Golden Triangle Polymers open house highlights community outreach
Published 12:02 am Thursday, June 13, 2024
Those at the public information office look to connect with the community, whether answering questions or helping out with jobs. (Brian Quijada/The News)
Golden Triangle Polymers hosted an open house this week at its public information office in Orange. (Brian Quijada/The News)
Golden Triangle Polymers project director David Godard, middle, talks to Chad Jennings and visitors. (Brian Quijada/The News)
Golden Triangle Polymers Plant Manager Chad Jennings talks to visitors in Orange. (Brian Quijada/The News)
Communications lead for Golden Triangle Polymers Heather Betancourth shows a visitor the project overview. (Brian Quijada/The News)
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ORANGE — Golden Triangle Polymers hosted an open house this week at its public information office in Orange, allowing the community to learn more about the current project.
The office, located at 1537A Strickland Drive, is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
According to communications lead for Golden Triangle Polymers Heather Betancourth, its sole purpose is to connect with the community, whether answering questions or helping out with jobs.
“A lot of times when you have these big projects come into a community, people don’t know who to talk to, right?” Betancourth said. “They don’t know where to go, to get questions, to make complaints, to apply for jobs. They’re just kind of searching the Internet, hoping to find an answer. So we’ve opened up this office, and we have someone here full time. So the community doesn’t have to guess on where to go to get answers. They can come here.”
Inside of the office are computer banks where workers assist people on searching and applying for jobs. If a business wants to work with the project, the office offers applications for that, as well.
Chad Jennings, Golden Triangle Polymers plant manager, says it’s great to work on the project in Orange.
“To me, this is fantastic,” Jennings said. “In my experience I’ve shared with others, I spent 10 years working out of the country and that was so that I could work on new projects, where we were operating a brand new asset. For me to see a project, one, in the U. S., two, here in Orange County, where it’s now home, it’s great to be able to do this and have our employees who live and work here, who were raised here.”
David Godard, project director for the Golden Triangle Polymers, says the process is going really good.
“All the site preparation is complete, and all the EPCs, the engineering, procurement and construction contractors are on board,” Godard said. “They’ve done a lot of the underground construction, which is preparing the site, and then putting in the underground piping, and then a lot of piling and the foundations are mostly in and now we’re starting to install equipment.”
More than 1,100 people have been employed from this project, roughly 142 more than last year, and there have been approximately 2,500 contractors working on the site.
Godard thanks Orange County residents for their support.
“I genuinely appreciate the welcome of the community to the project and the people working on the project,” Godard said. “It’s a pleasure working here. I just want to continue to be good neighbors, and just say ‘thank you’ to the community for the way that we’ve been working together.”
The project, which will be a polyethylene facility, is set to be finished in 2026, when it will employ more than 500 permanent jobs.
The construction process is going to see more than 4,500 construction jobs. Currently, the project sits at 50 percent done, officials said.
— Written by Brian Quijada
