We recall this proverb every year, but it bears repeating: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.”
ARG gives back! #CSR #communityengagement
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced this week Mike Kozminski’s recent promotion to vice president – research and development.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “We are thrilled to announce Mike’s progression to vice president of research and development.
“Mike’s technical expertise regarding the chemistry of our refinery’s products and processes is unparalleled,” Giberson stated. “Further, Mike is the epitome of servant leadership, as everyone’s go-to for assistance with all things chemistry at ARG.”
Kozminski succeeds former VP – R&D David Krantz, who retired in January after a decade of service to ARG.
“We certainly thank David for his contributions to ARG during the last 10 years,” Giberson said.
As ARG’s VP – R&D, Kozminski plans and directs all aspects of R&D policies, objectives and initiatives, demonstrating expertise in the field’s concepts, practices and procedures. To assist leadership in maintaining ARG’s competitive, profitable position, he directs the development of new lubricant formulations and new-process development; plans capital expenditures and maintains expense budgets for the R&D and Quality teams; directs product registrations and licensing; and must be able to lead at all levels and simplify complex concepts.
In planning and executing new research and development proposals, Kozminski must define the project’s purpose and costs as well as equipment and HR requirements. The newest member of ARG’s leadership team, some additional key responsibilities include strategic vision communications, tactical planning and execution, consulting, executive-level problem solving and incident investigation.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Mike a number of times during our careers,” Giberson recalled. “In fact, on the very first call I ever made as a salesman, Mike and I were together. His incredible knowledge of petrochemicals and how they perform in various applications was critical to our closing that first sale.”
Kozminski re-joined ARG June 1, 2007, as manager of R&D. Giberson said he was especially instrumental to the Kensol® drilling-mud project in 2011 and more recently the bright stock hydrotreating efforts, both of which resulted in sales of a new product. Kozminski earned promotion to director of R&D on Aug. 3, 2014. Having worked previously at the Bradford refinery, he has picked up nearly 30 years of industry experience.
Kozminski has co-/authored several technical papers published in peer-reviewed journals. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He and his wife Dawn reside in Lewis Run. The couple are active in Bradford’s Catholic community; Mike serves as a lector and is a member of St. Francis of Assisi’s finance committee.
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – ARG announced this week Charlotte Layton’s promotion to director of quality and product development.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “We are happy to acknowledge Char’s increased scope of responsibility with this promotion. She has served the Bradford refinery for many years, making significant contributions to our company.”
Most recently, Giberson said, Layton was instrumental in two critical projects, first in achieving ARG’s certification to the latest ISO 9001:2015 quality standard and then in reviewing and updating or confirming technical specifications and data sheets for all refinery products.
As ARG’s director of quality and product development, Layton leads ARG’s entire Quality staff and is responsible for planning and directing quality assurance policies, programs and initiatives as well as process and product testing to ensure production standards are met.
Some key new responsibilities are creating, implementing and overseeing product development strategies; interacting with customers, suppliers and others to understand challenges and opportunities; and researching, planning and executing complex experiments in support of new products, ideas or technology. Layton reviews new ideas and collaborates cross-functionally to determine alignment with our business model and customer needs. Her expanded role requires extensive technical knowledge in multiple areas of petroleum technology in order to assist leadership in making significant business decisions.
Layton holds a Bachelor of Science in physical science and a Bachelor of Science in organic chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. She is an American Society of Quality, Certified Quality Manager/Operational Excellence. She serves as auditor for the Allegheny Mountain ASQ section’s board of directors and has been a member of the American Chemical Society for 35 years. Layton has served in many positions in the Penn-York section including chairman, program director and historian. She is an ISO-certified internal auditor trained in root cause analysis.
Layton has served the Bradford Refinery since June 22, 1981, when she was hired as a chemist I in Witco’s Analytical Services group. She progressed to R&D chemist II in Lubricants Development in 1988, to quality supervisor in 1991 and to quality manager in 1993. She was named Director of Quality in 2016. Layton is ARG’s Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) administrator.
Originally from Johnsonburg, Layton lives in Bradford with her husband Lanny and her great-niece Alexandria Morton.
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced this week Sarah Hayden’s promotion to Vice President – Human Resources.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “This much-deserved promotion recognizes Sarah’s service, development and leadership at ARG.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with many HR professionals in my career and Sarah is one of, if not the best HR professional I’ve worked with,” Giberson continued. “ARG and Bradford are fortunate to have a professional of Sarah’s caliber.”
Hayden marks 15 years with ARG this year, having been hired Nov. 14, 2005, as HR generalist. She earned promotion to HR manager Aug. 1, 2011, and began participating as a member of ARG’s Leadership Team that same year. She earned promotion to HR director June 9, 2014.
Prior to beginning her career with ARG, Hayden served 6 years as workforce development manager for North Central Regional Planning and Development Commission. She completed a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, is a certified Professional in Human Resources and has completed numerous trainings in supervision and leadership.
