Kennard P. Garrett, Jr. P.E.

**** **** *****

Baton Rouge, LA, 70809

adzwep@r.postjobfree.com

225-***-**** Cell

SUMMARY: A well-rounded, safety-first-focused leader with a strong chemical engineering and business background, coupled with extensive chemical plant management experience.

QUALIFICATIONS:

BCHE degree from University of Delaware, 1982.

MBA degree from Louisiana State University, 1996.

PE certification – Chemical Engineering, 2004.

Experienced designing, building and start-up of new units. Served as owner’s rep during construction and start-up new chlorine plant, designed a VCM expansion and new design, build and start-up of a new Amine unit, currently working on design and start-up of new greenfield plastics recycle plant to be built in Normandy, France.

Over 41 years of plant management experience, including positions in Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Process Engineering, Project Engineering, Logistics and Production Planning.

In Operations role, managed simultaneously as many as 4 operating units with 45 reports. In Staffing Manager role, managed up to 70 total reports across multiple sites.

Safety focused, with safety being the number one priority. Familiar with PHA, LOPA, incident investigations, performance-based safety.

Ability to achieve business objectives by increasing production rates, improving raw material usage, increasing quality and consistency, implementing environmental, safety, and productivity improvement plans.

Familiar with LEAN Manufacturing principles. Trained to be a 6-sigma black-belt.

Able to interface and communicate well with all facets of the organization to generate buy-in of all stakeholders from the CEO to the line worker.

Skills to organize, plan, develop teamwork, and promote a sense of belonging in order to align all the resources of the company in a common direction to achieve maximum results.

Familiarity with most regulatory programs such as cGMP, PSM, TQM, Management of Change, Responsible Care, SPC, RCRA, ISO9000, HAZOP, LOPA and other regulatory issues pertaining to plants.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

9/2019 to present – Eastman Chemical Co, St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Manufacturer of Amines

Engineering Manager –

Currently working on design and start-up of a new greenfield plastics recycle plant to be built in Normandy, France.

Previous role – site engineering manager - managed a group of 7 engineers, 2 designers, 1 project manager, 1 admin.

Helped facilitate large capital projects using corporate, contract, and site resources. Construction and commissioning took place during COVID 19 Pandemic, as well as one of the most active hurricane seasons in history. Designed, built, and started-up:

oNew $50MM Amines unit, safely, on-time and under-budget. Construction and commissioning took place during COVID 19 Pandemic.

oBuilt new $5MM control room

oInstalled and switched to new Yokagowa DCS system, replacing old Honeywell system. $15MM.

Using local site resources and contractor assistance, managed and executed site capital budget.

Promote process safety by performing PHA’s and LOPA’s, and executing action items.

Assist operations with increasing production rates of sold-out units, reducing waste, saving energy, reducing carbon footprint of site, and troubleshooting operational problems.

oDebottlenecked DMAPA plant adding 38% production capacity with modest investment

oIncreased AAA production max rates 20%.

oIncreased DEHA max rates 14%.

oEach debottleneck project had payback of <3 months.

Maintained productivity and ensured capital project progress during the Covid19 pandemic, while ensuring that no Covid was contracted on-site.

2012 to 2019 – Westlake Chemical, Manufacturer of Chlorine, Caustic, Vinyl Chloride, PVC

1/2018-9/2019 (Plaquemine, LA)

Project Engineering Manager –

Engineering manager on $62MM expansion in VCM unit.

oResponsible for engineering and commissioning of new expansion to the VCM plant.

2014 to 2018 – (Plaquemine, LA)

Process Engineering and Laboratories Manager

Responsible for the Process Engineering department, including 5 process engineers, and a capital budget of ~$50MM/year. Also responsible for the Quality Control laboratories on site, consisting of the PVC, Chlorine/Caustic, Phenol, Environmental, and VCM labs, plus the ISO9000 program for the plant. Personnel include two lab supervisors, a Quality Management Representative, an Admin, and 28 lab analysts.

Process Group manages the capital budget, helps to troubleshoot and solve plant problems, performs 6-sigma projects, sizes relief valves, solves and implements action items from PHA’s, audits and root cause analysis..

Developed a Project stage gate process defining roles, responsibilities, and work flows necessary initiate, evaluate, select and execute capital projects.

