest of nature.Dave Cortez  I've got a little picture I'm looking at my my very first demonstration. It's a bunch of kids, kids meaning college kids, my my age at the time, about maybe 22, 23, and a big peace flag and we're hanging around what was called Plaza de Los Lagartos, Plaza of the Alligators. And we're there I think we're protesting, must have been continuing invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, but you know, I keep it up. And I keep pictures of the mountains of West Texas, the edge of the Rockies is what cuts into the central central part of El Paso, the Franklin Mountains. And then you have the Rio Grande, the heart and soul of that land. And on the other side of the river, those mountains continue into the Sierra Madres all the way down to the coast. It's majestic. It's, you know, that land is as colonized as is its people. You know, it's been, the river has been dammed up upstream in New Mexico, and two reservoirs to provide water for agriculture and farming and things like that, recreation. It was the only area of water that we we had access to when I was a kid. We would drive up to Truth or Consequences and load up on nightcrawlers and whatever other tackle and bait, and then take my dad's car and drive along somewhere, find a good spot. And fish from the shore for a couple of days at a time, camp, and, you know, that was a desert lake. It was wild for me, because we didn't have water, you know.John Fiege  So tell me about what you did. Dave Cortez  Well, we would just go up there. That was, that was our place to go get get access to water, you know, away from the desert, you know, growing up in El Paso, you just, it's It's dry, it's desert, we get, we used to average nine inches of rain a year, it's down now, you know, but the Rio was, it's always been sacred and it was special, it was a place you could go and see water. Not all year round, but most of the year and see it flowing and you look in any direction, away from the mountains, and you can see what feels endless, but it's actually you know, two or more hundred miles to the horizon, you see Thunder heads 30, 40, sometimes 45 or 50,000 feet high way far away, you think maybe you hope maybe those might come your way, maybe we'll get lucky and get a little bit of rain. Most times they don't. But with that sometimes you're blessed with the outflow that carries the smell of creosote, a native plant in the region that everybody's come to call the smell of rain. And, you know, even if you don't actually get the rain yourself, you might get some of those breezes and some of that wonderful smell. And it's, it's life giving, it's restorative. As a kid, you know, I was fortunate that my family made an effort to take us out into the desert quite a bit, we would go chase storms, we would watch lightning, my father would turn the AM radio to a blank station so we could hear the the lightning on the radio, the static pop. And we got a real kick out of that and we'd go off roading and find spots and park and you know, just hang out. And that was a pretty common thing for a lot of folks around town is just to get out into the desert. You know, my my heart and soul and my spirit is connected to that land, it is part of that land, I draw strength from those mountains, from that river. I worry about moving further away, what that might do to me, how how that might be a strain. Even just being here in Austin 600 miles away, it feels very far. You know, my family was middle class, I call it 80s middle class. And, you know, both my parents worked. I have two older siblings. And you know, we were all in public school and doing our thing. You know, everything seemed, you know, like The Wonder Years kind of situation. And you know, you don't when you're young, if you're fortunate, you don't see a lot of the issues around you. It wasn't until my teens, my parents split. And I was living with my mom and started to see a lot more other sides of life, some of the struggles, and just kind of notice more about the town, about the culture. But it was really when I moved back to El Paso after college, here in Austin at St. Edward's, where I studied political science and philosophy and environmental policy. When I moved back, it all started to come together how much I missed, how much I was removed from about my community and my culture in my youth. You know, so the language is the biggest example. We did not speak Spanish in my family. It was something my parents spoke to each other when they needed to talk about something that we didn't need to know about as kids. John Fiege  Right, right. Dave Cortez  You know, we didn't know about our indigeneity we weren't raised around that, we didn't know about the cultural connection to the land. I think in some way the spirit in my family drew us towards it. We would go spend time around those things, but we didn't really have conversations about it. And the biggest thing I didn't know about was how heavily polluted and contaminated the air was growing up. I tell a story about going into middle school. This time I was in in private school and Catholic school. Just being out on the playground it's a you know, concrete schoolyard kind of situation. And you run your hand on the on the railing and there's yellow chalk-like stuff and you don't think twice about it because it's like chalk. Or it's dust. Well, you know, in that part of town, downtown El Paso, it's because of the copper smelter. We had a 110 year old lead and copper smelting operation called Asarco that was less than two miles away from where I was going to school. And you know, you move on, maybe, you're a kid, maybe you wash your hands, maybe you don't. And it just, you know, when I moved back, I thought of that--I thought of all the times, I used to play in the dirt, like every other kid in El Paso does, you know, you don't got Barton Springs to go to or Greenbelt Creek, you play in the dirt, dig tunnels, and that stuff gets in you. And that's loaded with heavy metals, arsenic, cadmium, lead, you name it. It was it was a huge shock for me to learn that the land that I was around as a child, and the air that I was around as a child was just heavily contaminated. And I knew nothing about it. John Fiege  But what was the experience like when you were actually in college and getting more heavily into activism? Like what was motivating you? And how did you see yourself in relationship to other folks?Dave Cortez  Right on. Well, I can't leave out that the reason I came to Austin was because of my older brother and my older sister. I had never seen green, like this town, when I came to visit my sister in the summer. So I just was blown away, everything was green, there was water, it rained, I just felt like an oasis and I wanted to come here. So I went to St. Ed's, which ended up being, you know, expensive as hell, but really cool in the sense of, you know, an opportunity to learn, to be away from home. You know, and so, I didn't really know what to make of this town when I was here. I didn't know what to make of the people, the students, but by the grace of the Creator, in serendipity, I was thrown into a class on social movements. And that's a study in the 1960s. And so, you know, I developed a really foundational experience learning about the broader politic of American civil society, in that case, which blossomed into deeper learning around political theory and rhetoric, dating all the way back to some of the Greek philosophers, and modern day political thinkers, but I really got a ton of wild information into my head. In 2006, it wasn't here in Austin. It was on North Padre Island. The Austin Sierra Club was organizing a trip, there was a woman I liked at the time. And we were were fancying each other and were like, "Hey, let's go camping. I don't know what a crawfish is. But they're doing a crawfish boil. And they say they're going to clean up the beach." So we grabbed my SUV when we went and set up, and it was awesome to be out there around all these people we didn't know, you know, offering us free food and beer and just, you know, associating on this beach. And that, I really loved. Folks might not know this, it's like 60 plus miles of primitive Beach, outside of Corpus Christi. But I didn't quite understand what we're really doing until the next morning, right at dawn, when I was awoken by these huge sounds of tractor trailers hauling right by the water right in front of us. Just a caravan of them driving down to the other end of the beach to do gas drilling. You know, we get out of the tent, and we're watching this and I mean, you just want to, you know, throw something at those trucks, you know, and go put your body in front or something like "What the hell's going on?" And you're just watching the rubber, the plastic, you name it just fall off these trucks. And in their wake is just a mass of debris, and trash. And this is all in endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle habitat, its nest a nesting area for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle. And that's why we were there. And so, you know, right after that we all commiserated and got to work and picked up more trash than I think, you know, I've ever picked up. And I'm still shocked that that was allowed. But that's really where I started to take a turn and understand more about how the state facilitates this destruction, the destruction of the land and for the profits of few. And shortly after that I graduated, and that was it for my time in Austin.John Fiege  So after you graduated from college, you went back to El Paso, and you became an environmental justice organizer for El Paso, ACORN. And it was shortly after your time there in 2009, that right wing activists did a big hit job on ACORN and brought down the organization in the US for the most part. An ACORN was was a powerful community organizing group at its height, and it had this unique community based organizing model. Could you talk a bit about the ACORN organizing model and how it, possibly, I assume, became part of your organizing DNA?Dave Cortez  Just like learning about the 1960s is a pillar of my practice. The  work with Acorn is right there with it. You know, it shaped me, maybe it's just because it's one of the first things I learned about, but it'll be with me, as long as I do this work and have breath in my lungs. You know, some people were quick to point to that it's built out of the school of the Industrial Areas Foundation and Saul Alinsky model of community organizing, and yeah, that's true. But, you know, I didn't know any of that. I didn't, you know, I was, I was just taken in by these folks. There was a guy, recovering addict, just trying to make his money doing his canvassing while I was hanging out at a coffee shop, kind of where I was living in El Paso, the university. And there's my day off and I'm out there hanging out. There's this dude, his name was Ken. Ken let me know how they were planning to reopen the ASARCO copper smelter, the big 120 820 foot tall smokestack that I grew up around, and I was shocked. And, and that's, you know, like I studied all these things. And I was like, wow, I cannot believe that that's right there, my mom lives over here, you know, she works there, I live over here. And, you know, I told them, whatever I can do to help: get more letters, spread a petition around, whatever I can do. And they invited me in to meet the team, which was a small team. And the first task they gave me was actually nothing to do with that it was just to go distribute information about free tax prep, helping people in a really poor community, not far from where I went to middle school in which is not far from the smelter, get access to tax prep, in English and Spanish. And at the time, I had a, I had a mohawk. I covered that thing up real fast. I wore a straw cowboy hat and went door to door knocking on people's doors, let them know about this. And Jose Manuel, the the lead organizer at the time, the director saw me and, you know, was into it. And, you know, they offered me a job after a few days of that. And the job was doing the same thing, plus inviting people to come to a community meeting about the reopening of ASARCO. So here's a way that we can help you. With some, you know, with your money, basically, your your bottom line, and also, there's a situation happening, that can affect and will affect your your health and well being, and the safety of your family. At the time, I didn't realize that there was a very intentional strategy there. But that strategy is essential to the work that we do as environmentalists and in climate justice activists around the country, and here in Texas, people are struggling, and you got to find ways to help them directly with what they're struggling with day to day, which is often their pocketbooks. And so if you can do that, you're going to build some trust, you can build some relationships, and then you might be lucky to talk to them about another bigger, more complicated issue.John Fiege  That seems to be, like, a really beautiful definition of the difference between environmental justice organizing, and traditional environmental organizing, where environmental justice organizing, you have to start with the community, and make sure everybody you know, you have to deal with everything, you can't just isolate an environmental issue. Would you agree with that?Dave Cortez  Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't know where that came from. I again, I'm not a I've read all the books about these things, but that, the model that was picked up by so many organizations and NGOs is is you know, it's it's almost like counter revolutionary, it's almost counterproductive. Like you're intentionally trying to marginalize your base in silos, you know, so, so whatever we do, you know, I try to espouse that in folks, some of the work we've done around Austin and other parts of Texas, that's the route we go, talk about bills, talk about bills every time and then, you know, start to figure out what else is going on, you know. With ACORN, a major flaw in the national model was that they would want to sign people up to be bank draft members, like you, you'd push a card onto them, "Hey, send this card in with your bank info or something. And we'll sign you up, you know, so you get access to our help." And obviously, I didn't do that. And as the work evolved, and we got more people canvassing and doing the work, we didn't do that either. It went against our values. Now, if there were middle class people, people with more means, yeah, we'd asked them to do that, too.John Fiege  To contribute a certain amount each month.Dave Cortez  Yeah. But we also did things differently, in the sense of, we organized, we found, you know, folks who are highly motivated by the issues, students, artists, residents in the nearby communities who wanted to contribute, and contribute their time, That theory in the ACORN model of, you got to get people financially bought in to be committed, I think can be challenged and there's lots of ways to get people plugged in. And so, one other key here was, you know, I wasn't brand new, this work wasn't brand new. There had been people fighting ASARCO before I was involved, obviously, and it had ebbed and flowed in terms of how much community opposition from just, like, working class people was centered. There was a lot of wealthier folks, politico types, you know, people who worked for legislators or senators or city people, you know, academics, things like that. And there was a handful of working class people in a smattering of workers from plant workers. So our job was really to find more just like students and people in the impacted communities, but it had been going on for so long that people were really drained. You know, parents who, whose children had MS as a result of this or had other health problems, they eventually backed off because it was just too exhausting to go up against the machine of the Texas State Government and go testify, and struggle, and they just couldn't do it anymore. You know, so we had to find new people and inject new life. You know, we made it a point to work with some of the younger folks to start a--not really an acorn chapter--but just a group on the campus called students for reform. And those kids are amazing, a couple dozen students, Chicanos, for the most part, all going off to do awesome things in their lives. But for three, three years, four years, they they led the fight, they're on campus challenging the administration to disclose more information and trying to represent student opposition to the reopening of the smelter.John Fiege  I was looking up some articles about ASARCO. I found this this one 2010 article from John Burnett, who's a NPR correspondent based in Austin. So he talks about in 2009, the US Justice Department announced the settlement of one of the largest environmental bankruptcies in US history, in which ASARCO would pay a record $1.79 billion to settle claims for hazardous waste pollution in you know, at 80 sites, as many as 20 states, including the copper smelting operation in in El Paso. And he quotes some interesting community members like an 82 year old former maintenance worker named Miguel Beltran, who says, "you can't get a job here in El Paso compared to ASARCO, ASARCO is the best place to work. We were just like a family." And John Burnett, also quotes an anti-smelter activist named Debbie Kelly, who says, "They marketed very well. And the people of El Paso were brainwashed believed that this was the most wonderful thing El Paso could possibly have, this tall polluting contaminating smokestack." And this is this classic tension and environmental justice organizing. The big polluter in town is often the biggest and best paying employer as well, especially for folks with limited education. And these working folks often side with the company in some ways, and then at some times, kind of accepting the environmental problems for the economic opportunities. And the smokestack itself is this shining symbol of progress and prosperity that goes way back to the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. What was your experience with this tension between economic opportunity and environmental health in the organizing, and how that was represented in the media?Dave Cortez  Well, let's take a few cracks at it, because it's a big question. You know, I'll start with my family, two of my close family members worked at the plant, my dad's brother worked at the plant and then worked at Chevron on the other side of town. And then his brother in law, worked at the plant and retired. And here I was, this younger punk, you know, sort of just not super close to the family, showing up at events, and that's what I'm doing and "oh," they think, "I'm a paid protester," you know, forget my education, forget what I'm actually saying. You know, it's, it's deep cultural assimilation. It's deep colonization, sort of this Stockholm syndrome that develops out of poverty and repression. It's horrific. And it's sad to watch, you know, people fiercely defend the only thing that has helped them, in their eyes, and not be able to acknowledge the harm that's been done. It's not different from, you know, addiction in that way.  Or, or depression in that way. John Fiege  Right.  Or domestic abuse. Don't talk about it. Dave Cortez  Domestic abuse. Exactly. You know, it's heartbreaking. It still hurts me to talk about. But, you know, that was the case. And you know, in that situation, just try and make peace with your family just, you know, get through the gathering. And you go on in, you know, some of my family was very supportive, you know, like, "yeah, that stuff's bad, and we should do better." You don't get investments in the well being of a community that like say, in Austin and all this money flooding here and STEM education being invested in and, you know, pre K access and, you know, nature based education and Montessori education, things like that. All of this is part of that, that conflict that pushes you to try and find the best thing you can for your family. And any of the workers that I organized alongside say the same thing. They were so proud and happy--Daniel Adriano another sort of lead visible face against the reopening of smelter, he's a former steel worker, you know, he tells a story about like, his dad worked there, his uncle, his cousins, you know, it was just like a family thing, like everybody, if you could get a job at ASARCO, you knew you'd be okay. You could raise a family, maybe even your wife or your spouse, your partner wouldn't have to work. But, you know, behind that, that Golden Gate, there was a lot of things that people weren't being told. You know, things like, maybe you shouldn't be taking your work clothes home and washing them. Right. They sent people home to wash, and that's very common in heavy industry in the 80s 70s 80s and 90s, you know, these these companies do that. In Danny's case, his kids got sick, you know, and they developed health problems. And he points to that as part of the reason washing his clothes in the same machine with, as his kids clothes. His wife feels guilt about that. Heavy guilt. John Fiege  Yeah. That's hard. Dave Cortez  You know, it's violating. You know, they had them--that settlement came because they, well, in part because ASARCO was caught for illegally incinerating hazardous chemical weapons waste materials from Colorado, in the smelter in these men weren't told about it. And they shoveled this stuff in there and were exposed to, you know, not recycled waste, just direct waste from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wow facility, a weapons manufacturing facility, Dow Chemical weapons manufacturing facility. That stuff was burned and they were exposed. You know, it's infuriating. And once they learned that, and they were falling ill and they had some evidence, they tried to organize other workers, let them know former workers let them know what was going on. And, and they encountered the same thing that I encountered with my family: just like this, this wall of acceptance, this willful ignorance. You know, I don't know about that, you know, just like denial, denial. And that was really hard on them. They got ostracized, they lost a lot of friends. You know, and so they found allyship in other people whose families had been sick, residents on the other side of the river in the Colonias, whose children had been severely sick, who were bleeding every night because of bloody noses and heavy metal contamination. You know, they found allyship with Debbie Kelly in the current place, which is sort of a wealthier neighborhood, you know, the educated, more white affluent folks who didn't want the smelter around. And this, that's how the "Get the lead out" coalition really came together it was--you just had these different interests aligned around this lack of justice, but the worker piece was always--and the economic piece was always always, you know, the straw that would break our back. And when ASARCO hired a PR firm, Teresa Montoya, to build their campaign, their marketing campaign to reopen the smelter, that was their big thing. I want to work for ASARCO I want to work for ASARCO and they march out all these Chicanos and throw them in front of a plant in their hard hats and talk about the good jobs and the pay. You know, it's tough to compete with. I know the people in Port Arthur, in Corpus Christi, even down in Brownsville, you know, and you name it. John Fiege  It's the same story everywhere. It's the same story.Dave Cortez  In Appalachia, as well, with the coal miners. Absolutely. The amount of energy it takes to fight Goliath. You know, you never have enough you never have enough resources. You got a PR firm In, you know, this facility was owned and run ASARCO, Grupo Mexico owned by Carlos Slim, at the time the wealthiest man in the world, you know, like, you're never going to have enough just to stop the bad thing. How are you going to strategize and organize in a way where you're talking about building the good, and replacing it with something better and taking care of these people? It's doable, it absolutely is. But at the time, when you're in the sock like that, it's very hard to pivot. And it's very hard to motivate people who have resources to give you those resources to bring on people to pay them to do that work. It's a boxing match, take your hits, and wait for the time to throw a punch. You know, and I think one thing that really hurt people hurt ASARCO a lot, was when it came out that at their operations in Arizona, El Paso and elsewhere, in the 70s and 80s, they had been using health standards, health assessment screenings that were based on a false standard that black men and brown men had a 15% higher lung capacity than white men, therefore, they could be--they could work 15% longer, they could be exposed 15% more than white men. And that came out. And you know, we had some incredible, dedicated educated volunteers who were digging this information up, who were, you know, putting it to the to the news outlets. And without the news outlets putting that information out there, like the New York Times that put it out about the hazardous chemical weapons waste, you know, we wouldn't have been able to really punch back. But that stuff came out and then we could organize with it. We made materials out of it. I made sure everyone knew that, you know, this is the kind of crap that this place was built on, no matter what they say now you can't trust them. John Fiege  Right. Yeah. And this--another thing that John Burnett brought up in this NPR story is, he quotes some longtime community members who said that when the winds were blowing to the south toward Juarez in Mexico, the smelter would crank up production and send pollution directly into Mexico where they could, they could do nothing to regulate it or stop it even worse than in the US. And that's a pretty insidious and cynical route around US environmental regulations. American companies have this long history of sending their polluting factories and jobs overseas. But in El Paso, they could just send the pollution directly to Mexico while keeping the plant and the jobs in the US. Were you able to do any cross border organizing in El Paso to combat this kind of flagrant disregard for air pollution in Mexico?Dave Cortez  I wasn't able to myself, or it wasn't a choice I made to do myself on the broader scale. Marianna Chu, who worked at the time for the Sierra Club, and as an independent activist and organizer did a whole hell of a lot and deserves a ton of credit. Marianna, and others were also were able to build relationships in the Colonias and get to talk to people that were, you know, the definition of directly impacted, right on the other side of the river. You know, you drive through, you pass on I-10, and you look to the left where you're passing through downtown, and it's just colonias and that's Colonia Felipe and some students who we'd found and became acquainted with at UTEP and were filmmakers and they were able to get over into the colonias and document the lived experience of some of these folks, and it's horrific, and they made a short film, I'm happy to share called The Story of Cristo and it's a little boy, you know, who's like that, he's bleeding, bleeding every night, because he's got heavy metal contamination, two years old. You know, and that story spread. You know, it was similar to other families all throughout the Colonia. Dirt roads, just full of metal, not a lot that could be done unless there was funds provided for it. And part of that settlement in relation to the chemical weapons waste was that ASARCO would give money to an outfit in Mexico to pave those roads. You know, that's it. Accept no wrongdoing. No, no responsibility. We don't admit nothing but, here, take this and leave us alone.John Fiege  Literally, sweeping it under the rug. They're just laying asphalt over the dust.Dave Cortez  Absolutely. I mean, that's that's absolutely right. And, you know, one interesting intersection here with with the colonias