October 13, 2003 - Seven Habits of Highly Effective CAPs

The meeting of the Dow Community Advisory Panel was held on October 13, 2003 at 6:00 P.M. in the Dow Conference Center in Plaquemine, Louisiana.

Those in attendance were:

CAP Members	Plant Representatives
Dr. Antonio Edwards	Mr. Earl Shipp
Mr. Wayne Fourroux	Ms. Babs Babin
Ms. Joannette Gullotto	Mr. David Graham
Mr. Prince Gray, Sr.
Ms. Georgia Harmason	Facilitation Team
Ms. Bonnie Kleinpeter	Danny Cavalier, Facilitator
Mr. Lorenzo Price, Jr.	Anna Zebeau, Recorder
Ms. Rosemary Rylander-Young
Dr. Dottie Vaughn
Mr. Randy Ware

Panel members, Dr. Debbie Barker, Ms. Mary Alice Crockett, Mr. Jim Dickerson, Mr. Charlie Tobias, Mr. Jesse Wilson, Jr., and Rev. Matthew Young, were unable to attend the meeting. After the facilitator welcomed those present, he stated that the minutes of the September 8, 2003 CAP meeting will be forwarded to the panel members within the next two weeks.

Review of “Seven Habits for Highly Effective CAPs”
The facilitator stated that the purpose of completing and reviewing the “Seven Habits for Highly Effective CAPs” is twofold:  1)  It serves as a gauge as to where the CAP is for Dow; and 2) The results of the questionnaire will be used in comparing this CAP with the other 26 or 27 Dow CAPs.   There are 4 performance levels to be considered.

Level 1 – Established and functioning effectively
Level 2 – Planning culture in place
Level 3 – Effective contact with the community
Level 4 – Maintaining vitality in maturity

The 7 habits are as follows:

1. Be representative of the community’s diversity.
2. Be effectively organized and facilitated.
3. Feature the full participation of all members with open sharing of information.
4. Be comfortable with the company’s responsiveness.
5. Have a planning process in place.
6. Enjoy meaningful linkages to the broader community over time.
7. Demonstrate a commitment to evaluation and continuous improvement.

Be representative of the community’s diversity.
The Dow CAP answered YES to 7 of 10 questions in this section.   Areas needing improvement included the age range of CAP members and a mechanism to inform key community stakeholders who choose not to belong to the panel about the CAP work. There is currently only 1 CAP member under the age of 40.  

Comments and Answers to Questions About This Topic Included the Following:

1. The CAP does not need to have elected officials on the panel.  It is better to be a “grass roots” type of group.
   
2. There are currently no CAP members from North Iberville Parish and Baton Rouge.  If the panel agrees to do so, one nomination may be targeted from North Iberville Parish and one from Baton Rouge.  The facilitator asked that CAP members give some thought to possible nominees from those areas. 
   
3. The minutes are provided to the Iberville and West Baton Rouge Parish Libraries as a mechanism for informing community residents about the CAP work.  A panel member suggested the possibility of placing the minutes on the Dow website.  Ms. Babin stated that she will check with the appropriate personnel about this.  She will also provide the CAP with a copy of the Dow Midland CAP annual report at the November meeting.
   
4. Parents of young children may be good nominees for membership on the panel as they may have different views and concerns than present CAP members have.  Two student representatives (1 from high school, and 1 between 22-30) were also suggested as possible members on the CAP.

Be effectively organized and facilitated.
The Dow CAP answered YES to 10 of 10 questions in this section.

Comments and Answers to Questions About This Topic Included the Following:

1. The meeting topics are very interesting, causing some of the CAP meetings to exceed the 2-hour time period set aside for the meeting.
2. The CAP is good about providing the facilitator with requested feedback.

Feature the full participation of all members with open sharing of information.
The Dow CAP answered YES to 6 of 6 questions in this section.   The facilitator stated that the Dow CAP Guidelines provide for 70 percent attendance of each CAP member at meetings each year.  The Dow CAP averaged over 70 percent attendance in 2002. 

Be comfortable with the company’s responsiveness.
The CAP members are forthcoming with their views and feel responsible to give honest feedback to company representatives.

Have a planning process in place.
The Dow CAP answered YES to 6 of 7 questions in this section.  An area needing improvement was the CAP identifying positives, negatives, and ways to improve, including constructive feedback on the facilitator.  The facilitator stated that he will provide the CAP with a questionnaire regarding the facilitation team at the next CAP meeting, requesting that it be completed and returned for review.

Enjoy meaningful linkages to the broader community over time.
The Dow CAP answered YES to 5 of 11 questions in this section.   Areas needing improvement included the CAP’s existence and role being well understood by constituencies, evidence of secondary discussion with constituencies, producing an annual letter or report on its activities for inclusion in the company’s publication, participation in a public meeting to share the CAP’s  work, members’ participation in local community events to help explain work of the panel to a broader audience, and the company’s use of local media to build awareness about the CAP and the topics it discusses. 

Comments and Answers to Questions About This Topic Included the Following:

1. If people in the community are more aware of the CAP, they are more likely to contact CAP members about the meeting topics.
2. Some non-CAP members know about the CAP even if they don’t participate. 

Evaluate and Continuously Improve.
The CAP answered YES to 8 of 8 of the questions in this section.

The facilitator will compile all of the above information and make a report, highlighting areas needing improvement.  Mr. Shipp asked that this report be included as an agenda item on the November CAP meeting agenda.    The CAP will also discuss the possibility of allowing backup CAP members (1 for each CAP member) who meet the necessary demographics, to serve on the panel. 

Responsible Care Performance Measurements
Mr. Graham provided the panel with Responsible Care Performance Measurements for September 8-October 13, 2003 (attachment).  He stated that to date, there have been 9 OSHA injuries in 2003.  The most recent injury happened to a Dow employee who dislocated a shoulder when he tried to open a valve, requiring medical attention.  Contractor safety performance continues to improve with contractor and Dow leadership working together.  Mr. Shipp stated that not only have there been fewer injuries at the site this year, but less severe injuries.  In the area of agency reportables, Mr. Graham stated that the statistics were much better the second half of 2003 than in the first half.

Answers to Questions and Comments Included the Following:

1. There was a flare in the Light Hydrocarbon III unit recently when a compressor failed requiring the plant to be shut down for repair.
2. In response to a question by a panel member about a sound similar to the sound of relief valves emitting from the site recently, Mr. Graham stated that he will check this out and report his findings to the panel.
3. It has been 4 years since a turnaround in the Vinyl II unit.  Resealing and repacking of the pumps in that area began last week. 
4. The fugitive emissions program uses instruments to measure emissions.  If the amount is greater than a certain quantity, Dow tries to repair the problem.  A maintenance request is made to make the repair. 

"Dow in the News"
Ms. Babin provided the panel with a copy of the "Dow in the News - Louisiana September 2003" (attachment).  She then reviewed upcoming events (attachment).  The Dow "Door to Door" campaign is scheduled for October 22, 2003.  In a response to a CAP member, Ms. Babin stated that she will send a note and explanation of the door to door campaign to CAP members.  Mr. Graham stated that there are groups of 3-4 people who go door-to-door to meet neighbors and give out information from Dow and from the Iberville Office of Emergency Preparedness.  They normally see only about 1/3 of the people within a 2-mile radius of the site.  CAP members are invited to attend the Holiday Open House, scheduled for December 11, 2003.

Next Meeting
The next Dow CAP meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 11, 2003.   The facilitator will send out a note to CAP members asking them to think about replacement CAP members, selecting one nominee who is similar to him or her, and one who is different.