09/17/2020

Member Profile: A Conversation with TCC Chairman Chris Witte – BASF Freeport

Chris Witte is Senior Vice President & General Manager for BASF Corporation, and Site Manager for BASF’s Freeport site

TCC:    Chairman Witte, thank you for doing this interview and for being our first member profile as a new feature in our newsletter to TCC and ACIT members. You serve as Chairman of the Texas Chemical Council Board of Directors. Tell us about your role with BASF.
Witte:     “I am a Senior Vice President & General Manager and am the site manager for BASF’s Freeport site, which is one of the largest sites within the company. In addition to managing the Freeport site, I am on the Manufacturing Community Steering Committee as well as the North America representative for Sustainable operations. I also lead Smart Manufacturing for North America within BASF.”

TCC:     Tell us a little about your background. Where did you grow up?
Witte:    “My twin brother and I were born on the North side of Chicago. I grew up in a large family. I was one of seven kids. My Dad is an Electrical Engineer and taught at the local community college. My Mom also ran a K-8 prep school in Chicago, which me and my siblings all attended. My twin brother and I skipped 1st grade; we went from Kindergarten straight to 2nd grade. My mom was my teacher for 2nd grade and my dad was my math teacher from 5th through 8th grade. For high school I attended Loyola Academy, an all-boys Catholic high school on the North side of Chicago. In the winters we played a lot of ice hockey.”

“My parents had a dairy farm in Wisconsin where we would spend summers baling hay, milking cows, and fixing fences. My parents wanted to make sure we knew what hard work was.”

TCC:    What is the best lesson you learned from your parents?
Witte:   “They taught us that anything is possible if you work hard and never give up.”

TCC:    Tell us about your family.
Witte:   “My wife is a nurse. We met in Baton Rouge – she was getting her nursing degree and I was getting my MBA. We have four kids - two boys and two girls. Our youngest are in college – one is at Texas State and I have a son at Texas A&M studying chemical engineering. The older two are already out of school.

TCC:    Where did you go to college?
Witte:   “My brother and I both went to Louisiana State University. Money was tight, and out of state tuition at LSU was cheaper than in-state tuition in Illinois. LSU had a great Chemical Engineering program and there was no snow; So both my brother went to LSU and studied Chemical Engineering. I loved LSU.”

TCC:    What got you interested in Chemical Engineering?
Witte:   “I had an AP chemistry professor in high school, Mr. Dusoblan, who was a major influence. I was good in math and science, and my Dad had strongly suggested engineering. I knew that I was going to be an engineer, but my professor had a love for chemistry and that influenced me to pursue chemical engineering.”

TCC:    Did you go to work with BASF right out of College?
Witte:  “I did! I got a job offer from BASF straight out of school and started in the Professional Development program, which is a rotational program that offered new assignments every 6-8 months, which I enjoyed. It allowed the opportunity to gain valuable experience in engineering, operations, supply chain, etc.. It allowed me to see many sides of the business. While I had offers in other industries, I really like the petrochemical industry with its traditional processes and unit operations, some of the most interesting classes I took in college. So after the Professional Development Assignment, I started off as a Process Engineer for about six years, and really loved it. Later, BASF had a start-up and asked me to be a shift supervisor for 14-16 months, and that’s when I decided I like the manufacturing part of the chemical industry.”

TCC:    How long have you been with BASF?
Witte:   “I’ve been with BASF for over 33 years.”

TCC:    Have there been any surprises in your career?
Witte:   “Initially, my plan was to be the best Process Engineer in the company, but to my surprise, after going on shift and becoming a shift supervisor, I learned that while it’s great to be an individual contributor, you can get a lot more done when you have a team working with you. And I liked to see the benefit of my work at the end of the shift. You can say this is how much product we made or how many drums we filled. My epiphany was how much more you can get done with a team than by yourself.”

TCC:   BASF is the largest chemical company in the world. Tell us about BASF’s footprint and its presence in Texas?
Witte:  “BASF has over 350 manufacturing sites across the globe. We have six “Verbund” sites. Verbund sites are BASF trademark integrated manufacturing sites. These integrated sites add value through the efficient use of resources. They integrate production, energy and materials flow, waste management, logistics and site infrastructure.”

“In the U.S., BASF has over 90 manufacturing sites, with our U.S. Corporate Headquarters located in New Jersey. Our largest manufacturing U.S. footprint is in Texas. We have eight sites in Texas with about 2,000 employees and an equal number of contractors on a regular basis. Texas is also our regional headquarters for engineering, purchasing, and for our petrochemicals business.”

TCC:   BASF makes a wide variety of materials that improve our quality of life. Tell us about some of the end products that include BASF chemistry?
Witte:   “BASF is a very diversified chemical company; everything from agricultural products, such as seeds to the fertilizers and herbicides. Coatings for cars, polyurethanes and paints that you find in Behr paint at Home Depot. We make super absorbent polymers that you find in baby diapers. We make nylon for carpeting and fishing line. And we also make pharmaceutical excipients. We are a fully integrated chemical company, which may differ from companies that specialize in a particular area. BASF has 12 divisions and many of our sites are integrated sites that make a wide variety of products.”

