Houston Operations

Dow Houston Operations is proud to announce the winners of this year’s DowGives Community Grant Program. The non-profit organizations that will receive funding from The Dow Foundation are using the money to contribute long-term success in our community.

Winners for the 2014 grant cycle are:

• Armand Bayou Nature Center
  
• Bay Area Heat-Special Olympics
  
• City of Seabrook
  
• Clear Creek Education Foundation
  
• Galveston Bay Foundation
  
• Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council
  
• La Porte Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association
  
• La Porte Education Foundation
  
• La Porte High School JROTC
• San Jacinto Museum of History
• Special Olympics Texas, Inc.
• The Bridge over Troubled Waters, Inc.

Their projects range from Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), to equipment for Special Olympics teams, planting of shrubbery for privacy, ROTC equipment and park equipment.

“With the 2014 Grant Program, we identified projects and organizations that play an integral role in making community success happen,” said Monty Heins, Houston Operations Site Director. “We are proud to do business in this community and proud to call it home for ourselves and our families. Giving back and helping great nonprofits achieve their goals is success to us.”

Next year’s Dow Houston Operations grant cycle will be conducted in the Spring. Keep an eye on our website for more information about next year’s grants.

Applicants must be charitable or nonprofit organizations, or municipal or government agencies and be based in East Harris County specifically Clear Lake, Deer Park, La Porte, Pasadena and Seabrook. All applications must be endorsed by a Dow Houston Operations employee and the executive director (or equivalent) of the organization.

The funding is intended for one-time projects that contribute to long-term benefits in the areas of science in society, community sustainability or environmental enhancement.

Houston Operations has an annual payroll of $30 million and pays $4 million in local property taxes annually. Houston Operations spends over $12 million in local purchases that help the growth and prosperity of our community. In addition, Dow employees are active members and supporters of both the Deer Park Chamber of Commerce and the La Porte Chamber of Commerce.

Houston Operations is proud to contribute to local organizations that address environmental, educational or social needs.

Randy Haley like many Houston Operations employees donates his time and talent to others in the community. Randy is shown here tutoring a local student in math and science.

• Armand Bayou Nature Center
• Bay Area Heat-Special Olympics
• City of Seabrook
• Clear Creek Education Foundation
• Galveston Bay Foundation
• Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council
• La Porte Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association
• La Porte Education Foundation
• La Porte High School JROTC
• San Jacinto Museum of History
• Special Olympics Texas, Inc.
• The Bridge over Troubled Waters, Inc.

• The requesting organization must be a 501(c) 3 — please include tax identification number
• The request must be in writing on the official letterhead of the organization. Faxes and email will not be accepted.
• Include information that describes how the funding will provide a direct service or benefit to the community
• Specify amount requested
• Must include contact name and phone number

• Charities utilizing third-party fundraising organizations
• To private schools or personal alma maters
• Religious or Political Organizations

Public Affairs Manager
P.O. Box 685
La Porte, Texas 77572-0685

Houston Operations has been a member of the East Harris County Manufacturers Association for many years.

“To promote the health, safety, environmental, and economic well-being of our industry and of the communities around our plants.”

The East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA) is a voluntary alliance of approximately 125 chemical manufacturers, refiners and supporting distribution/terminal facility managers in the Bay Area, Baytown, Deer Park, Houston, La Porte, North Channel and Pasadena. Founded in 1987, EHCMA is the largest network of its type in the world.

EHCMA members work together for the safety, environmental and economic well being of plants and communities. EHCMA sponsors the CAER Line (Community Awareness and Emergency Response) as a primary information source for the community about industrial incidents. The CAER Line also provides citizens with an opportunity to report concerns about air quality through its Odor Network. CAER Line callers can report nuisance odors in their neighborhoods. Member facilities then work together to identify and eliminate industrial odor sources.

CAER Line: (281) 476-2237

EHCMA Web site

Rhonda Pelton is one of the many Houston Operations employees that volunteers in the Dow Promise program at Ridgemont Elementary School. Pelton gets a word of thanks from Smallwood Holoman, manager of Dow Promise.

Dow Promise is an initiative to mobilize The Dow Chemical Company to positively impact and make a long-term contribution to African-American communities near Dow sites.

Houston Operations employees volunteer at Ridgemont Elementary School. The program called Kids Money Klub teaches students valuable life skills about money management. The Klub has been successful in helping students to improve math test scores. It has also increased parental involvement. Dow Promise began supporting the program in 2001.

Houston Operations is proud to host the office of the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), this is a non-profit group made up of individuals, corporations and conservation organizations dedicated to enhancing, managing and restoring wildlife habitat. Since 1988, the Wildlife Habitat Council has worked on public, private and corporate owed land for the benefit of wildlife. The Dow Chemical Company is honored to assist in the work and efforts of this environmental group.

Wildlife Habitat Council management programs plan new natural areas, enhance and restore membership acreages, develop species-specific habitats, manage undeveloped land, reclaim and restore industrial land and coordinate partnerships. WHO members include over 100 companies, 33 conservation groups, 5 federal agencies and 4 universities working together on over 2 million acres at 1500 sites in 48 states and 15 countries.

At Houston Operations, sustainable development is the foundation of our relationships with all of our stakeholders and is an essential element in the vision for this site. Sustainable development enables Dow to meet current needs without compromising the viability of future generations.

Sustainable development is demonstrated by an approach that measures success by economic prosperity, environmental stewardship, and corporate social responsibility. Within this Triple Bottom Line concept, “sustainable” means long term and replicable and “development” means value growth that keeps the company relevant and successful in a fast-changing world.

For Dow, working toward the Triple Bottom Line means that we will properly position ourselves to take advantage of our considerable contributions to society and will move further along the journey to the kind of world we would envision for the future.

The environment, health and safety are all top priorities at Houston Operations. We understand that what we do today will determine what future generations will inherit. We are committed to working hard each day to keeping our environment clean and safe. Our safety record reflects how important we view this responsibility.

Dow has long been recognized as a leader in Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) and Houston Operations has demonstrated our commitment with our performance.

The La Porte site has been recognized as an OSHA VPP Star Site since 1994. We received the Star Among Stars – Super Star award for outstanding safety in 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 and the Star award for 2003 & 2004.

Much of our success is due to our people being empowered to intervene to prevent an unsafe act. This applies to contract personnel as well. Intervention is not just allowed, it is expected.

The empowerment culture, to make decisions at the lowest level in the organization, is providing improvement in all EH&S areas. We ALL strive to eliminate all injuries, prevent adverse environmental and health impacts, reduce wastes and emissions, and promote resource conservation at every stage of the life cycle of our products.

Waste Reduction Always Pays (WRAP) is not just a slogan. At Houston Operations, we reduced SARA 313 (TRI) emissions by more than 86% from 1994 to 2004.

We are committed to operating facilities at Houston Operations safely and minimizing all environmental impact so that we sustain operations here indefinitely and improve our community. At Dow, protecting people and the environment is part of everything we do and every decision we make. Please see Sustainability for our corporate position.

Ken Hanchey
Responsible Care Leader
Houston Operations

Members of the La Porte Community Advisory Council visited the La Porte site to attend the awards presentation when the site received the Voluntary Protection Super Star Award from OSHA. The award is the agency’s highest honor for safety and health.

Houston Operations is an active member of the La Porte Community Advisory Council (CAC). The La Porte CAC is a multi-company CAC that meets monthly. Community members have an opportunity to discuss with area plant managers a number of topics including environmental, safety, security and plant operations.