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From left are Philip Anderson, Meade Hepler, and Randall Johnson

MWV's Covington Mill Announces Position Changes

 
COVINGTON, VIRGINIA – November 7, 2014 – MWV’s Alleghany Highlands Operations announces position changes that were internally announced in September.

Philip Anderson has accepted the position of shift operations manager for Fiberline, Power, and Recovery. In this role, he is responsible for shift operations, personnel, safety, environmental impact, quality, production requirements, and maintenance for the backend of the mill. He works closely with the shift operations manager for the Paper Mill, Stock & Additives, and Loading.

Anderson earned his B.S. in Paper Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1978. He began his career with Westvaco in 1978 as production supervisor in the Bleach Room and Pulp Mill at the Covington mill. In 1985, he accepted a position in Technical Sales Service with Nalco Chemical Company, and in 1992, he joined Badger Paper as the pulp mill manager. Anderson held various positions in pulp mill operations and technical / engineering management at International Paper’s Riegelwood mill in North Carolina from 1993 to 2011. Most recently, he was the technical manager for Valmet Inc.

Meade Hepler has accepted the position of maintenance supervisor. In this position, Hepler is responsible for daily maintenance activities and ensuring adherence to safe work practices and guidelines. In addition, Hepler is responsible for interfacing with Operations, Maintenance, and Reliability groups, as well as maintaining and increasing equipment reliability and runability.

Hepler began his career with MWV in 1996 as a laborer on the Extra Board. Later that year, he moved to the General Utility department as a laborer. In 1997, he joined No. 1 Paper Machine as a utility assistant and rejoined the General Utility department as a laborer in 1998. Hepler began the millwright apprentice program in 1999, and in 2003, received his journeyman millwright certification. He accepted the position of assistant maintenance planner in 2006 before he was promoted to maintenance planner for Recovery in 2007. Hepler accepted the position of maintenance planner for Area 1 in September 2012.

Randall Johnson has accepted the position of senior forester in the Wood department. In this position, Johnson is responsible for working with Procurement and CFM to supply roundwood to the Covington mill and procuring pulpwood and biomass in central West Virginia.

Johnson received his A.A.S. in Forestry Technology from Glenville State College in 1995. He began his career with Westvaco in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1995 before accepting the position of harvesting and procurement forester for Georgia Pacific in Mount Hope, West Virginia, in 1999. In 2007, Johnson joined MWV as a forester in Rupert, West Virginia, and was most recently a resource forester for Plum Creek, a position he held from December 2013 to September 2014.

Kasey McAllister has accepted the position of process control engineer. In this role, she is responsible for providing day-to-day support to DCS and PLC systems, supporting the process control network, and working with the Production, Maintenance, and Engineering departments on projects related to continuing process improvement and machine reliability.

McAllister earned her B.S. in Computer Engineering in 2013 and M.S. in Applied Physics and

Computer Science in 2014 from Christopher Newport University. She interned at the Covington mill as the Safety co-op during summer 2011 and during her winter break in 2011. McAllister interned for three summers (2012, 2013, and 2014) and two winters (2012 and 2013) as the EIS Field Services intern.

Melanie Rickett has accepted the position of indirect sourcing manager as part of the Corporate Indirect Sourcing Organization. In this position, Rickett is responsible for setting priorities and managing strategic sourcing activity in the areas of capital, production consumables, and local services. Additionally, she provides sourcing support to capital and maintenance projects and manages service providers for the Covington mill. Rickett has ownership of a portion of the PBO production consumables contracts and is responsible for driving results through our supplier value maximization program.

Rickett received her B.B.A. in Business Administration in 1986 from James Madison University and is pursuing her M.B.A. through Liberty University. She began her career with MWV in 1990 at the Covington mill in the Accounting department where she held the role of raw materials accountant, accounting analyst, and accounting manager. In 2004, she moved to the Purchasing department as a raw materials buyer, and in 2007, she accepted the position of MRO sourcing specialist in corporate procurement. Rickett was most recently the business manager at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, where she was employed from 2009 - 2014.

Will Sales has accepted the position of E&I engineer / planner for Nos. 1 and 2 Paper Machine. In this position, he is for responsible for the daily planning of electrical and instrumentation activities and providing engineering support for reliability based E&I projects on Nos. 1 and 2.

Sales earned his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University in 1996. He began his career with MWV as a technical assistant in 1996. In 1997, he accepted the position of fill-in instrument foreman and has held various roles in the E&I / PCS department. In January 2010, Will accepted the position of reliability engineer in the East Mill for the E&I / PCS department, and in 2011, he moved to the Bleach Room as an engineer.

Barbara Smith has accepted the position of warehouse services coordinator at the Low Moor Converting plant. In this position, she is the liaison between the ILC account representatives and scheduling department and is responsible for the continuous movement of material, performing and reconciling inventories, planning of incoming and outgoing materials, and SAP training for the warehouse group.

Smith began her career with MWV in September 1997 as a senior accountant in the Finance department. In 1999, she accepted the position of salvage winder scheduler in Production, Planning, and Control where she also held the positions of load planner, machine scheduler, and TP&E administrator. She joined the SCORE project team as lead training coordinator in 2007 and accepted the temporary position of PM/Meridium administrator in 2013. Smith has been an order management shift lead since October 2013.

Jeremy Walsh has accepted the position of E&I supervisor / planner in the E/I/PCS department. In this position, Jeremy is responsible for electrical and instrumentation safety, reliability, and maintenance in the No. 1 Power Boiler and No. 3 Turbine Generator area.

Walsh earned his B.S. in Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology from Penn State in 2013. He worked as a mechanical design engineering intern at McLanahan Corporation from 2009 - 2013 and began his career with MWV in January 2014 as a process engineer in the Technical department, assigned to Power.

Nathan Weaver has accepted the position of senior forester in the Wood department. In this position, Weaver is responsible for working with Procurement and CFM to supply roundwood to the Covington mill and procuring pulpwood and biomass in central West Virginia.

Weaver received his B.S. in Wood Industries from West Virginia University and began his career with Coastal Lumber Company in 2004 as a procurement forester. He joined American Hardwood Industries in 2011 as a procurement forester.

Betty Wolfe has accepted the position of administrative assistant in the Engineering department. In this position, she is responsible for documenting and updating files, creating capital expenditure requests, and processing manuals, instruction booklets, and drawings from foreign folders to DM5.

Wolfe graduated from DSLCC in 2003 with a career studies in Word Processing. She had worked through Manpower at the Covington mill since 2003 as a data entry clerk and administrative assistant. In 2012, she joined Olsen Engineering and continued to work at the mill as a data entry clerk and administrative assistant.
From left are Kasey McAllister, Melanie Rickett, and Will Sales

From left are Barbara Smith and Jeremy Walsh

From left are Nathan Weaver and Betty Wolfe

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