there was, as we marched towards the end of 2007 and 2008. You know, we're still fighting the plant, it started to become more and more dangerous and people were less responsive, and less receptive to being interviewed on camera with our comrades, and the gangs, were starting to move in to the Colonia and control things more. And that was that it wasn't safe anymore you can, the last thing you should be doing is driving over there with a camera. And so those stories sort of drifted away, those folks. And we weren't able to really work with them a whole lot more, because the narco war was starting to take root.John Fiege  Because it's, it's how it's the same thing they do to fight you, they give your neighbor a job, and then and they get your neighbor working against you. Dave Cortez  Absolutely, I mean, you know, you're not going to go toe to toe with the same weapons, you got to find a way to find their weak spot and cut them at that weak spot. And, you know, I learned that, I learned that in this fight, you know, we weren't scared of these people. We weren't scared of their minions. We weren't scared of the, you know, the former workers who wanted the plant to open. We weren't scared of them. They tried. Everybody tried to intimidate you, you know, but I'll start with, with that part, first, as a critical strategy. My, you know, 23 year old high energy, Mohawk wearin' self, right, like, I thought I knew it all and was ready to go, just like against that jerk down on Red River Street in Austin. And, you know, the first public meeting, debate, whatever, that we helped organize, some of those, those workers were there outside and they were, you know, they pick a smaller person, a woman to argue with, and she ain't scared of them. But you know, soon enough, there's, there's four or five of them around her and oh, man, you know, machismo is something all of us from the border suffered from and that kicked in hard. You just get into it with these guys. But, you know, that is not the way, that is not the way. You know, arguing and fighting, especially with the people, even though they're trying to get you to do it. The people who want a job in these facilities, the community members who just want a better way for their life, you cannot let the people at the top pit us against each other. That's why it's so important to be anchored in community talking about the nuance, you know, how to step and where, what to look out for, and really trying to build together, it has to be at the forefront.John Fiege  Isn't that the history of American industrial capitalism, that for it to work, the, the industrialists need to pit various groups of people against one another, whether it's along lines of race, or income, or religion, or geography, or immigration status, or, or whatever. Like, that's, that's how it works. You need to divide people by those things, so they don't get together and they don't, they don't form a allegiances.Dave Cortez  That's right. That's right. I mean, it's, but it's not something that's created by the oligarchs and the industrial capitalists and the power holders. It's something that they exploit, right? It's a, it's a wound that's already there. And, you know, it's something that concerns me greatly about broader civil society, and our failures to build community, in relationship in brotherhood and sisterhood. You know, in a true spirit of mutual solidarity, the more that we neglect doing that work, the easier it is for something to divide us or someone to exploit it, we see it, there's an endless amount of examples we can point to. But if you start your work in trying to build something better, and build through a positive relationship, it's going to feed in the long run, it'll help you endure all of the struggles that are going to come the conflicts, you know, the the infighting, the personality disagreements, whatever, you got to have some foundation and I learned that from that, that night outside the UTEP Library arguing with these guys that, "No, we got to we got to find a way to work with these workers. We got to really center the fact that people need work in jobs." And and that's where, you know, I really started to become close with, not the guys I argued with, other workers who were already disaffected, Charlie Rodriguez, and Danielle Riano and Efrain Martinez and others. You know, they became, in some ways they already were but from my work, they became the center of what we're trying to do and focus on, that this is actually not what we want these, these jobs are not the kind that we need, because look what they did to me. And so that's one piece. We've got to find a way to get people more meaningfully involved with the policies we're trying to change, so there's just a far greater number of people pushing for positive investment in something that is, you know, not just like NGO staff, you know, like, the less NGO staff and those boardrooms, the better. You know, get every day, people in their meeting, pressing for these decisions, and calling for it, and that makes it much harder for the special interests to push push their own agenda.John Fiege  Well, that's a good transition to Occupy Wall Street. So in 2011, Occupy Wall Street began in New York City in Zuccotti Park. And then the movement quickly spread around the world, including to Austin. And I know you were heavily involved in Occupy Austin, and its campaign to get the city to divest from commercial banks. I participated in a couple of those occupy Austin Bank actions. And I don't think I'd met you yet. But, you know, as many people might remember, one of the big discussions and debates around Occupy was whether and how to organize and whether to make formal demands, which always makes me think of Frederick Douglass who famously said, "power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did. And it never will." But those words from Frederick Douglass, were not the guiding light of many occupy organizers and participants, I'd love to hear you talk a bit about your experience with Occupy Austin, and the internal debates and conflicts about what it was and how it should operate. And what you brought away from that whole experience that you put into your organizing work after that. Dave Cortez  Yeah, it was one of the most exciting times of my life so far, you know, to be able to three, four, sometimes five nights a week, meet up with 50 to 60 people not at a general assembly, but a working group meeting, and everybody's there ready to, you know, talk and break out and figure out the next step for getting people to close bank accounts. And, you know, organizing the rally and building the art and all those things. It was organic. I'm so happy that, I'm fortunate to have that experience in this city, and in this country. It was real, you see the romanticized version of uprisings in film, in writing, and on the news, different ways around the world. But, you know, this was that, at least the closest I've been to it, and it wasn't just the, you know, the sign holding, and, you know, petition gathering, we did all that. But it was, I mean, like people were, people were in, you know, the sacrifice time away from whatever they had going on around them to contribute to something better, and I have never seen an appetite, so large for participating and contributing to something that can change the world. I've seen it tried to be engineered a whole lot by NGOs. And it's laughable. It's insulting, you know, but for me at the time, it was it was like a dream come true. I remember a week before occupy launch, there was a meeting happening at Ruta Maya, and the room was full of people, and, you know, a bunch of white dudes, hippie yoga types on stage, you know, talking about some stuff, but I'm up there front row, just, you know, like, eager. And just like listening, I'm like, "This is great," you know, so they open the mic for everybody to come up and have something to say. And it was awesome. I'd just never seen it. You know, I was like, "wow, this is the Austin I always wanted to see," you know. Sure enough there was a meeting after that the next day, and the next day after that. And that kind of continued on for a few days. And then and then there was the day of the launch and lots of people packing City Hall. I mean, you couldn't move there were so many people out there and there were people talking for hours. Everybody was just willing to stay. And you know, I can't, I just can't believe how patient people were for weeks. And just like hanging out. You know, I think they just wanted something different. And they wanted to be part of something, like I said, Now, me, day one. I'm like, "yo, if we're gonna be out here, we need some data." And I got my clipboard. And my dear friend and former partner Betsy had been working for a group that was doing foreclosure organizing and getting people to move their bank accounts or close their bank accounts. And so, you know, I got some, some materials from her and took up like six clipboards, to the to the rally. And that was my whole shtick was just like, "Hey, y'all, we should close our corporate bank accounts," and people loved it. You know, it was like, "hey, here goes, put your name down, if you want to help out," and I mean, I filled up pages and pages of this thing, people who wanted to help out or close their bank accounts. And from that, you know, like, you'd find more people that were like, "Hey, I used, you know, I can help with that. And I used to work at a bank," or, you know, "I've got some time on my hands," you know. And so we, it was rad, because while all the noise was happening, the day to day that people were more familiar with Occupy Wall Street. You know, the the General Assemblies, the infighting, the conflicts with the unhoused folks and things like that, we had this parallel track of our bank action crew, which was doing, building switch kits, and, you know, trying to reach out to people to, you know, help walk them through how to close their bank accounts and stuff like that, or organize marches on the bank, so people could go in and come out and cut their credit cards, so we could all celebrate, you know, like, that was, that was great. That's classic organizing. I, you know, if you weren't down in City Hall, every day for that first month, you're missing out on something, you know, I don't think people appreciate enough how much work people invested into trying to maintain a space, like, maintaining a physical encampment is, you know, the people with the most knowledge on how to operate a small, little civil society is the people have been doing it before, which is our unhoused folks, you know. And there was a huge class conflict, that really emerged quickly, that the police and the city manager and others began to exploit, you know, by trying to bring more unhoused folks down to City Hall, allowing some to sell and distribute drugs, not enforcing any oversight, you know, we had women attacked, you know, and attempted assaults and things like that, that they were just looking the other way on. Because they wanted this to go away. And it was up to us to figure out how to manage that. And that really became the core of the non-bank action, kind of conversations. You know, everybody wanted to do solidarity with everything else. But it was really about, like, how do we keep this thing going? And how do we maintain our presence here? You know, do you negotiate with the city? Who negotiates? Who's responsible? Do we just say, you know, F-U, we're not going to talk to you all, you know, but like, through all that, like, some amazing friendships were developed, and I mean, like bonds, true, real friendships, and people may not be super close anymore, but all it would take is a phone call or text to bring people back together. You know, it's something I'll just value for the rest of my life.John Fiege  Yeah, totally. And in 2015, The Austin Chronicle named you the best environmental activist in Austin for your work as, "The heart and soul of Sierra Club's 'Beyond Coal' campaign in Central Texas." And I know you've done all kinds of work with the Sierra Club. But I wondered if you could talk about what the fight has been like to transition from dirty energy to clean energy in Texas, which, of course is the oil capital of the country. And looking over the years you've been doing this work, what stands out? What have you learned from this massive campaign?Dave Cortez  Like you said, it's Texas, we're the number one carbon emitter in the country, and a huge one in the world and the United States cannot meet the modest two week goals in the Paris Accords unless Texas gets its act together, you know, and we got some real problems here, not just from fossil fuel pollution, but from industrial and toxic pollution and just from our livelihoods, you know, there's another story out yesterday, you know, are we going to have power next week, because we're going to hit hit the peak of the summer. You know, it's hard to think about the fight for clean energy in Texas without thinking about the power of the fossil fuel and industrial industries. There's there's been a battle since 2000 and 2005 to stop new power plants and advocate for clean energy. The fuel type changes and you know, back then it was coal and then it is gas and and now, it's like, oh my god, we just don't have enough power. Now, how do we get it? But it's still the, you know, trade associations, the Association of Electric Companies in Texas, you know, Oncor, which is an electric distributor company, NRG, you go down the line, Energy Transfer Partners, all of these fossil fuel corporations, making billions and billions of dollars, still call the shots, they still influence, and basically direct, decision makers on what is going to be acceptable in terms of, even, discussion. You can't even get a hearing in the state legislature on flaring reduction, which is a very modest thing. Because they have enough influence to make sure that that conversation is not even going to happen. And their members, like Energy Transfer Partners, and others are some of the biggest donors to politicians in the state. So, you know, why shouldn't we listen to those people? Kelsy Warren, Dakota Access Pipeline CEO, behind Energy Transfer Partners, gave a million dollars, his largest donation ever to Governor Abbott, right immediately after the legislative session. And this is after his company made well over a billion dollars, I think it's closer to $2 billion, coming out of the winter storm, Energy Transfer Partners. While people died, these people decided it would make better financial sense and profit sense to go ahead and withhold supplies of gas to power plants and gas utilities, and let the price go up before they would deliver that gas and therefore make a ton of money. Forget that more than you know, some say 200, some say 700 people died, many of them freezing to death, many of them carbon monoxide poisoning during the storm, forget that. It's all about the money. And that's the biggest takeaway here, just like we would be fighting Carlos Slim, and ASARCO and other folks, you got to look at what the interest is, you know, why are people supporting this? Why are they facilitating this? I know, it's easy to just say, well, we just got to vote these people out. Well, you know, we've got to come up with strategies that will allow us to do that. We've got to come up with strategies that will make it so, in this state that's so heavily corrupt and captured by corporate interests, fossil fuel interests, industrial interests, that we're going to find a way to cut into their enabling electorate. Their enabling base. And it's more than just a voter registration strategy. It's more than just a mobilization strategy, or getting people to sign a petition, it gets back to what we started talking about with ACORN. What is their base? Where are they? What are their interests? And where does it make sense to try and make some inroads, and cut away? And unfortunately, we just don't have enough of that happening in Texas. There's an effort to try to build coalitions with, you know, some social justice and some youth focused organizations. But we're all part of that same progressive "groupthink" or Democratic base, that we're not actually doing much to expand, other than registering some new voters. And there's a lot of unpacking that needs to happen. You know, can we go talk to some steel workers or some people on the Texas-Mexico border, who started to vote more for Republicans and Trump, because they were worried about the Green New Deal? They're worried about losing their oil jobs. Why, I mean, like, to this day, we haven't made that pivot collectively as a movement, and it's hella frustrating.John Fiege  Yeah, it gets back to what we were talking about earlier with, you know, kind of the DNA of environmental justice orientation to this work, the work has to be intersectional if you want to transition Texas, the oil capital of the world, to to non-fossil fuel based energy, you know, you need to deal with, with voting rights, you need to deal with the bad education system, you need to deal with healthcare issues, you need to deal with police brutality, and you know, it's like it's all connected. To think that we can remove this issue of decarbonizing our energy source from all of that other, you know, what some people see as messy stuff is delusional, it just doesn't doesn't work, doesn't make sense. Especially, and it's so obvious in places like Texas, where, you know, what are they doing? They're just trying to, they're trying to suppress the vote, like, they know what the deal is, you know, they're they're losing numbers. They need to disenfranchise more voters in order to maintain this system. Dave Cortez  You know, there's an important caveat and distinction for environmentalists, environmental justice folks, or whatever. You know, if you talk to John Beard with Port Arthur Community Action Network, you know, he's a former steel worker. His whole pitch in Port Arthur is about youth engagement jobs, investing in the community. He's willing to talk to the companies, things like that. It's not environmental-first type of thinking. But the enviros, and you'll see this any legislative session, if you pay attention, we are on the far losing side of the losers. Okay, the Democrats being the losers, you know, Democrats in Texas carry House Bill 40, which is the ban on fracking bans. You know, Mrs. T, Senator Senfronia Thompson out of Houston, she authored that bill, Black Democrat, you know, revered for her work on voting rights and reproductive justice. You know, enviros, we are way, way out of the mix. And so even if we got those organizations doing the work you're talking about, to speak about climate change, speak about the grid, you know, pollution, things like that, we'd still be part of that losing side. And I'm not saying we need to need to be building out into red country, or rural country. It's a critique of the broader progressive movement that we aren't doing enough to find people, the greater majority of people that don't participate in our process, in politics, in voting, except in presidential elections. We are not doing enough to reach people who are just going about their lives and do not give a s**t about the things that we post online about our petitions or positions, or our op-eds, or whatever. That is where the fight is, we've got to draw more people in while the right wing tries to keep more people out. That's our only pathway. And so--John Fiege  What does a just transition mean to you?Dave Cortez  It's what we've been talking about, it's a whole shift in, you know, the operating system of a of a community, whether it's a town of 50,000 people or a state of, you know, 25 million. Just transition means that we're taking into full consideration, our triple bottom line, you know, our health, and shelter, and food, you know, our economics, our jobs, and ability to put, you know, bring income and get the things that we need. And, you know, just the land and our ecology. Just transition has to anchor that we are--that those things are connected, and that they're not--they can't be separated, that in order for our families, and our children and our neighbors and all that, to have a future and have a livelihood, we need to be concerned about our air quality, concerned about our water quality, but also about the quality of their education, the access to healthy food and grocery stores. If you were to talk to people and ask them to envision what, you know, their dream society looks like, which is a hard thing for people to do nowadays. You know, you'll hear some of these things and just transition is the process that we take to get there. It's not about you know, getting a worker from a fossil fuel job into a clean energy job.John Fiege  Well, and speaking of that, you know, in addition to your beyond coal and just transition work, you've done a lot of work with low income communities of color in Austin around a whole assortment of things: illegal dumping, access to green space, community solar and solar equity, green gentrification among among a bunch of other stuff. Can you talk about gentrification and how Austin has changed in the time you've been there and the tension that's emerged about Austin becoming one of the greenest but also increasingly one of the least affordable cities in the country? Dave Cortez  Yeah it's tough. People in Austin are largely still here to just party, have fun, make money. You know, they're really eager to do what they moved here for, you know, go do the cool thing and the restaurant, and the corporate soccer game and whatnot, you know, fine, whatever, I'm not trying to harp on people who want to have a good time, the problem is that there's no thread of the greater good of civil society, of trying to care for those in town that struggle and have the least. That doesn't exist here. It's just, it has lessened every year, it might be new people moving here might be more money here, and people being displaced. But you know, for the most part, with gentrification, the white wealthy middle class here is strong, you know, median family income is close to $90,000, you know, qualifying for affordable housing, you can make a ton of money and still qualify for affordable housing. And the people that move in, my brother calls them the new pilgrims. They're not super interested in learning what was there before, they're interested in what's around them now, and what might come in the future. And we do have a responsibility to make sure that we not just offer up but press on people at the doors, at community events, you know, cool, fun, s**t, barbecues and things like that, to learn what was there before they came, you know, sort of an onboarding into the neighborhood. And we did some of this in Montoplis, my old neighborhood that I lived in before I moved to South Austin, you know, people who I was like, "man, they're never going to help us," they're just, you know, part of that new white, middle class "new pilgrim." When I learned the history of the community, and the issues that were going on, I said, "Hell, yeah, whatever I can do," from, you know, cooking funding, speaking, writing letters, coming to meetings, you name it, you know, but we had to keep on 'em. And we had to give them a meaningful task. There is a lot of power, gentrification sucks. But I've really tried to work with myself on not being--automatically hating folks for just trying to move in into a home. But you do have to challenge folks on how they behave after they've moved in, you know, in Austin with our urban farming and desire for new urbanism and density and things like that, the culture of I know what's best is so thick, and it's really hard to stay patient. But I try to, even when I get mad and angry and frustrated, I try to remind people of what's called the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, and the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond's Principles of Anti-Racism, encourage them to read them, and to do everything they can to just shut the F up, and go listen to the people that they're talking about in affected communities. And get a sense of where you might be able to build some common ground.John Fiege  I actually wanted to spend a minute on that because, you know, you started, or you were one of the organizers, who started environmental justice group in Austin years ago, and I went to a bunch of the meetings. And I feel like that's where, you know, we got to start hanging out a bunch for the first time. But you would always start the meetings with the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing. And, you know, those came out of this meeting hosted by the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice and Jemez, New Mexico back in the 90s. Can you talk more specifically about the principles and why they're important to the work you're doing?Dave Cortez  So when you're thinking about undoing racism, or being an antiracist or antiracism work, you know, you're acknowledging that you're confronting a built system, something that's built under a false construct, race, you know, and when you're going to combat that, there's, you know, there's a lot of issues to it or whatever, but the Jemez principles will help you see, how do you approach people and talk about it? You know, for example, listen, let people speak is one of the principles, you know, listen to the people on the ground. Don't barge in there don't don't come in with your your petition and your fancy stuff and, or be online and be a dick. You know, go try to introduce yourself and get to know people. You know, ask questions. That's okay. You know, people were very generous for the most part, whether they're Black or Brown or or Native or Asian, or you name it, you know? If you're able to ask questions and listen about an issue, people will likely talk, you know. Trying to work in solidarity and mutuality is another big one for me, you know, it's not just about like, "I'm here to help you," versus, "I'm here because our struggles are connected and intertwined. And for me and my family to be successful and get what we need, it depends on your family, and your people being successful and getting what you need. How can we work together to make sure that we everything we do reinforces that and that we lift each other up?" A lot of things that we see is very transactional in the advocacy and activism world, you know, sign this, and then we'll go do that for you, or will tell the person to do the thing and change? It's not so much how can what can we do to help you directly, like we talked about bills and taxes and things like that. But also, we have to know that, what is it we're gonna get out of it, it's not just this potential policy outcome. There's tremendous value in human relationships. And in culture and community building, you're going to learn about the people in your community, you're going to learn about the history, you're going to learn, you know, and make new friends and maybe some recipes, maybe, you know, some new music or something. It's limitless. You know, humans have tremendous potential in beauty. But we we rob ourselves of that by, you know, retreating into our silos in our, in our four walls. You know, Jemez can give something--these are short, short, little principles that can give people something to read and reflect on, they can be kind of abstract and theory based, but when you're advocating for change, and then you look at these and you ask yourself, "sm I doing this?" There's tremendous potential for learning, and changing how we do our work.John Fiege  And the Sierra Club is one of the oldest large-scale environmental groups in the world. And it's traditionally been a white organization. Its founder John Muir made racist remarks about Black and Indigenous people, and in 2020, the Sierra Club officially apologized for those remarks and the white supremacist roots of the organization. In Texas, with your work and your presence, I feel like you've really helped the Sierra Club evolve there, where you are, and you th

