BASF

BASF’s Commitment to Community

BASF has been creating chemistry in Ascension Parish for more than 60 years. In that time, BASF has become a key partner to the parish through our commitment to safety and sustainability, community outreach to bolster the local workforce and strengthen educational opportunities, and continued growth and investment at our Geismar sites.

BASF is the largest private employer in Ascension Parish with approximately 1,800 full time and contract employees. We invest more than $300 million annually in the parish and state through payroll, purchases, taxes and charitable contributions.

BASF’s commitment to Ascension Parish goes beyond financial investments and includes the safety and well-being of the community. Each year, employees participate in thousands of hours of training on industry best practices to keep the Geismar sites operating in a reliable and secure manner.

Commitment to Safety and Sustainability

At BASF, we are committed to protecting our employees, our community and the environment. We strive to be best in class and place safety above all else.

BASF employees receive extensive training and participate in robust safety programs. While working closely with local and federal agencies, BASF continues to maintain and exceed industry standards for environmental, health and safety performance.

Over the last decade, BASF grew considerably in both number of employees and operations, while significantly improving performance, with a 70 percent reduction in employee injuries, a 75 percent reduction in spills and a 60 percent reduction in emissions to air and water.

Using state-of-the-art technology to improve emissions, reduce exposure and limit waste, BASF is living its core value of creating chemistry for a sustainable future. We will continue to look for opportunities through control systems, waste management programs and innovative energy sources to improve sustainability throughout the value chain.

Commitment to Growth and Investment

Since 2009, BASF has invested more than $1 billion in new projects at the Geismar site, including the first phase of a new methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) synthesis unit, which was completed in late 2020. Construction of a second phase is ongoing, and startup is expected for the second half of 2021. The final phase, which is expected to bring the capacity to approximately 600,000 metric tons per year, should start-up around the middle of the decade.

At only 25 percent capacity, there is significant opportunity for growth and expansion at the Geismar site

that is why our commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education as part of our workforce development is crucial.

 BASF offers job shadowing opportunities for high school students to learn more from employees about what certain jobs entail.

 BASF’s career fairs connect middle, high school, technical college and university students with professionals working in STEM careers to help them envision career possibilities.  BASF’s summer internship program hosts 20+ collegiate engineering students each summer who participate in site projects and development opportunities.  Each fall, BASF hosts process technology internships to build its pipeline of top talent from within the local community and to provide students with insight into careers in manufacturing.  Through a long-standing partnership, BASF donated

more than $1 million to River

Parishes Community College

in donations and equipment for a new Advanced Technology Center and a physical equipment training facility aimed at providing handson experience to students and bolstering the local talent pipeline.

Commitment to Community

At BASF, we are committed to serving Ascension Parish. BASF supports more than 50 organizations and nonprofits in the area and strives to support our friends and neighbors through a wide variety of programming aimed at supporting community needs, increasing students’ exposure to careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and growing our local workforce.

 Kids Lab provides every fourthgrade student in Ascension Parish with the opportunity to experience hands-on science experiments and learn about chemistry at the

Louisiana Art & Science Museum.

Since BASF’s partnership with

LASM began in 2011, nearly 20,000 students, teachers and chaperones have participated in

Kids Lab. In 2021, the program is going virtual to offer students the ability to participate in a safe and distanced educational field trip.  Scholarships are awarded to

Ascension Parish students each year to support their pursuit of collegiate and technical college education.

 BASF’s BackPack Program provides more than 3,000 backpacks of food for weekends and holidays to hungry students in Ascension Parish elementary schools each year through its partnership with the Greater Baton

Rouge Food Bank. In 2020, BASF doubled its donation in support of the COVID-19 response to $50,000.  Tech Academy provides high school juniors and seniors a weeklong hands-on experiential program to help them learn more about technical and craft careers.

 The Pathways to Prosperity

Externship Program, hosted by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, allows teachers and administrators to learn about the manufacturing industry and bring valuable career opportunity information back to students. BASF is the largest sponsor of this program.  BASF’s support for higher education in the state includes annual donations and support to area colleges and universities.  BASF supports partner organizations, including the

Capital Area United Way. In 2020,

BASF donated $355,000 CAUW to support a variety of programs, including those that assist military veterans and promote leadership initiatives tailored to women. BASF also provided $115,000 to flood relief efforts in 2016, along with donations to other community organizations including Junior

Achievement and ARC of East

Ascension.

At BASF, we contribute to a world that provides a viable future with enhanced quality of life for everyone. We are proud to be a part of the Ascension Parish community and honored to work alongside our friends and neighbors to create chemistry for a sustainable future. ■