Chem321:Acme employees

Acme Chemical Company

Chemistry for the 21st Century

Martin Walker: President

Martin Walker is one of the founders of the company, and he is very committed to its success. He has a vision of it growing to be a big player in the fine chemicals world, supplying key intermediates to major pharmaceutical companies ("big pharma"). He was reluctant to adopt ISO 9000 initially, but now accepts that is necessary in order to compete. He is skeptical about the value of ISO 14000, thinking of it as "window dressing", but he accepts the view of his VP of sales (Evan Cronmiller) that it will hurt sales if the company does not adopt ISO 14000. Walker considers himself to be quite supportive of what he calls "genuine" reductions in environmental impact, but he remains quite cynical about many environmental regulations and the efforts of some competitors.

Evan Cronmiller: VP of sales

Nate Plantz has only been with the company for 5 years, but after coming straight out of college signed on to Acme company and was assigned the midwest region of sales. After 3 years in this role, Nate proved that he understood the market and it's customers, doubling the sales in that area. After these 3 years, Nate was moved back to the Acme headquarters where he was being trained for the last 2 years to replace Bob Vance, the VP of sales for the past 25 years. Where Bob was very reserved, Nate being young, is very bold in his sales tactics. Being the new "kid" in the higher ups in the company, Nate has a need to prove that he deserved the VP title, at such a young age and limited experience. In theory he believes in the environment and taking steps to avoid environmental issues, but his main focus remains on boosting sales now throughout the company. This is his sole focus and he is determined to double sales within the next 5 years. he has a no holds barred type attitude when it comes to sales, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to succeed in his new role.

Darla Davis: Quality Assurance Manager

Darla Davis has been an employee with Acme Chemical Company since 2001 She not only brings to the table a decade of experience, but also her perfectionist compulsions. Darla graduated DeVry University with her B.A. in Leadership and Organization Studies, where she was recruited because of her expertise in pointing out inaccuracies. In 1998, she received her B.S. in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Potsdam and gained experience in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. She has yet to be recognized for any her personal achievements, yet she views the company’s success as a direct result of her initiative to exceed quality of company goods without sacrificing performance guidelines. Fellow employees would describe her as “uptight and conservative,” but feel these are the attributes to be valued in a quality assurance manager.

Becky Herrington: Union leader and Shift Foreperson

• B.A. Business Administration, SUNY Plattsburgh
• 3 years at Kimberly-Clark as Plant Foreperson in Neenah, WI

Experienced in dealing with "corporate clean up" to regain face after being accused of causing environmental damage from Kimberly-Clark, Herrington is supportive of proactive industrial change. New to the chemical business and aware of the danger in replacing all human labor with the work of machines, Becky Herrington advocates for the rights and protection of plant workers, lab people and administrative staff. Understanding the importance of the company in the health of the local economy, she seeks to do what is best for both the company as an individual and the people who make up the company. Due to her personal relations with plant workers and lab people, (creating schedules and being elected Union Leader)she acts as a liason between the adminstrative of Acme Co. and the other plant workers. She hopes to convince the Union to support ISO 14000 and will make sure that individuals follow the plan and act, while keeping precise records to help the adminstration be able to review and revise action plans with the most accurate information possible.

Chris Murphy: Production Manager

• Education: BS in Chemistry
• Joined Acme: 1994
• Experience before Acme: Shift foreman (5 years), shift manager (10 years)

When he joined the company in 1994, Chris Murphy brought 15 years of production experience, and he was responsible for much of how the new plant (1999) was designed. He is respected as a “no-nonsense” manager, though this means that he can lose patience in meetings where people begin to digress or when no progress appears to be made. He is a “company man,” very dedicated to the company’s success, and this explains his willingness to work on the environmental committee, despite his reservations about whether or not it will actually do anything worthwhile. He believes that some environmental improvements may be necessary to meet EPA regulations, but he doesn't want such things to hurt the company's profits. He prides himself on the fact that the plant has an excellent production record, with little "down time" in the reactors. He is liked by most of the plant workers, though he drives them hard. He gets on well with the lab people, but is less popular with some of the newer administrative staff.

Bob Johnson: Lab Manager

• Education: PhD in organic chemistry from UC-Davis
• BS in chemistry from U-Wisconsin at Madison

Bob Johnson has been with the company since 1993, having worked at the original plant (now closed). He is responsible for developing the TAC process, which now provides a large portion of the company’s income. Bob hates having to go to meetings, as he would rather be working in the lab. However, having been manager for five years, he has begun to accept that sometimes he needs to be involved, and he grudgingly accepts that the safety improvements and ISO 9001 have brought some benefits. He is also becoming interested in “green chemistry,” as the challenge of designing processes that are safer appeals to his inquisitive nature. He is a good friend of Chris (production manager) who is another one of the “old guard” of long-time employees. He can be rather intolerant of the newer staff, particularly those in sales.

Franz Galoso: Environmental Manager

• Education:

  BA, Sociology, State University of New York at Potsdam

  JD, Fordham University

• Experience:

  First Lieutenant, US Army, Judge Advocate General Corps

  Assistant Compliance Adviser, Dow Chemical Company

Franz is a recent addition to the Acme family. Before joining Acme, Franz Galoso served four years in the Army as legal attache for the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division where he showed perhaps an excess of untempered idealism. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he was assigned as a chemical weapons compliance adviser to the Iraqi provisional government, partly to utilize his skills and partly to keep him from bothering command staff with his notions of propriety in warfare. His experience with the military left him with conflicted feelings. After leaving the Army, Franz worked briefly with Dow Chemical Company as Assistant Compliance Adviser to make ends meet, but was horrified with with the murky ethics of the job. His inevitable conflicts with management got him fired. He was brought into Acme to manage Acme's goal in meeting the ISO 14000 series environmental management standards. He sees Acme as a last source of salvation for the accumulated guilt of an early lifetime of ethical and professional failures and as such, he torn between what he sees is "right" and the desire to maintain a stable career path. The Acme Environmental Management team has proposed plans that include updating Acme's bulk storage facilities and re-evaluating Acme's current relationship with BASF and its hydrogen sulfide supply system.

Gethmini Jayasundara: Asian representative of sales

• Education: Bsc. from the State University of New York at Potsdam
• Work experience : Genetech - Sri Lanka as an intern for 3 months

Gethmini Jayasundara is straight after College, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the State University of New York at Potsdam. She also completed a minor in Chemistry during college. She was an international student and was from Sri Lanka. After her bachelors she went back to her country and joined the company about five months ago as the Asian Representative of sales. She was one of the youngest in the company and she had an advantage since even the company had not covered Asia before and was new to that. Asia is booming right now and it was a good decision of the company to go cover Asia as well. She practically works according to rules and regulations or in simpler words "works by the book". She was new but got around with the work quickly and likes what she has to do. She believes in thinking long term instead of just thinking short term during decision making. All over Asia, in countries like India, China, Japan our customers are asking for ISO14001, and now some other Asian countries are heading in the same direction, so we need to do this and it will be great for Acme.