Nate is joined on this episode by Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu for a discussion on the challenges faced when protecting civil liberties in Canada, as well as a wider conversation on areas of common ground and disagreement. Marilyn represents the riding of Sarnia—Lambton. She is a professional engineer by trade, who worked for Dow Chemical for 21 years in a variety of roles locally and globally. Her work in the house has ranged from work to ensure greater access to palliative care, better pension protections and her current role as opposition critic for civil liberties. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uncommons.ca

Michael Alder is the owner and Senior Trial Attorney at AlderLaw, a leading Los Angeles firm that represents plaintiffs in personal injury and employment litigation cases. He is known as one of the top trial attorneys in California, an advocate for underdog clients, and a generous supporter of fellow trial attorneys, charitable causes, and community giving. Mr. Alder vigorously pursues all cases on behalf of his clients who have suffered injustices and takes pride in being personally involved in every case his firm takes on. Along with his team of lawyers and staff, he consistently breaks records and earns the praise of the press with significant settlements and impressive verdicts including the City of Modesto v Dow Chemical $60 million total verdict. To date, his firm has recovered over $2.1 billion in verdicts and settlements for his clients.Connect with Mike:Website: https://alderlaw.com/Social MediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alderlaw/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlderLaw/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlderTalkCheck out our spring website promotion here: https://lbms.us/product/proweb-legal/General Info: Need help with your law firm's digital marketing? Check out these case studies of some killer results we have gotten for law firms just like yours.Click here to review the case studies: https://lbmsllc.com/lp-attorneys/Click here for a free online presence report and marketing analysis. Connect With Us On Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lbmsllcInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbmsllc/Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbmsllcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/local-business-marketing-solutionsAlignable: https://www.alignable.com/fanwood-nj/local-business-marketing-solutionsConnect With Frank Directly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdemming/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lbmsllc