As Vice President – HR, Hayden leads the development and delivery of HR strategies, policies, procedures and programs aligned with ARG’s strategic business objectives, vision, mission and core values. Relying on extensive experience and judgment, she marshals the refinery’s pursuit of a high-performance culture rooted in servant leadership. She must ensure ARG’s compliance with applicable labor laws and demonstrate expertise in a variety of the HR field’s concepts, practices and procedures. She has also led the development of ARG’s COVID-19 protocols.
Hayden directs a team overseeing recruiting, employee relations and performance management as well as benefits and all aspects of compensation. Some additional key responsibilities include strategic vision communications, tactical planning and execution, consulting, executive-level problem solving and incident investigation.
Residing in Foster Township, Hayden and her husband Donnie have two children, Kayla and Mitchell, and recently welcomed a grandson Easton. Her community involvement includes serving as an active facilitator of the Healing Journey women’s ministry and a board member for Bright Alternatives as well as assisting the Bradford YWCA’s personnel committee. The Hayden family are active members of their local church.
“On behalf of all of ARG, we are pleased to announce Sarah’s promotion and congratulate her for this achievement,” Giberson said. “We thank Sarah for her many years of dedicated service to ARG and all its employees, and wish her continued success.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – Traditionally, an eighth wedding anniversary brings gifts of bronze or sometimes pottery, but American Refining Group Inc.’s Prafulla Patil and his wife Ulkarani had something far better in mind by which to remember theirs: Becoming American citizens.
ARG Research and Development Engineer II Prafulla Patil and his wife Ulkarani attended the naturalization ceremony in Mumford, N.Y., at the Genesee Country Village and Museum on the most patriotic of days, July 4, taking the Oath of Allegiance and achieving official United States citizenship.
Prafulla and Ulkarani were among 41 people presented with citizenship by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Mumford this Independence Day as Judge Frank Geraci Jr. presided over the ceremony and administered the oath.
Individuals from 26 different countries with multicultural backgrounds participated in the event. Nationwide, more than 14,000 people would achieve the same goal between June 28 and July 10, 2018.
“It’s been a long and challenging journey for our family, but it finally ended with this sweet dream,” Prafulla said. “As legal U.S. citizens we are feeling great, excited and hopeful. This status, which brings with it life, liberty, opportunities and happiness, is truly our dream come true.
“The process started as an F1 student visa/H1B work permit/Green Card holder and ended with citizenship,” he continued. “Both of us are honored and looking forward to making positive contributions to our community.”
Patil marked another anniversary earlier this year, clocking 5 years of service with ARG on April 8. He advanced to R&D engineer II on Oct. 1, 2016.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jeannine Schoenecker said, “We congratulate Prafulla and his family for their achievement and we wish them continued happiness and success as American citizens.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow its pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced John Zarroli has been named senior solutions specialist.
Zarroli’s role is the key research and development (R&D) interface with ARG’s sales and marketing team, and its customers. As senior R&D solutions specialist, Zarroli anticipates, identifies and solves a wide array of challenges, often requiring innovation in planning, executing and analyzing data in creative ways.
A Maryland resident, Zarroli will share time between his home office, the Bradford refinery and traveling to visit customers seeking Specialty Refining Solutions.
“Our customers’ easy access to our in-house technical expertise has long been one of the things that separates us from the competition,” ARG Vice President – Sales and Marketing John Malone said. “ARG’s investment in John as a specialist dedicated to offering solutions bolsters our company’s can-do attitude toward solving whatever product or application challenges our customers might face.”
Zarroli comes to ARG from ABITEC Corp. of Columbus, Ohio, where he most recently served as business development manager for industrial specialties. An STLE-certified lubrication specialist (CLS), he brings 35 years of lubricants and specialties experience on production and technical teams. He graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and management systems engineering.
Zarroli serves on the ARG Quality Steering Team and is the lead technical resource for its Product Management Team. His in-depth participation with ARG’s Sales, Marketing and R&D teams will allow for a better understanding of customer needs in developing products to meet them.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “Our R&D professionals are highly educated, highly experienced industry professionals. John’s addition to this group can only intensify the synergy between R&D and our Sales team, which is a big win for us as well as our customers.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – North America’s longest continuously operating refinery can hold on to its title.
On March 19, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf declared all non-life-sustaining businesses must close until further notice amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
As a critical contributor to the nation, American Refining Group (ARG) is exempt from this mandate and remains in operation.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “Products derived from petroleum quite literally make the world go around. Gasoline, diesel fuel and lubricants keep things moving and our specialty products are used in products all around us, that we all use every day.”
From fuels used in electric power plants, backup-power generators for hospitals and nursing homes, emergency vehicles and commercial transportation (truck and rail) distributing food, to specialty products used in manufacturing medical supplies. These are just a few examples. The Bradford refinery makes hundreds of products and is the largest supplier of zinc-free railroad engine oil east of the Mississippi River.
“We are doing everything we can to keep our employees safe, following CDC recommendations and establishing new policies as the situation evolves,” Giberson said.
He explained that ARG has implemented visitor and contractor screening, eliminated all company travel indefinitely and set up employees who can perform their job tasks remotely to work from home beginning Monday.
To date, ARG has not experienced any operational impacts from COVID-19, whether shipping, receiving or staffing.