TCC:    What has been most challenging issue in your career?
Witte:  “In the early 2000’s, when natural gas prices were so high in the U.S.; and shale gas wasn’t fully developed yet, it was extremely challenging for our U.S. manufacturing sites to compete globally. That was a very challenging time for our industry. The advent of domestic shale gas was a major game changer for our industry.”

“Another challenge for our company and our industry is the changing workforce demographics with so many career employees retiring or nearing retirement, and the loss of knowledge base for our industry. The challenge is to ensure the transfer of that knowledge and experience to our new workforce to continue to run our plants in a safe, compliant and reliable manner.”

TCC:    What has been the most rewarding thing in your career?
Witte:   I remember when I became a site manager, a mentor once told me that site managers have a lot of pressure on them, but there’s a lot of good things you can do. One of the things we kicked-off when I was site manager in Port Arthur was a “Be the Match” Bone Marrow event that we initiated to help those battling blood cancer. Our employees volunteered to run a race and raise awareness about being a bone marrow donor. Our employees and their families were willing to get swabbed to see if they were a match for someone needing a bone marrow transplant to survive. A couple of our employees were a match and donated bone marrow to save lives. It was awesome to see our employees participate in large numbers. It was very rewarding to see how our employees united as a company behind a cause and make a meaningful impact in our community. One of the bone marrow recipients whose life was saved had a chance to meet his donor; that was pretty cool!”

TCC:   Safety becomes part of our DNA in this industry; and as a site leader, you are always concerned about the safety of your employees and contractors. What would you say to people outside of our industry about the safety of BASF sites, the safety of your employees, and the safety of your community?
Witte:   “In my 33-year career, I’ve witnessed BASF and our industry getting better and better at safety. We were good from the beginning, but we’ve continued to learn and implement best practices that are shared across the industry.”

“I would like our community to realize is that we care! Our site is part of the community. We have fathers, mothers, sisters, sons and daughters who work at our site. We have a multigenerational workforce. We live in the community and our employees recognize that we have a responsibility to operate our plants safely and continuously improve. We are the community. Our kids go to school here and play in the parks here. Over 80% of our employees live in Brazoria County and they recognize how important safety is because they have family members that also work at the site and they live in this community.”

TCC:   You have a very stressful job with great responsibility. What are your hobbies? What do you like to do to unwind?
Witte:   “I have four kids that kept us very busy supporting them. Fortunately, they have all gone off to college and are doing well. I love LSU and tailgating at football games. I also enjoy hunting and fishing.”

TCC:    What are you passionate about?
Witte:  “I’m passionate about family. I’m passionate about LSU. And I’m passionate about helping my community grow. I know that we are a major source of jobs, and I want to grow jobs and help my community. With an identical twin brother, I have developed a very competitive personality. I enjoy winning. Not winning at all cost, but winning to achieve success, maintain our right to operate, and helping my community grow.”

TCC:   The petrochemical industry had a series of major incidents in 2019. What is your perspective on the safety of our industry with respect to the concerns in our neighboring communities?
Witte:  “We lost a lot of good will and trust in our community as a result of the events that happened last year. Those events may not have directly involved us, but they affected all of us as an industry. We have to learn from these events and re-earn the trust, good will, and respect of our communities, our regulators, as well as elected officials.

TCC:   You’ve been involved with TCC for many years and have served on the Board for several years. What have you learned from the people you’ve worked with through TCC and ACIT?
Witte:   “We have a very talented group of people that work in our industry and that are active members of TCC and ACIT. While we are competitors in business, there are some things that we don’t compete on. I value that our industry collaborates and works as one with regard to safety, environmental compliance, and workforce best practices; we learn from one another and improve. The best practice sharing within our committees and at the Board level help us improve. I also value the collaboration with industry peers and colleagues that help find solutions to challenges facing our industry and help to shape policy at the local, state, and federal level.”

TCC:  What advice would you give to someone new in industry who would like to follow in your footsteps?
Witte:  “If you start to feel comfortable; do something that brings you out of your comfort zone. When you’re uncomfortable, you learn the most.”

TCC:   There is a great deal of unrest in our nation around inequality, and attention on diversity and inclusion. What role can we as leaders in our industry play to further enhance opportunities for inclusion?
Witte:   “Inclusion is extremely important. We are a global industry and have great diversity in our industry, but we can always work to do better. Everybody’s voice matters and we must continue to support inclusion in our industry at all levels. The demographic shift in our employee population (more than 50 % are eligible to retire), while a challenge from a loss of knowledge standpoint, gives us an opportunity to continue to improve in the areas of Diversity and Inclusion.

TCC:   Chairman Witte, thank you again for letting us get to know you better and sharing your insights. In closing, what message would you like to share with peers and colleagues in our industry?
Witte:   “We’re live in the greatest nation and the greatest state; blessed with raw materials and skilled workers for our industry to thrive and grow; we have amazing communities that we both serve and support – and depend on for their support as well. Together, we have a bright future ahead of us!