While much of the focus on inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community happens during Pride Month in June, it's important to recognize and bring attention to the issues impacting the community throughout the year. It's our responsibility to not only be better individually but force those around us to challenge their own biases to become more inclusive as well.  On this episode of Dimensions of Diversity, host Lloyd Freeman sits down with a handful of practitioners in the world of LGBTQ+ inclusion to talk about the paths they took and the roads they're forging ahead in this area at their respective organizations. This program was hosted by Buchanan's P.R.I.D.E. Affinity Group, the affinity group supporting our employees who identify as LGBTQ+ and their allies.  Episode guests include Nicholas Bell, Counsel, Labor & Employment at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney; Brad Bidwell Senior Strategic Digital, Trademark, and Copyright Counsel at Dow Chemical; Maria Running Fisher Jones, Senior Legal Counsel, Manager at Google; and Russell King Senior Counsel, Commercial Litigation at McDonalds. The panel of experts provides valuable insights and actionable recommendations for establishing an inclusive and welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ employees.  To learn more about Buchanan's Affinity Groups, please click here: https://www.bipc.com/affinity-groups.   Dimensions of Diversity is a podcast created by Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, highlighting diversity in the workplace. Hosted by Lloyd Freeman, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, the podcast features meaningful conversations with industry and community leaders working to advance D&I. 

