The statue was first placed in 1906 and changed locations numerous times until it was placed at St. Joseph Convent on Mirabeau Ave. in New Orleans.  After Katrina, the convent was razed due to flooding.

“The statue means a great deal to me personally,” Sister Joan Laplace of SJA Baton Rouge, and former student at the New Orleans campus, said.  “I went to school under his guidance.”

“We couldn’t have done this without Turner Industries,” Sister Laplace said.  “They handled the statue so carefully.  It’s such a valuable piece of our history and art and Turner rescued him.”

Ellis Vliet, a Turner Industries project manager, oversaw the New Orleans team that removed and restored the statue. It was then shipped to Baton Rouge where Mike Morain, senior vice president of the Equipment Division at Turner Industries, managed the remaining responsibilities. Installing the statue at the new location required the use of one of Turner’s cranes and the assistance of five Turner employees.

The statue will now welcome students and visitors at the new Academy Arts Center, scheduled to open for the 2012-2013 school year.

Potential employees’ interaction with the Check-in program begins when they enter a Turner personnel facility.  At the check-in window, information about the applicant’s craft, area of interest and expertise is entered into the system and an electronic notification is sent to the appropriate recruiter within 10 seconds.  The software, currently in use at the Baton Rouge and Lake Charles, LA personnel offices, will expand to other Turner personnel facilities later this year.

“The meeting between the applicant and the recruiter will take place as quickly as possible,” says Forest Marie, IT employee and lead developer of the CraftTrax© Check-in software.  “The previous system required front-desk assistants to make personal contact with the appropriate recruiters, whereas this system automatically sends notifications to the recruiter.”

If the candidate is qualified, and there is a job opening, he or she will enter into the on-boarding process.  During this time of testing and training, recruiters can use the software to continue tracking the applicants through the process until they become Turner employees.

If there is no current job opening for a candidate, a recruiter may still record the candidate’s information for future use.  For example, if boilermakers are needed for an upcoming project, a recruiter will reference CraftTrax© to see how many craft workers are in the system that specialize in the specific craft.  The recruiter can then pull up their information, make contact with them and activate the chain of events necessary to get those people to work at the project site.

“With this technological advantage, CraftTrax© has improved the accuracy and timeliness in which employees are processed by providing an expedient means of accessing information from jobsites and personnel offices across the country and disseminating it to all personnel offices simultaneously,”  Quinn Guidry, a Turner Industries personnel manager says.

The CraftTrax© Check-in system provides the Turner recruiters with a more effective, efficient and real-time database.  This innovation will continue to advance Turner Industries’ ability to find and develop the best workforce in the industry.

Jill Hill, our Pasadena, Texas fabrication shop human resources manager, and Jim Ligget, a Turner Industries safety manager, spoke at the event on behalf of Turner. Students received advice on starting careers immediately after high school, technical and community college and four year universities. Each student also had an opportunity to ask questions and personally speak with each representative.

“Jim and I had a great opportunity to offer the students advice from professionals about job opportunities in the industrial field, which they do not often receive at the high school level,” Hill said. “Letting them know there are numerous options outside of attending a university, which may not be financially possible for some of them, is important to me and the faculty and staff at Anahuac High School. We want them to know there are other options for future success.”

The career day advocated post-secondary skilled craft training for the students and stressed the importance of academic achievement, career opportunities, community service, and civic responsibility.

Hill also spoke out against drug use, and the importance of refraining from such substances.

“I received many accolades from the teachers for telling the students not to use illegal drugs,” Hill said. “I stressed the importance that not only would Turner Industries not be able to hire them if they test positive for illegal drug use, but other industrial companies would not be able to hire them, either.”

Below is a link to view a PDF version of the report.

What Goes Around: Turner Industries Corporate Responsibility Report 2011

The awards program, established in 1996 under the leadership of Hal G. Ginn, Plant Manager of DSM Copolymer at the time, recognize excellent safety performance by contractors working in industrial facilities. GBRIA members that nominated their highest performing contractors included Air Products, Alon Refining USA, Americas Styrenics, BASF, CF Industries, Criterion Catalysts, Deltech, The Dow Chemical Company, Exide Technologies Group, ExxonMobil Refinery and Chemical Complex, ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Polyolefins Plant, Formosa Plastics, Georgia Gulf, Marathon Petroleum, Mexichem Fluor, Motiva Enterprises, Nalco, Occidental Chemical (Convent and Geismar sites), Placid Refining, Rhodia Inc., Rubicon, Shell Chemicals, Syngenta Crop Protection, Taminco Higher Amines, Total Petrochemicals and Poly Total plants, and Williams Olefins.

The winning contract companies each year have demonstrated a level of safety excellence that includes thousands and millions of hours worked without injury, a commitment by management to educate workers, and a culture where accidents do not happen.

The 2012 GBRIA Contractor Safety Excellence Awards were presented in five categories with small, medium and large sized companies further subdividing each category.