Built a 5-year capital plan and schedule in order to execute capital projects in a timely, cost-effective manner.

Maintained and updated P&ID’s, PFD’s and other Process Safety Information.

Ensured that the group is trained, challenged in their areas, recognized for achievements, to maximize employee retention and satisfaction.

Supported operations as needed with engineering, technical studies, Hazops and LOPA support.

Responsible for 24-hour coverage for quality control laboratory analysis, ensuring equipment is working and replaced as needed, ensuring customer complaints are resolved.

2012 to 2014 (Geismar, LA)

Production Superintendent / Commissioning Manager

Production Superintendent and Owners rep during construction and start-up of a new grass-roots $500 million, 1000 tpd Chlor-alkali plant. Responsible for developing procedures, hiring and training operators, commissioning, PSSRs, starting up and operating the new plant. Liason with construction and maintenance groups to shake out and start-up new equipment.

Units include brine clarification, filtration, ion-exchange, air compression, boiler, brine evaporation, caustic evaporation, membrane cell electrolysis, di water generation, hydrogen cooling and compression, chlorine cooling, drying, compression, liquefaction and storage, rail and truck loading, HCl synthesis.

2009 to 2012

Syngenta (St. Gabriel, LA) - Manufacturer of Herbicides and Insecticides

Senior Staff Process Engineer

Responsible for generating Process Scopes for capital projects.

Assist in troubleshooting, generating solutions, and performing studies on plant issues.

Perform equipment sizing and recommendation. Projects are both on-site and at other facilities across North America, including Houston, New Brunswick Canada, and Minnesota.

Lead Hazard Review teams.

Projects include baghouse modification to eliminate combustible dust escaping to the environment, new herbicide product blending schemes, modifying existing batch unit to accommodate new products, specifying replacement boiler for greenhouse operation, and many others.

2002 to 2009

CDI Engineering Group, Inc. (Baton Rouge, LA)

Positions held: Staffing Manager; Project Manager; Site Alliance Manager - Syngenta; Process Engineer.

2007-2009 Staffing Manager – Responsible for staffing technical contract employees at client sites. Employees are typically engineers, designers, and administrative personnel. Call on clients to help identify their needs, offer solutions by either staffing people on their plant site or by bringing work back to the engineering office, depending on the clients needs. Able to use my in-depth plant experience to match their needs with appropriate solutions. Also handle oversight of the 60-70 staffing personnel throughout the Baton Rouge to Mobile Alabama area.

2005-2007 Project Manager - Managed projects of varying size up to $8.8MM TIC for clients such as Syngenta, Motiva, CII Carbon, Exxon, Total, BJ Services and Hexion. Included assisting in developing estimates and coordinating and directing design activities from front-end development through detailed design.

2003-2005 Site Manager - Responsible for overseeing contract engineers, designers, and computer techs at client’s site, and coordinating projects with home office personnel.

2002-2003 Process Engineer –

oPerformed business analysis of a client’s existing business chain, identifying up to $16MM in cost reduction opportunities by re-deploying personnel, improving maintenance practices, improving raw material usage, waste reduction, inventory reduction and freight optimization.

oWorked as the main Process Engineer on $110 MM Styrene plant expansion project, providing P&ID updates, process information, sizing of various pieces of equipment and other support for the project. Participated in Hazop of the expansion project.

oLed Hazop teams for client’s EDC production facility.

oEvaluated performance of existing refrigeration system, and made recommendations to increase output.

oEvaluated and performed process design for experimental project to inject propylene into and existing process.

oGenerated process scope for many other projects including automation upgrade, ammonia pipeline, new batch herbicide process implementation, upgrade of hot water system, flare upgrades, new tote charge systems, noise abatement projects, relief device upgrade, and others.

1990 to 1996, 1999 to 2002:

Borden Chemicals and Plastics (Geismar, LA.) - A large manufacturer of petrochemicals, including PVC, vinyl chloride, methanol, formaldehyde, and ammonia products.

Positions held: Distribution, Production Planning and Inventory Control Manager; Superintendent of Vinyl Chloride Plant (acetylene based); Superintendent of Urea Plant; Superintendent of PVC plant; and Production Engineer of Vinyl Chloride Plant (acetylene based).

