Madame Mayor and Councilmembers,

I want to bring to your attention an announcement that was made to our employees and the external community, please see the announcement below. I’ve enjoyed working with you during my time here as General Manger. I also want to reinforce that Kory has worked at the refinery over the last 6 months to ensure there will be a smooth transition in leadership, and I have every confidence you will find he is a pleasure to work with and is committed to continuing to engage with the community and the City.

Dear Community Member,
 
I wanted to let you know that Nigel Hearne will be taking another leadership position in Chevron, and I will be assuming his role of General Manager here at the refinery.
 
I have worked with Chevron for 27 years, and have worked in Richmond on and off for almost eight years now, most recently as the Assistant General Manager at the Richmond refinery. In this role, I supported the senior leadership team to build a stronger, more transparent safety culture throughout the refinery.
 
Nigel has done a fantastic job of engaging and supporting the community and I am excited to have the opportunity to follow in Nigel’s footsteps. I want to assure you that I am also committed to continuing to engage with the community and the City of Richmond.
 
When Nigel started as General Manager, he committed to you that we would increase our local spend in the community and look for opportunities to work with local businesses and contractors. I’m happy to report that in the last four years, Chevron has spent $185 million in Richmond and West Contra Costa County with suppliers – helping support small businesses and local jobs right here in Richmond. We are continuing to strengthen our local spend by looking for opportunities to use local businesses and develop specific programs to help companies do business with us.
 
We are also planning to increase local hiring in Richmond by 50% in the next 5 years. We are working with local labor unions and contractors to highlight the benefits of hiring locally. We are also strengthening the training-to-jobs pipeline by working with local nonprofit training organizations, such as RichmondBUILD, to help local residents qualify for jobs, not only at Chevron, but at other local businesses as well. An example of a successful training program is the Contra Costa County Office of Education's Regional Occupational Program (ROP), which is sponsored by Chevron. The ROP offers two training courses: the Process Plant Operator (PPO) Program and just recently added the Industrial Maintenance Mechanic (IMM) Program. These programs provide a free, job-skills training class to prepare students for a job in the petrochemical industry and to compete for well-paying career jobs.
 
I’m proud of our investments in helping to create a stronger Richmond now and in the future. We recognize that we can’t do this alone, which is why we’re dedicated to partnering with the City and the surrounding area to help achieve success for Richmond, the refinery and the business community.
 
I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as the General Manager of the Chevron Richmond Refinery. As I’m out and about in the community, I look forward to meeting you.
 
Kory Judd
General Manager