Watch Alix and Paul LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Featuring: Dow CEO Jim Fitterling  Ira Jersey, Bloomberg Intelligence Chief US Interest Rate Strategist joins to discuss his latest Fed commentary, preview Fed day.  Phil Orlando, Chief Equity Strategist with Federates Hermes on the markets    Madison Muller, Bloomberg News health reporter, on how Oprah became weight-loss drugs unoffcial spokeswoman  Hosted by Paul Sweeney and Molly SmithSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Reid is a corporate training designer, facilitator, and business owner who understands adult learning happens when you engage with people's belief systems. His career centers around the idea that traditional ways of teaching are ineffective because they focus on the idea rather than the learner. Even if your idea is worth sharing, the sharing isn't worth it if people can't learn. As a fourtime cancer survivor, John has focused all his energy on his passion – creating ways to engage and get adults to learn by fostering a learning mindset wherever he goes. John worked for both global (Dow Chemical, Elf Atochem) and smaller (LCP Chemicals) firms. Within the learning and development industry he has built a reputation for providing client focused solutions, achieving recognition and awards for his sales performance. He has engaged in providing an outsource solution for an existing training department; creating and implementing a learning strategy for a major pharmaceutical company, as well as designing and delivering a value selling program for a global industrial sales organization. Key client engagements that John has led include EY, DSM, SCA North America, Fox Entertainment Group and Proampac. He most recently released his first book “Moving from Models to Mindsets,” which is on Amazon. Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience/ Website: https://jondwoskin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/ Email: jon@jondwoskin.com Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big! Connect with John Reid: Website: www.jmreidgroup.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmreidgroup LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/jmreid-group/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jmreidgroup/   *E – explicit language may be used in this podcast.

Patti Temple Rocks has had a long, successful, and immensely rewarding career in marketing and communications and still she is not done. Her work and her articles and books have been written about in major publications such as Fast Company, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal. Inc.Patti started her career at Dow Chemical in 1981. It was not until many years later that she became obsessed with making sure that age inclusivity is on every company's D,E&I agenda and that everyone gets to end their career when and how they want to – not when ageist stereotypes say they should. Author of I'm Not Done: It's Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace, she wrote a second edition of the book called, I'm STILL Not Done because she is not, and ageism unfortunately, is still widespread.Every workforce should mirror the population at large.- Patti Temple RocksConnect with Patti:Website: https://www.pattitemplerocks.com/Book: https://www.pattitemplerocks.com/im-still-not-doneLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattitemplerocks/Email: Patti@PattiTempleRocks.com

Season 4 of Electrify This!  kicks off the new year to unpack a big question: “What's really needed to cut U.S. emissions faster this decade?” Guests Ed Rightor and Sue Tierney are co-authors of a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine titled Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions, which evaluates how we can successfully implement current decarbonization policies and what else is  needed to reach U.S. emission targets in 2030. Tune in to learn more about the critical role that electrification will play in achieving these goals and what policymakers should consider in the transition to an equitable, climate safe future.  Guest Bios Ed Rightor is the Principal of Rightor Consulting. As an independent consultant, Ed supports his clients in the areas of industrial decarbonization, identification of unmet market needs, and sustainability.  Previously, he served as the Director of the Center for Clean Energy Innovation at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Director of the Industrial Program for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).  Ed also held several leadership roles at Dow Chemical during his 31-year career. He earned a PhD in chemistry from Michigan State University and a BS in chemistry from Marietta College. Susan Tierney is a Senior Advisor at Analysis Group and an expert on energy and environmental economics, regulation, and policy, particularly in the electric and gas industries. She has consulted to businesses, federal and state governments, regional grid operators, tribes, environmental groups, foundations, and other organizations on energy markets, economic and environmental regulation and strategy, and energy projects.  She has testified before Congress, state and federal regulatory agencies, and federal and state courts.  Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Secretary of Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts, a Commissioner at the MA Department of Public Utilities, Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and Executive Director of the Energy Facilities Siting Council. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in regional planning at Cornell University. To dig in deeper, check out these must-read resources: Analysis GroupRightor Consulting National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (Report) – Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Innovation Amplifiers: Getting More Bang for the Buck on GHG Reductions (Information Technology & Innovation Fund) ** We want to hear from you! Please take our brief survey and give us your ideas, thoughts, and suggestions for the podcast! Be a part of shaping this show.  **Contact us at electrifythis@energyinnovation.org. 

On this week's podcast, Jackie and Peter review the final takeaways from COP28. Next, they discuss the key energy themes that shaped the past year.  The 2023 top themes include:1)  Artificial intelligence (AI) becomes mainstream2)  Investors now understand the clean energy interest rate nexus3)  2023 will be the hottest year on record 4)  Affordability issues slow the uptake of clean energy technologies5)  Policy-driven energy transition led by the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)6)  Oil and gas markets shrug off geopolitical risk7)  Big year for Canadian policy development – some opportunity and some frustration8)  Canada has two CCS wins in 2023 – Air Liquide Net Zero Hydrogen/Imperial Renewable Fuels and Dow Chemical's Zero Emissions Ethylene Cracker9)  IEA appears to switch into climate advocacy mode  Content referenced in this podcast:  · December 13, 2023 UN COP28 Global Stocktake· December 6, 2023 CNN “2023 will officially be the hottest year on record, scientists report” · December 15, 2023 The Hill “NOAA: Almost 100 percent chance 2023 will be the hottest year recorded” Please review our disclaimer at: https://www.arcenergyinstitute.com/disclaimer/Check us out on social media:X (Twitter): @arcenergyinst LinkedIn: @ARC Energy Research InstituteSubscribe to ARC Energy Ideas PodcastApple Podcasts Google Podcasts Amazon Music Spotify

Johanna Söderström, EVP & Chief People Officer at Tyson Foods, joined us on The Modern People Leader.   We talked about how she's gotten a better understanding of the EX across Tyson's 140k employees, how they've trained up the executive team on digitalization and building a learning organization, and how her non HR experience has shaped her approach as an HR leader. ---- This episode was brought to you by Pyn. Get access to their FREE Employee Journey Designer here. ---- (3:33) Good news stories (9:45) Johanna's story: Born in Helsinki —> having “Sisu” —> handball champion —> Ericsson —> finance & marketing experience —> pivot to HR —> moving to Germany for Dow Chemical —> using the internet for recruiting —> Today (22:20) 90k of Tyson Food's 140k employees are frontline employees (24:45) Why we should be jealous she gets to work at Tyson Foods (27:31) Understanding the different cohorts of employees that work at Tyson  (31:08) Running Tyson Food's first ever engagement survey (35:05) More firsts at Tyson Foods (38:38) Johanna loves to create, build, & transform (40:20) The momentum that has built since beginning their transformation (43:00) HR needs to be hungrier for new skills (49:17) Her thoughts on what's to come with AI (51:13) Tyson brought in an external expert to train the executive team on Digitalization and becoming a Learning Organization (54:13) How her non HR experience has helped shape her approach as an HR leader (58:00) Where future people leaders should be investing time to develop themselves (1:01:37) The level of stress in society (1:04:24) Rapid Fire Questions ----

Happy Thursday, Besties and Happy Almost Thanksgiving!! Life has been a little crazy these last few weeks and we have officially started the holiday pre-recording process, so we found it very important that we have a thorough catch up session and confess what we are the CEOs of this week! Head over to our instagram (@creepsandcrimespodcast) to make your CEO confessions for the week before we get creepy with you!Morgan starts us off with the terrifying "conspiracy theory turned true" case of the Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia. After an athlete's foot breakout shook the prison, officials went searching for help to treat the outbreak and got into contact with Dr. Albert Kligman, a University of Pennsylvania professor of dermatology and the man credited with co-inventing Retin-A. No one knew what horrors would follow, when a simple "partnership" with the doctor turned the prison into a full blown experiment with the "acres of skin" he saw there. Of course he couldn't have done this alone, so Johnson & Johnson, Dow Chemicals, and the US Department of Defense had to join in on the "fun" (what's up Geneva?). Even after years of these horrific experiments coming to light, no one has been truly held accountable. Taylar then covers the case of "D.B. Tuber" or the 2008 Monroe, WA Bank of America Heist that shook this small and safe town to its core. Though this is a solved case, it is one of the most interesting and wild investigations of all time! Every single detail of this crime was thought out and deliberately executed in the most "perfect crime" sort of way, however these masterminds did not account for the superpowers of Allen Dean, a local unhoused man that changed the lives of so many!! Love you guys so much! Tune in next week for a special Thanksgiving Episode with our favorite sinister besties of all time! TTYL!!This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.New customers get $5 off a Lume Starter Pack with code Creepsandcrimes at Lumedeodorant.comVisit FactorMeals.com/creepsandcrimes50 and use code creepsandcrimes50 to get 50% off.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A legnagyobb felfedezésekhez a tudós kíváncsiságán át vezet az út. - ezt vallotta Oláh György professzor, aki a kémiai reakciókban semlegesnek tartott metán aktivizálásával forradalmasította a kémiát. Ez az ő esetében egészen a Nobel-díjig vezetett. A Budapesten 1927-ben született Oláh András György középiskolai tanulmányait a Piaristáknál végezte, és bár a szépirodalom volt a kedvence, mégis a Budapesti Műszaki Egyetemen kémia szakra jelentkezett, ami bevallottan nem különös elhivatottságból származott, de kiváló tanára, a magyar vegyipar megteremtésében is fontos szerepet játszó Zemplén Géza hatására nagyon megszerette ezt a tudományterületet, és 1949-ben a doktori cím megszerzése után az egyetemen maradt kutatni és tanítani. A háborút követő években a kutatóknak ugyan sok nehézséget okozott a kémiai alapanyagok hiánya, de Oláh Györgyöt ez nem kedvetlenítette el, ugyanis rendkívüli leleményességgel hozta létre a kísérletekhez szükséges anyagokat. Kiváló publikációi is hozzájárultak, hogy 1954-ben, amikor a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia megalakította a Központi Kémiai Kutatóintézetet, igen fiatalon kinevezték az intézet társigazgatójának. Azonban az 1956-os forradalom leverése után családjával elhagyta az országot, először Londonba, majd onnan Kanadába ment, ahol az egyik legnagyobb vegyi üzem, a Dow Chemicals alkalmazta. 1965-ben úgy alakult az élete, hogy átköltözött az Egyesült Államokba, ahol először Clevelandben tanított a Case Western Reserve Egyetemen, aztán 1971-ben már a Dél-kaliforniai Egyetem professzora volt, emellett tudományos igazgatói kinevezést is kapott a Los Angelesben működő Loker Szénhidrogén-kutató Intézetben. Pályája ugyancsak fontos állomása volt, amikor 1991-ben az intézet igazgatója lett. Oláh professzor végig kapcsolatot tartott magyarországi kutatókkal, és a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia 1990-ben tiszteleti tagjává választotta. Kaliforniában 2017. márciusban bekövetkező halála után végakarata szerint Budapesten, a Fiumei úti sírkertben helyezték örök nyugalomba. 2006-ban, magyarországi látogatása alkalmával szívesen jött el beszélgetni Friderikusz Sándor műsorába. Hogyan támogathatja a munkánkat? Legyen a patronálónk, és a támogatása mértékétől függően egyre több előnyhöz juthat:https://www.patreon.com/FriderikuszPodcast Egyszeri vagy rendszeres banki átutalással is segíthet. Ehhez a legfontosabb adatok:Név: TV PicturesSzámlaszám: OTP Bank 11707062-21446081Közlemény: Podcast-támogatás Ha külföldről utalna, nemzetközi számlaszámunk (IBAN - International Bank Account Number): HU68 1170 7062 2144 6081 0000 0000BIC/SWIFT-kód: OTPVHUHB Akármilyen formában támogatja munkánkat, köszönjük! Kövessenek, kövessetek itt is:youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FriderikuszPodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriderikuszPodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/friderikuszpodcastAnchor: https://anchor.fm/friderikuszpodcast Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3blRo2gGoogle Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fc7A7tApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3hm2vfiDeezer: https://www.deezer.com/hu/show/1000256535 #FriderikuszPodcast