Formed and managed the Distribution, Production Planning and Inventory Control group. Implemented a new inventory control system to effectively manage inventory levels while maintaining excellent customer service. Reported to the Vice President of Manufacturing, and attended the President’s monthly staff meetings.

Reduced PVC inventory from 120 to 80MM lbs, freeing up $10MM in available cash and producing re-occurring annual savings of $2-MM/yr.

Effectively managed cost centers with total budgets of up to $150 MM per year.

Helped in the implementation and startup of the new J.D. Edwards ERP system.

Implemented and maintained production planning system (Excel Based) to plan production based on sales forecasts, historical demand, and production constraints, while maintaining minimal inventory levels.

Successfully managed the operations of a continuous 240-MM lb./yr. acetylene-based vinyl chloride plant, a 250,000-ton/yr. Urea plant, and a 500-MM lb./yr. PVC plant, in a non-union environment.

Generated budgets and ensured that the budgets were met, including managing overtime, raw material usage, outside services, maintenance activities, and capital budgets.

Duties included the management of departments of up to 33 people, including shift supervisors, instrument technicians, and operators.

1996 to 1999:

Nepera, Division of Cambrex Inc. (Harriman, NY). - Second largest domestic manufacturer of pyridine, pyridine derivatives and Vitamin B3, with $60 million in sales.

Positions held: Production Engineer; Production Manager; Quality Assurance Manager.

Managed the entire production of the facility, consisting of a pyridine plant, cyanopyridine plant, niacinamide plant, a hazardous waste incinerator and the utilities section.

Changed the product ratio to favor the more-desired pyridine by changing reactor conditions with no capital investment, resulting in record pyridine production while reducing waste products produced.

Successfully started-up a new $5 MM multi-purpose batch still, including training materials and initial troubleshooting after construction. Also designed and constructed a portable fume scrubber system to eliminate odors.

Responsible for the management of 45 people including supervisors, engineers, and operators in a rotating-shift, union environment.

Managed the Quality Assurance department and had responsibility for the quality of all product lines as well as for adherence to cGMP regulations pertaining to the manufacture of vitamin B-3.

1986 to 1990:

PPG Industries - A major producer of chlorine, caustic, and specialty chemicals.

Positions held: Production Foreman, (Lake Charles, LA); Plant Engineer, (Folcroft, PA).

Effectively supervised the brine treatment, chlorine compressing and hydrogen compressing sections of a world-class chlorine plant. Directly supervised 12 hourly union operations employees.

Coordinated hydrogen distribution system with direct customer contact.

Served as the only engineer in a small batch surfactant manufacturing facility. Supervised the maintenance department of three non-union employees, coordinated all safety and environmental regulatory issues, oversaw process development of all new products, and assisted in troubleshooting production problems.

Projects included: Installation of various new storage tanks, installation of hot-oil circulation system, installation and procurement of new rotary vacuum dryer, installation of new nitrogen storage tank and distribution piping, installation of new flash recovery still, installation of organic skimmer in waste water system, replacement of several agitators.

1983 to 1984, 1985 to 1986:

Inolex Chemical, (Philadelphia, PA) - A leading manufacturer of specialty surfactants and polyol resins.

Positions Held: Manufacturing Support Engineer; Pilot Plant Technician

Operated Pilot Plant equipment. Responsible for process development from bench scale through pilot plant to full production of new products.

Supervised plant runs of new processes.

Developed a material tracking system to accurately apply costs to the products as they progressed through the manufacturing chain.

1984 to 1985:

Johnson Matthey Custom Pharmaceuticals, (West Deptford, NJ). - A new grass-roots facility for the toll production of pharmaceutical products.

Positions Held: Production Technician

Operated batch reactors and auxiliary equipment in a pharmaceutical environment.

Installed and started-up new equipment. Coordinated construction projects.

Performed maintenance of the plant.

Wrote equipment manuals for new and existing equipment.

EDUCATION:

MBA, Business Administration

Louisiana State University, 1996

Baton Rouge, LA

BChE, Chemical Engineering

University of Delaware, 1982

Newark, DE

Successfully completed P.E. certification, test taken Oct 29th 2004.

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