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American Legion Honors Alcoa Warrick Operations
Leaders from the American Legion presented Alcoa Warrick Operations with the 2005 Indiana Employer of Veterans Award for large employers. The plant was recognized by local Legions and by the national Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission for achievements in hiring and employing veterans. The plant is now in the running for the National Employer of Veterans Awards that will be presented later this year.
American Legion, Otis Stone Post 354 members nominated Warrick Operations for the partnership with the post in advertising opportunities available and for actively hiring veterans. In 2005, 44.7% of the 76 employees hired at Warrick Operations were veterans. Currently nearly 12% of all Warrick employees are veterans.
“The statistics supporting Alcoa’s application are impressive,” said Luther Nixon, a retired Alcoa employee and Economic Committee Chairman of the American Legion, Otis Stone Post 354. “Alcoa’s commitment to hiring veterans is tremendous. They have actively recruited from among our ranks to provide excellent jobs for our members.”
“We’re truly honored by this recognition. These veterans have given significantly to their country and continue to be consistent contributors to the community and to our workplace at Alcoa. The Legion provides an excellent source of qualified, hard-working applicants. We appreciate the partnership that we’ve had, and are thankful for the award,” said Ann Whitty, Vice President & General Manager for Rigid Packaging.
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Warrick County Council supports Alcoa growth
On August 3rd, the Warrick County Council voted to provide a nine-year phase-in of property taxes to support Alcoa’s installation of a new rotary furnace. The furnace will require an investment of more than $9 Million and will create eight new jobs in the plant.
The rotary furnace will allow Warrick to process dross on site. Dross is created in the melting and alloying of molten aluminum. Currently, the dross is skimmed, cooled, then shipped to a secondary processor in Kentucky where they extract the remaining good metal, heat it up, and truck it back to Warrick Operations for use in our ingot plant. The process creates waste through lost energy during cooling and excess energy use during re-heating and transportation.
The rotary furnace will also enable Warrick to process some coated scrap that is created during the production of good metal for our customers. This scrap is also currently sent to secondary processors in Kentucky for recovery of good metal and shipped back to the plant.
The rotary furnace project is just one of many investments on the books and underway at Warrick Operations. A $400 million project at the Warrick Power Plant to install scrubbers and significantly reduce air emissions is on track to be completed by 2010. Another significant project is the relocation of a lithographic line from another Alcoa facility to Warrick Operations. That line is expected to begin operating in the summer of 2007.
“The biggest sign of our growth is the investment in the power plant,” said Ann Whitty, Vice President and General Manager for Rigid Packaging. “To spend nearly $400 million at a 50-year-old plant to keep it viable for another 40 to 50 years is a wonderful indication that Alcoa has great confidence in this plant and its employees.”
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BEE HEALTHY Camp A Success
Alcoa Foundation grants supported the first BEE HEALTHY Summer Camp in Boonville, teaching children about physical activity and proper nutritional eating habits. More than 50 students participated in the 8-week camp that included physical training taught by community volunteer coaches, nutritional snacks, and “kid friendly” nutritional education taught by a Registered Dietician.
Based on numerous reports regarding the increase in childhood obesity and the associated health and financial burdens, Studio Bee began planning the camp more than a year ago. They found that leisure activity is increasingly sedentary, as availability to TV, videos and computer games increases. In addition, there has been a decrease in frequency and duration of physical activities of daily living for children such as walking to school and doing household chores. National survey data indicate that 20% of US children ages 8 to 16 reported two or fewer bouts of physical activity per week and more than 255 watched at least 4 hours of television each day.
To combat increasingly unhealthy lifestyles, Studio Bee partnered with the community to increase physical activity of our youth and teach proper nutritional habits. The BEE HEALTHY camp worked to change behavior by monitoring physical activity and nutrition intake over a two-month period, and included hiking, indoor climbing, caving and miniature golf. These extended changes can promote a long-term change to a more active lifestyle.
Alcoa Foundation granted Studio Bee $10,000 in 2005 to launch the camp, and has given the organization another $10,000 this year to continue the camp in 2007.
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Increased construction traffic along Highway 66
As work on the $400 Million Strategic Environmental Project continues at the Warrick Power Plant, you should be on the lookout for slow or stopped traffic during the morning and afternoon shift changes. Warrick Operations is working with the Indiana Department of Transportation to keep motorists safe near Alcoa Gates 1 and 2 as employees and construction workers enter and leave the plant each day.
Each day the project brings more than 100 construction workers to the plant each day. When the project begins to peak in late 2007, more than 600 workers will be onsite every day for more than a year. Safety of the workers and passing motorists is the top priority right now. During the increased traffic times, local law enforcement officers will be stationed at the entrance to help control traffic and increase safety.
From the road, you can also begin to see the first of two new chimneys currently being built. The chimney is now over half of the eventual height of 380 feet. Upon completion, it will contain the exhaust flues for Units 1, 2 and 3 and be an integral part of reducing the emissions from the Warrick Power Plant through the installation of scrubbers.
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Alcoa Night at the Otters
Nearly 800 Alcoa employees and family members stormed Bosse Field for Alcoa Night with the Evansville Otters on Saturday, July 8th. It was a great evening for a picnic and fun night at the ballpark.
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