Zoe Imansjah joins Jenny and Jason at the Adult Table. Zoe currently is a production engineer at Dow Chemical, an admin for the Facebook group Subtle Asian Traits, Programming Co-Manager for SASE National Convention, the list goes on! She tells us how she is navigating her rotational program, what it's like moving to different parts of the country, how to become friends with coworkers by talking about sports and SOUP. She also shares her stories about SAT (Subtle Asian Traits), being able to be on a golden carpet and meeting celebrities within the community! Be sure to watch the video version of the podcast to take a sneak peek at her meme binder :)

José Manuel es CEO de la empresa de distribución farmacéutica NADRO. Antes de este rol, José Manuel ocupó roles internacionales como CEO de Grupo Industrial Saltillo, Director General de Tyson Foods México y diversas posiciones durante su carrera de 25 años en Dow Chemical.Por favor ayúdame y sigue Cracks Podcast en YouTube aquí."Ama a tu prójimo, ama a tu pareja, ama  a tus colaboradores, sé un poco más grato y amable con los demás."- José Manuel Arana  Comparte esta frase en TwitterEste episodio es presentado por Salesforce, el CRM #1 en el mundo y la plataforma líder en impulsar el crecimiento de empresas de cualquier tamaño y por Dumo Labs los nootrópicos que te ayudan a concentrarte más y dormir mejor. Puedes encontrarlos en dumolabs.com.Hoy José Manuel y yo hablamos de liderar equipos de alto desempeño, de equilibrio entre vida personal y profesional, de cómo trabajar con millenials y del rol del desarrollo personal en el management moderno.Qué puedes aprender hoyCómo integrar a las nuevas generaciones a un equipoVentajas de "management by walking around".Cómo comunicar efectivamente tu estrategia*Este episodio es presentado por Salesforce, el CRM #1 en el mundo y la plataforma líder en impulsar el crecimiento de empresas de cualquier tamaño.Al integrar los datos de su CRM con Inteligencia Artificial, Salesforce permite que empresas de cualquier tamaño puedan visualizar patrones, encontrar oportunidades de negocio, hacer predicciones y tomar decisiones sobre sus negocios de manera segura y acertada.Salesforce te da visibilidad en todas las actividades de tu equipo de ventas para mejorar tu estrategia comercial, implementar los métodos de pago preferidos por tus clientes y automatizar la gestión de tus leads para detonar tu crecimiento.Salesforce quiere verte crecer y, para que lo hagas, por escuchar Cracks Podcast, puedes experimentar la plataforma de Salesforce gratis por 30 en cracks.la/salesforcegratis.*Este episodio es presentado por DUMO.DUMO son suplementos 100% naturales que mejoran tu memoria, función cognitiva y habilidad de conseguir un sueño profundo y reparador.FOCUS BOOST y DELTA NIGHT tienen formulas diseñadas para ayudarte a HACER MAS y darte esa ventaja competitiva que buscas y lo mejor, sin generar dependencia.Si quieres mejorar tu desempeño prueba Focus Boost y Delta Night en www.dumolabs.com.*Notas Ve el episodio en Youtube

Welcome to the Fore Golfers Network/Michigan Golf Live Podcast Ep 399 - Meet Kimberly Dinh - US Women's Mid Am Champion No amateur golfer in the nation has been on a roll quite like Kimberly Dinh, winner of the 2023 US Women's Mid Am (press release below). The remarkable story of Dinh - a research scientist for Dow - is one you don't want to miss.  To help color in the story even more, we're also joined by her teacher, PGA Pro Kyle Martin The Fortress GC in Frankenmuth, MI. ---------------- Subscribe to the FGN Podcast Watch FGN videos on YouTube Check out our other sports pod: Church Pew Sports TEXT or CALL (989) 272-2383 to share your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions     ------------ NATIONAL CHAMPION: Midland's Kimberly Dinh Wins U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur     ELVERSON, Pa. – Midland's Kimberly Dinh rallied from a 3-down deficit by winning six of the final seven holes to claim the 36th U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship Thursday.    The 31-year-old associate research scientist at DOW Chemical and GAM Women's Player of the Year the last two years, beat Kelsey Chugg of Salt Lake City, Utah, the 2017 champion, 2-up in the title match on the North Course at Stonewall.    "In college, I never really played in any USGA events, mostly because by the time the summer came around, I was burned out and I didn't want to travel,” she said. “So having an opportunity to compete in a USGA championship after grad school, after college, has been awesome, and to win it, just incredible.”    Dinh, who trailed in the match from the fifth hole through the 13th, tied the match by winning 12 and 13 with pars and 14 with a birdie. She lost hole 15 with a bogey, then won 16 with a bogey to tie the match again when Chugg made double-bogey.    Dinh then took the lead for the first time at 17 with a conceded birdie-2 on the par 3, and then birdied the final hole with a nine-foot putt to secure the 2-up victory.    “To lose a couple holes pretty quickly was a little bit frustrating, but I just kind of dug deep and never really panicked,” said Dinh. “Kelsey was playing great golf, but both of us were going to make mistakes at some point, so I just kind of had to weather that and keep playing. I said to myself, ‘I'll keep putting one good swing on the ball after another and see where it takes me.'”    Dinh, who hired Stonewall caddie Mark Dalton for the week, was the 16 seed, and Chugg the 14 seed after stroke play qualifying. Chugg, 32 and a five-time Utah Women's State Amateur champion, was in the final match of the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur for the third time, and Dinh for the first time in three appearances at the championship. Dinh had reached the round of 16 and the quarterfinals in her first two trips to the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur.    A former University of Wisconsin golfer, the 2021 Michigan Women's Amateur champion and a two-time GAM Women's Mid-Amateur champion, Dinh said she has learned from her previous golf experiences how to handle being behind.   “I have learned something every time I've gotten to match play, just every time I've played it, I've gotten more comfortable with it,” she said. “I've learned that even if you get down to not panic. I've been in pressure situations and have gotten used to it. I used to struggle with it, but this year I've played with the attitude that I need to enjoy every moment. Like I said, keep hitting the ball and see where it takes me.”    Dinh's emotions bubbled to the surface when she was asked about her family and friends in the gallery, including an aunt who had departed for Indianapolis only to turn around and return as her niece advanced through to the final match.    “I really enjoy them being out following me,” she said. “They have been supportive of me through my entire golf journey.”     For the victory Dinh received the traditional USGA gold medal, custody of the Mildred Gardineer Prunaret Trophy for the next year, exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championships, exemptions into the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur Championships and an exemption into the 2024 U.S. Women's Open Championship. Dinh said Wednesday that the U.S. Women's Open was a bucket list item she hoped to cross off one day.    “I'm super excited but I don't think all of this will sink in until I'm home,” she said.     As for heading home, she said work beckons because she takes vacation days for her golf competitions.    “I have a presentation I have to give tomorrow so I have to at least dial in for that, and then we'll figure out what the rest of the day looks like,” she said and laughed.    Dinh is the first GAM member golfer to win the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, the third GAM member to win a national USGA title in the last three years and the sixth to win a USGA national championship in the last 21 years.     Kim Moore of Portage won the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open last summer, and James Piot of Canton became Michigan's first U.S. Amateur Champion in 2021. In 2002 Greg Reynolds of Grand Blanc won the U.S. Senior Amateur, Randy Lewis of Alma won the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and Tom Werkmeister of Hudsonville was co-medalist as Team Michigan won the USGA State Team Championship in 2016.    Learn more at 2023 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Golf Championship (usga.org)  Story by Greg Johnson and Mary Jo Green   

Fernando Angelucci is the Co-Founder and CEO of Self Storage Syndicated Equities, a real estate investment firm with a portfolio of $250M+ built over the past four years. They specialize in self-storage investments, purchasing existing cash-flowing assets, and building ground-up facilities nationwide. Before getting into self-storage, Fernando worked as an engineer at Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, where he rolled out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues. After a year, he left this lucrative job, and the night after he quit, he applied for 64 credit cards. He received approval for 12 and used the cards to raise $97,000 to begin his real estate investing career. He was in his early 20s at the time, and this was the only way he could think of to get capital without turning to his parents. Before turning 30, he owned a multi-million dollar portfolio of residential properties covering the Midwest, which he sold in 2018 to focus on self-storage.   In this episode we talked to Fernando about finding your niche, reasons for transitioning to this industry, comparing self-storage to retail, how he created impressive deal flow in, and showcasing how he built a $220 million portfolio.   Announcement: Join our Apartment Investing Mastermind   Self Storage 101;   00:00 Finding your niche; 04:41 Some good reasons to transition into self-storage; 10:23 Self-storage VS. Retail; 14:25 Wholesaling in self-storage; 25:19 $220,000,000 portfolio;   Announcement: Download Our Sample Deal and Join Our Mailing List   24:05 Round of Insights   Apparent Failure: Rushing a multifamily deal. Digital Resource: Audible Most Recommended Book: Traction Daily Habit: Time blocking  #1 Insight for Building a Self-storage Portfolio: Never burn bridges. Best Place to Grab a Bite to Eat in Chicago: Fogo De Chao    Contact Fernando: To learn more go to ssse.com Thank you for joining us for another great episode! If you're enjoying the show, please LEAVE A RATING OR REVIEW,  and be sure to hit that subscribe button so you do not miss an episode.  

Did you know that by employing a distinctive strategy in deal navigation and investor engagement, you can harness the full power of your passive investments, even in the face of market uncertainties? Explore the wealth-generating possibilities of self-storage with our present guest, Fernando Angelucci. Stay connected for further insights!     Key Takeaways To Listen For The power of marketing in generating deal opportunities  When does a syndication release dividends to investors? How to set investment opportunities according to your investors' preference Creative ways to foster lasting relationships with potential RE partners Why self-storage facilities are considered downturn-resilient assets Strategies to boost your self-storage asset's profits     Resources/Links Mentioned In This Episode Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki | Kindle and Paperback ISS World Expo REIT.com Self Storage Association  Traction by Gino Wickman | Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss | Kindle and Paperback Vagabonding by Rolf Potts | Kindle and Paperback     About Fernando Angelucci Fernando worked at Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, rolling out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues. At 23, Fernando left the 9-5 world and started investing in residential real estate by acquiring residential rentals and acquiring, renovating, and selling residential projects. Fernando then went on to build a multi-family rental portfolio spanning the Midwest. In preparation for the next down cycle, Fernando and the team divested from residential real estate to focus on self-storage. .   Connect with Fernando  Website: Self Storage Syndicated Equities  LinkedIn: Self Storage Syndicated Equities Instagram: @thestoragestud YouTube: Self Storage Syndicated Equities Contact Number: (630) 408-8090      Connect With Us If you're looking to invest your hard-earned money into cash-flowing, value-add assets, reach out to us at https://bobocapitalventures.com/.     Follow Keith's social media pages LinkedIn: Keith Borie Investor Club: Secret Passive Cashflow Investors Club Facebook: Keith Borie X: @BoboLlc80554

In this episode of Zero to CEO I speak to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Founder at Self Storage Syndicated Equities, Fernando Angelucci about investment into self storage and the benefits. Fernando is the Co-Founder and CEO of Self Storage Syndicated Equities, a real estate investment firm with a portfolio of $250M+ built over the past four years. They specialize in self-storage investments, purchasing existing cash-flowing assets, and building ground-up facilities nationwide. Before getting into self-storage, Fernando worked as an engineer at Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, where he rolled out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues. After a year, he left this lucrative job, and the night after he quit, he applied for 64 credit cards. He received approval for 12 and used the cards to raise $97,000 to begin his real estate investing career. He was in his early 20s at the time, and this was the only way he could think of to get capital without turning to his parents. Before turning 30, he owned a multi-million dollar portfolio of residential properties covering the Midwest, which he sold in 2018 to focus on self-storage.