“We don’t have a complicated global supply chain; the majority of our supplies come from within 500 miles of our plant,” Giberson said. “We really rely on the hard-working crude-oil producers in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.”
Further, ARG’s 181-acre campus comprises the entire refining process, from receiving crude oil to shipping out finished, packaged products.
“It all happens right here in Bradford,” Giberson said. “Staying healthy and working – keeping the refinery running – is the greatest contribution we can make to our community.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced this week Gisela Miller has been named director of sales.
“Gisela is an accomplished executive with decades of industry experience,” ARG Vice President – Sales and Marketing John Malone said. “We are thrilled to add such a skilled professional to our team.”
Miller began her career with D-A Lubricant Co. in 1984 as chief financial officer and director of logistics and warehousing. In 2009, she earned promotion to president of D-A Lubricant Co., the role in which she served until 2018. She holds both a bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.
Miller joined ARG in early 2019 as a consultant in support of ARG’s sales team. She was named interim director of sales in July and was selected recently to fill the role permanently.
As ARG’s director of sales, Miller is responsible for the overall productivity of its refinery products sales team. She will handle major accounts across multiple market segments as well as managing and directing the regional salesforce in achieving sales and profit goals.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “Gisela is a great fit for ARG, having spent her entire career in our industry, but she also shares ARG’s values of service and giving back to our communities.”
Based in Indianapolis, Miller is a member and past president of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish Council, member of Starfish Initiatives Board of Directors (mentoring program for underprivileged high school students) and a Loaned Executive for her local United Way fundraising campaigns.
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced recently a successor has been named for one of its refinery’s most critical roles.
As current ARG Operations Director Mike Speaker intends to retire in early 2020, he has begun to transition the role and responsibilities to Jeff Brewer, a chemical engineering professional with more than 30 years of industry experience.
Brewer comes to ARG from a Delek US refinery in Arkansas, where he oversaw process engineering, process controls, planning and economics and laboratory teams. At Delek, he was responsible for developing process engineers through training and unit assignments, facilitating operational issues and solutions, coordinating planning and operations and developing projects to improve refinery margin via yield optimization.
ARG’s operations director has a core leadership role in the development and execution of the refinery’s operations systems, processes and procedures, and providing oversight and direction to our operations team of approximately 100 members. The operations director ensures systems and processes are in place to drive safety, environmental and quality operational performance and compliance with all applicable rules and regulations. The role requires collaboration across all other departments at ARG (crude supply, logistics, customer service, human resources, sales, purchasing, research and development, quality, finance, maintenance, reliability, engineering and technology) to ensure the refinery’s overall safe, reliable and quality operation.
ARG Senior Vice President – Operations Robin Augustine said, “Mike has served the Bradford refinery extremely well throughout his career and should be very proud of the footprints he leaves in its operations today.
“His retirement has been on our minds for some time, as we knew that replacing Mike would be a tough task requiring the right mix of process expertise, business acumen and leadership skills,” Augustine said. “We are pleased to welcome such a seasoned industry executive in Jeff Brewer to our ARG team. Having Jeff on board ahead of Mike’s retirement and Mike’s commitment to a smooth transition will be a tremendous benefit to our refinery.”
Speaker began his career at the Bradford refinery June 3, 1985, as an extra shiftbreaker at the dewaxing and deresining (D&D) unit, which is now ARG’s R.O.S.E. Unit. He worked his way through the ranks there during the next four years, advancing to first assistant operator in June 1987 before transferring to the MEK Unit in March 1989. He learned that unit’s operation as he moved up from shiftbreaker to assistant operator in 1992.
After ARG bought the refinery, Speaker moved to process supervisor overseeing the MEK Unit and Boiler House. In April 2007, he advanced to operations superintendent, the role in which he served until his promotion to operations director March 1, 2018.
“The contributions Mike has made and the knowledge he has amassed during his 34-plus years of service here are invaluable,” Augustine said. “We congratulate Mike for his achievements and reaching this next chapter in life. We wish him and his wife Julie all the best in retirement.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) has partnered with DRIVEN Racing Oil to bring its uniquely suited base oils back to the motorsports scene.
For decades, racers and enthusiasts have depended on the high-performance lubricants produced by ARG’s Bradford refinery using the Pennsylvania-grade crude oil first discovered there. This light, sweet, paraffinic crude oil produces some of the finest high-performance motor oils sought by the motorsports industry for their unparalleled protection and performance.
DRIVEN’s new GP-1 High-Performance Synthetic Blend compounds ARG’s Pennsylvania-grade base oil with select synthetic components and advanced additive technology. The high-zinc formula is specifically engineered and tested to deliver increased horsepower with more than 30 percent better wear protection, compared to the competition.
GP-1’s unique properties provide maximum engine protection with excellent film strength perfectly suited for competition, classic or import vehicles. The semi-synthetic GP-1 is half the cost of a full synthetic, yet produces 15 percent thicker oil films (better protection) due to its use of the unique pressure viscosity coefficient of Pennsylvania-grade crude oil.
ARG Vice President – Sales and Marketing John Malone said, “We are pleased to announce this partnership and are excited for another opportunity to bring our Pennsylvania-grade-based oils back to professional motorsports.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