This year’s Turner Industries GBRIA 2012 recipients are:

Turner Industries – First Place in the Large Contractor division in the category of Manufacturing and Industrial Building Construction and Maintenance General Contractors.

Turner Specialty Welding Services – Recognition in the Medium Contractor division in the category of Construction and Maintenance Specialty Trade Contractors – Hard Crafts.

Turner Specialty Mechanical Services – First Place in the Medium Contractor division in the  category of Construction and Maintenance Specialty Trade Contractors – Soft Crafts.

Turner Specialty Non-Destructive Testing – Second Place in the Medium Contractor division in the category of Technical Support Contractors.

“Turner Industries’ investment in the expansion of our Pasadena facility and its services is a true indication of the level of commitment the company has to meeting and exceeding our existing clients expectations and to the development of future business in the area,”  Jim Mouch, vice president of business development, said.

Since opening for business in the Houston Ship Channel area, Turner Industries has solidified its reputation as one of the most successful and accomplished contractors in the Houston area.  Turner maintains prospering relationships with major refining, petrochemical and chemical corporations, such as BASF, Dow, Exxon and now a six-site alliance with Shell.  The company began operating in Pasadena in 1988 with its industrial construction division.  Since then, Turner has expanded its half-acre facility to more than 30 acres with a fabrication shop, warehouse, and an equipment yard.

The opening of this office allows Turner to further expand its services and capabilities to clients and potential customers in the Greater Houston and South Texas Industrial Market areas.  The facility is now Turner’s largest regional office and is equipped to provide an expanding customer base with its full range of heavy industrial services.

Photo caption: Turner Industries employees and members of the Pasadena, TX Chamber of Commerce participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony at Turner Industries’ newest Pasadena, TX facility.

Turner’s Fabrication Division has been the industry leader since opening its first plant in 1983. Now, 30 years later, Turner’s facilities located in Port Allen, La., and Corpus Christi, Houston and Paris, Texas total more than 865,000 sq. ft. of pipe fabrication space. These shops offer unlimited capabilities and make Turner the largest privately owned pipe fabrication division in the country.

Roland Toups, Chairman and CEO of Turner Industries, spoke to the attendees and thanked all who played a part in growing Turner into the company it is today. “Bert had guts and vision,” Toups said. “He took Nichols Construction Corporation, a diamond in the rough that was bankrupt, and turned it into this.”
Toups’ list of ‘Thank You’s’ included the Turner family, the employees, whom Bert considered his extended family, Turner’s clients throughout the years, and the employees’ spouses and significant others, who support the employees every day.

Toups concluded his speech by listing the fundamentals of Turner’s excellence. “We are here for three reasons: Safety, flawless execution, and fiscal soundness,” Toups said. “Keep the compass pointed north.” Before leaving the stage, he introduced Sue Turner, who spoke passionately about how proud Bert would be if he were here today.

“When Bert chose Roland to take his place, he did it because Roland believed in what Bert believed in,” Sue said. “Roland built this company into what it is today, and Bert would be proud.” Sue continued to also thank all of the employees for building the company “the right way.”

Roland took the stage one last time to toast the next 50 years and thank the presidents of each division: Billy Guitreau, Maintenance and Turnaround Division; Dave Lauve, Equipment and Specialty Services Division; Don McCollister, Construction Division; Bob Pearson, Fabrication Division. As the night ended, attendees received a copy of 50 Years of Industrial Innovation, Tuner’s 50 year anniversary book, highlighting employees, clients and achievements throughout Turner’s history.

Photo caption: Thomas Turner, Vice Chairman and COO of Turner Industries, makes a toast at Turner Industries 50 year anniversary celebration. Roland Toups, Chairman and CEO of Turner Industries, looks on.

The new office gives employees consolidated amenities and further streamlines the fabrication division’s regional operations. The facility is equipped with state of the art audio and video equipment, as well as new conference and break rooms. Outside, employees enjoy fresh landscaping, which offers open areas, similar to a park.

While employees will benefit from a new facility, the building also hopes to bolster the local economy. “Our new facility confirms our commitment to West Baton Rouge Parish,” Pearson said. “We hope it provides an inspiration to other businesses to locate in our parish and provide additional employment opportunities.”

The office is located at 1700 S. Westport Dr. Port Allen, La. 70767.

Photo Caption: Representatives from Turner Industries and the West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce participate in the facility’s ribbon cutting.

Wayne and his subcommittee will support and supply the welding program at Istrouma High School, a program Wayne has independently worked on in the past. Their motto, “connecting school to the future,” does exactly that. Partnering with ExxonMobil, Wayne and his group mentor students and encourage them to consider careers within the heavy industrial industry. “We want to connect with students by teaching them respect for themselves and others while showing them the earning potential within our industry,” Wayne said.

The ceremony kicked-off with a performance by the Istrouma High School marching band, and ended with the unveiling of a community garden, one of the first projects in the new initiative. The garden will aid in community development, teach students responsibility and provide families with local, fresh produce.