Live from the Heart of America—I'm Steve Gruber— Your Soldier of Truth—the Tip of the Spear against socialists—here ready to fight for you from the Foxhole of Freedom—AND—giving you better analysis than anyone else while defending this great nation—this is the Steve Gruber Show—   Here are 3 big things you need to know right now—   Number One— Dear Climate Change cult members—news flash—those ESG investments you make to virtue signal to the world—are losing money and still polluting just as much according to a brand new study—   Number Two— Did you hear about the cargo ship off from England—burning with over 3700 cars on board—about 500 EV's included—which of course is where the fire started and could not be stopped—   Number Three— Can we take a few minutes and just talk you and me? Seriously—we have to discuss some things and get down to the brass tacks on these things—   When I was about 7 years old—I had this epiphany standing on the stairs of my moms house—about how remarkably fortunate I was to have been born an American—if you've been around here long enough you've probably heard me tell that story—BUT its true and it still was an amazing and profound moment to me—   I was just learning about what it meant to be an American and the freedoms we took for granted—that most of the rest of the world—knew little or nothing about—   That had to have been about 1972—when I stood there and was grateful for the good fortune of being blessed enough by God to be born here—I remember the awful green paint in that stairway and my mother in the kitchen—it was summer and it was hot—it was one of those days when it was what my mom called 95 and 95—you know 95 degrees with 95 percent humidity—it was awful and back just about nobody had air conditioning—it was just the way it was—you lived with it and loved being in this country—   I remember how proud I was in 1976, when we celebrated the bicentennial—for those of you old enough to remember—you can probably feel some of that pride right now—welling up inside you—there were parades and banners and of course American flags flying everywhere—   In the little town I grew up in—like thousands of towns big and small all over America— there was a huge parade on the 4th of July that year—and we all celebrated the greatness of America—the war in Vietnam was finally over and it seemed like Watergate was behind us too and the future was bright—   We knew who our enemies were—the communists in Russia and Cuba—and honestly we didn't trust the ChiComms in Beijing either—I mean if we'd been on top of it—MacArthur would have chased them all the way back—BUT Truman said no—that was a mistake looking back—   Anyway—it seems we knew who we were—the civil rights movement and the fights for equal pay for equal work had all been successful in the eyes of the nation—and the pain of the 60's and all that CHAOS was fading for most of us—   Its this background that shaped who I am—my mother taught school and my dad worked for Dow Chemical—we weren't rich by any stretch—but we didn't want for anything either—we were proud Americans willing to work hard for what we had—or what we wanted to have—we didn't expect our neighbors to pick up the bill—and if you were on welfare for a little while, you kept that to yourself—because milking the government check wasn't something people were proud of back then—   We did sit at the dinner table and talk about things that mattered to us—and worried about inflation and whether we could get new toughskins sometime soon—   And we worried about nuclear war from time to time—BUT again—we had our feet solidly on the ground—boys were boys and girls were girls and we didn't spend too much time talking non-sense because our parents and grandparents would set us straight real quick if they heard any such hogwash— the world was straight forward and easy to understand—   America was the best place on earth and Americans were the good guys pretty much every time—and we were! If there was a tragedy somewhere—Americans always sent the most money and did the most to help people out—there was even a song that talked about how much we did—and worried way back then who would help us if we needed it—   We never worried too much about our rights—we knew what they were—“say what you want it's a free country”—we used say that one a lot—or this one, “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Let's be honest—people were a lot tougher back then—and a lot thinner—I mean when did we get so fat and out of shape?   People went to church on Sunday, and prayed forgiveness from God for their sins—well a lot more than do today—and they did their best—were there some bad apples? Sure but that has always been true—but back then you could settle a scrap after school behind the shed—or dad would settle things for you when he got home—you knew where you stood and people weren't afraid to say something if you got out of line—I can tell you my parents were not afraid of confrontation—looking back I'm not sure they were afraid of much—   Boy how things have changed—   Now people tell me that words are violence. They are? I don't think so—in fact I think that is absolutely stupid. I mean kids were mean back then and they are mean today—the world was a rough and unforgiving place then and it still is today—we just didn't sit around and get fat crying about it—   On Saturday morning you got kicked out of the house after about an hour of Bugs Bunny if the weather was nice—we didn't check in—because we didn't have cell phones—and would have been horrified at the idea of mom always knowing where you were and what you were doing—and maybe that is part of the problem these days—maybe cell phones keep kids under mommy and daddy's watchful eye far too much—and it has made them very very weak and timid—   I heard a story yesterday about a mom going to pick up her daughter from camp because she texted her crying and begged her to come pick her up—when you went to camp when I was growing—mom wasn't coming, so you needed to tough it out—or get hazed by everyone else there—I think that made us a lot tougher—and in the long run, a lot more durable—   We could use a lot more of that these days I can tell you that—we are a bunch of wimps—and we have raised a whole generation that by and large is worse—   What the hell are these people going to do if their electricity goes out? I mean no phone, no computer, no cable, no video games—could they even survive? I wonder—   I mean think about this—most people would starve to death inside a grocery store these days if they were locked inside without electricity—I mean how could they eat without a microwave? No pizza rolls? No dice!   Yeah, so I started this conversation because of something I saw on my computer on social media a couple of days ago—and it has been bothering me ever since and reminded me of all the places I've been and the things I've done—before the explosion of people who all want to tell me what I can say, listen to, drive, eat, wear and whatever else—I mean when did all of these self-righteous twits get here?   I am an American and for the most part I just want to be left alone—I don't need babysitters from the government, the media or Big tech telling me how to live my life—I've been pretty good at it so far—and I would prefer to continue on my path—   So anyway—I saw a bunch of cops—and I usually am a big supporter of police and law and order—BUT this time I am calling out the cops—several of them in the small Wisconsin town of Watertown—which sits about halfway between Milwaukee and Madison—   Well if you missed it—these clowns came in and got physical with a young man—and actually arrested him for preaching the Gospel on the sidewalk—not too far from where grown men were playing dress up for a Drag Queen story hour—   Now my point is this—first of all this is not the America I was born into—AND it should not be America today!   It doesn't matter what side of the conversation you find yourself on—a true believer, an atheist or somebody just trying to figure things out one day at a time—your right to stand on a public sidewalk and speak your piece should never end up with you in handcuffs getting man handled into the back of a police cruiser—   The reason I knew at 7 what a great country this was—was because we could say what we wanted, not to mom or dad—they had different rules, but you know what I mean—and you could go to any church you wanted to—or no church at all—and nobody was going to bust your chops—   What happened in Watertown Wisconsin—really was a complete disgrace—and they should all be embarrassed   I also never thought I would live in a country—where the freedom of speech would be sacrificed on the alter of political agendas—and a former President would be charged for giving political comments—   Whether or not you like Donald Trump or hate Donald Trump—you should be very concerned about the state of affairs this week in America—because if they can go after him on bogus criminal charges for exercising his first Amendment rights they can go after anyone—and yes that means you!  

In this episode, co-hosts Heather Allain and Marc Cook sit down with Chris Cary, a 33-year industry veteran with 25 years of experience at Dow Chemical, to discuss the pros and cons of graphite. The three chat about how graphite components get connected together to make a heat exchanger, what kind of chemical services graphite is suitable for, what applications can be made out of graphite, how to inspect for degradation in graphite, and any special considerations when selecting and installing his graphite equipment.   Show notes Corrosion Chronicles is hosted by Heather Allain and Marc Cook. Heather Allain is the Executive Director of Materials Technology Institute (MTI). She has been with the organization for 16 years and previously held an Associate Director position facilitating MTI's Project work. Before MTI, she worked as a Materials Engineer at DuPont for 15 years, and has a BS in Materials Engineering from Rice University. Marc Cook has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an MS in Material Engineering from NC State. He has worked for Dow for 26 years and at a contracting company in Cincinnati for 3 years. His current role at Dow is leading the Technical Services Team for Ceramics and Refractory at Dow and providing materials engineering support to Dow's Freeport, Texas site. Disclaimer: Marc Cook is an employee of Dow but is speaking purely in a personal capacity and is not talking about or recommending Dow products.   Today's episode on graphite includes a reference to a spiral graphite heat exchanger, which can be seen here:  Annular groove graphite heat exchangers - GAB Neumann (gab-neumann.com) Other manufacturers and different designs can be seen here: Equipment for Corrosive Applications | SGL Carbon Graphite & SIC Heat Exchangers | Fluoropolymers | CG Thermal MERSEN | Anticorrosion Equipment | Industrial Process Systems None of these manufacturers are endorsed or recommended by MTI, but are shown for informational purposes only.    This episode is produced by Association Briefings.

Friday July 14, explosions at the Dow Chemical facility in Plaquemine, Louisiana rattled the homes of nearby residents. While some people have returned to business as usual, others are worried dangerous levels of pollution could have made their way into the air.  Drew Hawkins, health equity reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom, traveled to Plaquemine, in Iberville Parish, to speak to people who live near the facility. He joins us today for more on how they're grappling with the aftermath. This Fourth of July was the hottest recorded day in human history with multiple cities across the U.S. and the world recording record high temperatures. In an effort to help communities cool down, mayors in cities across the country – including New Orleans –  are joining the Smart Surfaces Coalition, a multiyear project to bring down the heat.  To learn more about this coalition and efforts to cool down cities, we are joined by Brendan Shane, climate director for the Trust for Public Land in New Orleans, who is involved with this project. Back in April, former Gulf States Newsroom reporter Bobbi Jeanne Misick reported on a complaint alleging sexual assault, medical neglect and abuse of a Daniel Cortes De La Valle, a man detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Jena, Lousiana.  Now, Misick has gotten audio of a medical emergency – and how staff treated it – from inside of the facility. She sat down with Gulf States Newsroom  deputy editor Rashah McChesney to discuss what's in the recording and what it says about the treatment of immigrants.. Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz. Our engineers are Garrett Pittman and Aubry Procell. You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 pm. It's available on Spotify, Google Play, and wherever you get your podcasts.  Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to. Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eric Cosman had a 38 year career at Dow Chemical, was on the ISA 99 committee its inception, and then he retired. After retirement Eric joined ARC Advisory Group as a Contributing Consultant and got even more active with ISA. He is a long time co-chair of ISA99 and was President of ISA in 2020. Eric and Dale discuss: Dow's in house developed DCS and SIS: MOD Eric's top trend from 2022: The value of open automation and the Open Process Automation Forum ISA/IEC 62433 Eric's view they are "primarily engineering standards" What Eric thinks about the safety / security analogies His experience in being ISA President in the first year of COVID ISA as "the home of automation" Has ISA lost mindshare on ICS security standards to the US Government and training to SANS

