The new DuPont debuted Monday across the world. Many people at Washington Works will play a role in the new company brought together from specialty businesses that fit together from DuPont, Dow, Dow Corning and FMC. Pictured are Greg Westbrook, DuPont Washington Works Performance Resins unit manager; Shawn Mallett, DuPont Washington Works site continuous improvement leader; Ron Barnette, DuPont Washington Works site HR manager; Jay Valvo, DuPont Washington Works plant manager; Robin Wallace, DuPont Washington Works site finance and community outreach leader; Ryan Birge, DuPont Washington Works site EH&S manager; Josh Cochran, DuPont Washington Works site manufacturing technology manager, and Gary Meng, DuPont Washington Works engineering Polymers Unit manager. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

WASHINGTON, W.Va. — Although DuPont is changing as a company, the Washington Works facility will continue with the same people focused on the company’s new goals.

The new DuPont debuted globally Monday with a new focus on solutions and technologies in the areas of Safety & Construction, Nutrition & Biosciences, Electronics & Imaging and Transportation & Advanced Polymers. It will be the areas of Transportation & Advanced Polymers that will be the primary focus of DuPont’s operations at the Washington Works site, said Plant Manager Jay Valvo.

”We are on a journey,” he said. ”We are calling it ‘the new DuPont’ but come June 3, it will be ‘DuPont,’ the same name as before, but a different company.”

The new DuPont was brought together from specialty businesses that fit together from DuPont, Dow, Dow Corning and FMC, Valvo said.

”We are building a new company that is stronger, fast and more agile to better serve our employees, our communities, our customers and investors across the world,” he said.

The new DuPont has a presence in 70 countries across the world with 200 manufacturing sites. The company has 10 research and development sites globally.

The company’s net assets total $22.6 billion and is investing $900 million in research and development.

”We are excited about our future,” Valvo said. ”We have a lot of opportunities about our future. We are an innovation-driven company.”

The new DuPont has four core market leading, innovation-led growth segments aligned with transformational trends driving attractive secular growth; strong focus on returns; best-in-class cost position; and clear priorities for shareholder value creation, said Dan Turner, media relations leader with DuPont.

”We will be a more agile company, intently focused on end markets, which will improve our ability to deliver the innovative and value-added solutions that solve our customers’ biggest challenges,” he said.

In working in the field of Transportation & Advanced Polymers, DuPont’s Washington Works site will be “transforming industries and improving lives through materialscience supported by a broad portfolio that drives innovation in advanced mobility, health care, electronics and industrials,” Valvo said.

That will include performance resins, engineering polymers and performance solutions.

In DuPont’s operations the Transportation & Advanced Polymers division is a $5.6 billion company.

”We are significant in the new DuPont,” Valvo said. ”DuPont has a vision to grow and provide the world with material science. We are critical to the future of DuPont.”

That work will take things done at Washington Works all over the world, he said of products being shipped all over the Americas and Asia.

DuPont’s Washington Works site has 608 full-service employees and 432 contract resident “partners.” There are additional contractors who work on a part-time and part-year basis. There are plans for the company to continue to grow.

”We have been here 71 years and we plan to be here for decades to come,” Valvo said. ”This is the largest (Transportation & Advanced Polymers) site globally.

”As our site goes, the business goes and we impact our corporate results.”

As the world becomes more mobile, a lot of the products they make go into electronic devices to make them smaller. A lot of the materials they make end up in the automotive industry as well focusing on lightweighting, materials; improving safety and fuel efficiency; meeting emission standards; and creating materials used by a number of companies in the automotive industry across the world.

”We don’t make the parts, we make the material that goes into the part,” Valvo said, adding their work is helping to create self driving vehicles. ”A lot of our products are going into the technology to make that happen.

”We make those materials right here in Parkersburg, West Virginia.”

That work is helping to make automotives more lightweight, more reliable and more globally friendly.

”We are in a lot of markets that will help the world grow and get better,” Valvo said. ”A lot of our employees here have global assignments.”

A lot of the company’s expertise is based in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

The employees at Washington Works have a variety of skills and knowledge they will bring together.

”We have a great workforce in Parkersburg, W.Va.,” Valvo said.

Around 200 of their employees have some type of degree, in engineering, finance and other fields. The operators and mechanics are highly skilled and have two-year degrees, trade-school training or military background, he said.

”As we hire in the future, we want the best in the community,” Valvo said.

Although the company has global reach, many of the employees at Washington Works continue to have ties and are active in this community.

The company has an active Community Action Panel. Employees are involved in the schools, local charities and local volunteer fire departments. They are encouraging science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at local schools and colleges.

DuPont employees have been teaching a robotics class at the Parkersburg Boys and Girls Club. DuPont employees have contributed and helped with the United Way of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

”Any good thing that happens in Parkersburg, a DuPonter or a retired DuPonter are a part of it,” Valvo said. ”We are very active in the community and we are going to continue that.”

The company is hiring around 40 people a year, on average. It also has invested millions in Washington Works which creates new jobs and new opportunities.

Shawn Mallett, DuPont Washington Works site continuous improvement leader, has been a lifelong resident of the area and has seen the ways the company has impacted the community.

”We have seen this investment brings a better peace of mind when you come to work and go out and interact with the community,” he said. ”We are helping to provide the right things out in the area.

”This is our community so we need to take ownership of it. It is where we reside, where we work and it is where we are going to spend our time.”