THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS - (December 9, 2015) - In an effort to support the development of tomorrow's skilled workforce in Brazoria County, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) has donated $30,000 to the Crafts Academy at Brazosport College.
The contribution is part of a $1 million donation by the Brazoria County Petrochemical Council (BCPC), a group of petrochemical companies with manufacturing or distribution sites in Brazoria County.
The donations will help fund the new and renovated facilities that will train and develop a skilled workforce for today and also provide for future needs within the community.
"We are proud to collaborate with Brazosport and BCPC to develop local workforce talent," said Wayne McDowell, plant manager of Chevron Phillips Chemical's Sweeny plant. "It is important to raise awareness of the viable and rewarding career paths available in our industry, and to work closely with technical and community colleges to ensure that they have the resources to provide training required for these careers."
A significant driver in expansion of the industry is shale resource development. According to American Chemistry Council's (ACC) September 2015 report, 246 new chemical projects have been announced in the U.S., representing a total investment of more than $153 billion. These investments are expected to directly generate a total of 61,000 new chemical jobs by 2023.
Chevron Phillips Chemical's $6 billion U.S. Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project is among those already announced. In Baytown, the company is building a 1.5 million metric tons per year ethane cracker, and in Brazoria County, the company is building two world-scale polyethylene units that will each produce 500,000 metric tons of plastic resin per year.
While there are currently more than 6,000 people working on both sites, the project is expected to support 10,000 engineering and construction jobs before it is completed and started up in 2017. The project will also create 400 long-term permanent jobs.