What's more important to rising in your career: hard skills or soft skills?   For this Women of Color Rise episode, Analiza talks with Marcelle Fowler, Chief Coaching Officer, C-Suite Coach. C-Suite Coach is a multimillion-dollar, Black Woman-owned business that empowers diverse professionals through leadership coaching and diversity, equity and inclusion programming.  Marcelle brings more than 30 years' experience in organizational effectiveness, talent development and internal communications with companies such as Capital One, Dow Chemical and UPS. Over the course of her career, Marcelle has coached C-Suite executives, County Police Chiefs and US Navy Commanders. Through her experience coaching women of color leaders, Marcelle shares a few common struggles women of color face in rising in their career including developing EQ or soft skills especially with communication and relationship management. EQ skills include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social management. Marcelle shares how important soft skills are, so much so that in corporations, these are now called Essential Skills. She shares how to develop these skills: For self awareness, recognize your beliefs and feelings. Perhaps you are feeling scared or nervous. Know that these feelings are valid. For beliefs, Marcelle shared an example of a Latina who was taught by her mother to be grateful, which led this woman not to ask for promotions or projects to help her career. For self management, you can choose which beliefs best serve you. For example, you can take on that belief that I deserve this. Or a belief that to whom much is given, much is expected, and that's why I need to lean in to speaking up and taking on new assignments. For social awareness and management, it's important to build relationships and network. Contrary to popular belief, you can do this authentically and on your own terms. It doesn't have to happen after work - you can connect with people on your commute, before or after meetings, at lunch, or a few minutes at the beginning or end of the day.  You can build relationships as your authentic self and connect with others as people. While you may want to network with people who look like you, it's important to bring in others, including white males, who could open up connections and opportunities. Even if you might be nervous to form a new connection, don't self-select out. Try anyway - you never know how they will respond until you try. Marcelle shares how she got a job because she had built a personal connection with a senior leader of the hiring team. Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-54-the-eq-edge-with-marcelle-fowler

Investing in self-storage assets can provide investors with a stable income stream, diversify their portfolios, and offer opportunities for capital appreciation. Fernando Angelucci worked at Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, rolling out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues. At 23, Fernando left the 9-5 world and started investing in residential real estate by acquiring residential rentals and acquiring, renovating, and selling residential projects. Fernando then went on to build a multi-family rental portfolio spanning the Midwest. In preparation for the next down cycle, Fernando and the team divested from residential real estate to focus on self-storage. Fernando graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013 with a B.A. degree in Technical Systems Management. Fernando currently resides in Chicago, IL. In this episode, our guest Fernando Angelucci talks about the macroeconomic trends in the U.S. that are driving the demand for self-storage. In addition, he noted that there are some challenges, such as competition from new self-storage facilities and changing consumer behavior due to technological advancements.   HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE 1. Fernando's journey into real estate 00:00 - 4:25 2. Why self-storage 4:25 - 6:42 3. Benefits over other asset classes 6:42 - 12:27 4. Historical trends of self-storage 12:27 - 18:45 5. Effective strategies 18:45 - 29:15 6. Contact Fernando 29:15 - 31:27   CONNECT WITH THE GUEST Website- https://ssse.com   CONNECT WITH THE HOST Website- https://upstreaminvestor.com/ Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/TwoSmartAssets/ Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/upstreaminvestor/ Twitter- https://twitter.com/twosmartassets LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/two-smart-assets/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Listen, like, subscribe, and comment!

Today, on this episode of The Sub2Deals Show, we talk with Fernando Angelucci, an expert on investing in self storage facilities. Self storage investing is quickly becoming a huge opportunity for investors who want passive income with minimal management. Fernando Angelucci worked at Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, rolling out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues. At 23, Fernando left the 9-5 world and started investing in residential real estate by acquiring residential rentals and acquiring, renovating, and selling residential projects. Fernando then went on to build a multi-family rental portfolio spanning the Midwest. In preparation for the next down cycle, Fernando and the team divested from residential real estate to focus on self storage.  What You Will Learn: * How to get started in self storage investing * What type of facilities should you target for deals * Can a beginner do this? Mentioned in This Episode: Learn more about Fernando and his Team at: https://ssse.com Just Getting Started & on a Budget? Get the BEST Deal on Creative Finance & Sub2 Coaching on the PLANET! http://www.7dollarcoaching.com Want to Take Your Investing to the MAX? Take a look at Sub2MAX! Our Premium Group Coaching with William! Learn more and join us at: http://www.Sub2MAX.com Looking for the Absolute BEST Sub2 & Creative Financing Training on the PLANET? Check out https://www.Sub2University.com

Fernando Angelucci is the Co-Founder and CEO of Self Storage Syndicated Equities, a real estate investment firm with a portfolio of $250M+ built over the past four years.They specialize in self-storage investments, purchasing existing cash-flowing assets, and building ground-up facilities nationwide. Before getting into self-storage, Fernando worked as an engineer at Dow Chemical, a Fortune 50 company, where he rolled out a flagship product estimated to gross $1B in global revenues. After a year, he left this lucrative job, and the night after he quit, he applied for 64 credit cards. He received approval for 12 and used the cards to raise $97,000 to begin his real estate investing career. He was in his early 20s at the time, and this was the only way he could think of to get capital without turning to his parents. Before turning 30, he owned a multi-million dollar portfolio of residential properties covering the Midwest, which he sold in 2018 to focus on self-storage. *DISCLAIMER - We are not giving any financial advice. Please DYOR* (00:00 - 02:01) Opening Segment - Fernando is introduced as the guest Host - Fernando shares something interesting about himself (02:01 - 29:09) Pros and cons of investing in Self Storage - On the podcast, Fernando could talk about: - How he began entrepreneurship from an early age and growing his real estate investment company into a multimillion-dollar business over the past 4 years. - Why self-storage is becoming an increasingly attractive investment. - How self-storage investments can earn investors a higher return than the stock market or any other commercial real estate investments. (29:09 - 33:37) Fire Round - Fernando shared if he would change his investment strategy - Fernando also shares his favorite Finance, real estate book, or any related book - Also Fernando shared about the website and tools that he can recommend - Fernando's advice to beginner investors - Also shared how he gives back (33:37 - 34:59) Closing Segment -If you want to learn more about the discussion, you can watch the podcast on⁠⁠ Wealth Matter's YouTube channel ⁠⁠and you can reach out to Alpesh using this ⁠⁠link⁠⁠. Check us out at: Facebook: ⁠⁠@wealthmatrs⁠⁠ ⁠⁠IG: @wealthmatrs.ig⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Tiktok: @wealthmatrs

This week, Melissa and Lainey are joined by Lainey's fabulous aunt, Karen Eddlemon! We talk about her legal career with Dow Chemical, as well as her involvement with the legal reform process in Louisiana. We even get to the bottom of what a lobbyist really does (hint, there are no picketing signs involved!). Karen also shares her hobbies and passions including baking, reading, travelling, and of course - dogs. We hope you feel motivated to make a change in your community after listening to this episode! April book of the month: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon.com: The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness⁠ Listener support! ⁠⁠⁠⁠Louisiana Ladies • A podcast on Anchor⁠⁠⁠⁠ Catch up on Louisiana Ladies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠! Follow Louisiana Ladies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ Visit us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠laladies.info⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/louisianaladies/support

P.M. Edition for Jan. 26. Layoffs are spreading more broadly through corporate America, with manufacturer 3M, Dow Chemical and SAP among those recently announcing job cuts amid a possible economic downturn. Senior special writer Theo Francis joins host Annmarie Fertoli to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is the world threatened with famine and what can you do about it? We closely examine the threat to not only the United States food supply, but to that entire world. We have several sources for you to consider.  During our SOTG Homeroom from CrossBreed Holsters, we have a Go Team moment where a woman saved her husband by using her concealed handgun. The seasons are changing. Is it time for a new Duracoat Finish? Remember the Mission Specific coating. Also, during our Brownells Bullet Point, we follow up on our previous discussion on red dot sights. Brownells is offering a brand new closed emitter optic. Lastly, we are excited to learn of a new Christmas Story movie. Are you looking for a wholesome family activity during the holiday season? We have a suggestion for you. Thanks for being a part of SOTG! We hope you find value in the message we share. If you've got any questions, here are some options to contact us: Send an Email Send a Text Call Us Enjoy the show! And remember…You're a Beginner Once, a Student For Life! TOPICS COVERED THIS EPISODE [0:00:00] A Christmas Story Sequel is coming soon tvline.com/lists Website: www.achristmasstoryhouse.com [0:12:15] DuraCoat Finished Firearms - DuraCoat University TOPIC: Change of the Seasons www.duracoatfirearmfinishes.com [0:18:45] Honoring our Ancestors The 3 Methods article has been updated, to reflect current events studentofthegun.com Huge thanks to our Partners:SDS Imports | Brownells | CrossBreed | Duracoat Firearm Finishes | Hi-Point Firearms [0:49:00] Brownells Bullet Points - Brownells.com TOPIC: New Closed Emitter Red Dot from Swamp Fox https://bit.ly/3WN68x0 [1:02:30] SOTG Homeroom - CrossbreedHolsters.com TOPIC: Police release new body cam video of September shooting at Greenfield Meijer www.cbs58.com [1:13:00] The Coming Famine - Any activity that does not lead to preparedness and self-sufficiency is a waste of time BASF Chemical Plant Faces Prolonged Shutdown Following Explosion www.merlofarminggroup.com Cork's Critical Thinking podcasts.apple.com Dr. Jordan Peterson podcasts.apple.com FEATURING: TV Line, A Christmas Story House, CBS58, Merlo Farming Group, Madison Rising, Jarrad Markel, Paul Markel, SOTG University PARTNERS: SDS Imports, Brownells Inc, CrossBreed Holsters, DuraCoat Firearm Finishes, Hi-Point Firearms FIND US ON: Juxxi, Parler, MeWe.com, Gettr, iTunes, Stitcher, AppleTV, Roku, Amazon, GooglePlay, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, tumblr SOURCES From www.cbs58.com: Shots fired sent shoppers scrambling outside a Meijer store in Greenfield. It happened in September. Surveillance and body cam video released today reveal the shocking scene as it unfolded. The morning of Sept. 28 found shoppers and workers walking and driving through this parking lot. But, the plans for three of them changed dramatically because of a dispute between strangers. A chaotic scene as Greenfield police responded the morning of Sept. 28. From store surveillance we see a blue Toyota 4-runner. A husband and wife in it were leaving Meijer in search of her favorite hash browns. (Click Here for Full Article)   From www.merlofarminggroup.com: An explosion at the world's largest chemical facility has killed two firefighters and shut down production. The explosion at BASF's Germany plant near Frankfurt shut down the four square mile complex Monday that makes raw chemicals for BASF products. BASF is the world's largest chemical company and says the facility is likely to face a prolonged shutdown. The complex is home to some 39,000 BASF employees. An extended shutdown may tighten earnings for BASF and benefit Dow Chemical, according to Bloomberg. There's no word yet on how the shutdown might impact the production of BASF's agriculture chemicals. BASF never joined the merger and acquisition trend within the agriculture chemical industry but did reportedly enter talks with Monsanto to sell-off BASF's agriculture-solutions unit. However, that was before Bayer and Monsanto agreed on a merger worth $66 billion. From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service. (Click Here for Full Article)