David N. Weidman is Chairman and CEO of Celanese, an integrated chemical company based in Dallas, Texas. He is also the current Chairman of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) Board of Directors. ACC recently spoke to Weidman about his past experience, the benefits of chemistry, and future challenges and opportunities.
ACC: What originally drew you to work in the chemistry industry?
DW: As a teenager, I was very interested in chemistry, technology, and working with teams and organizations. I was honored to be named as one of the top 40 high school science students, as identified by the Westinghouse Talent Search, and to be elected to lead the Key Club, a large, multi-state service organization. After graduating from Brigham Young University with a chemical engineering degree and then earning my MBA from the University of Michigan, I started my career in strategic planning and new product marketing.
Throughout my career, I’ve enjoyed playing a small role in helping our innovative industry successfully address societal concerns, such as conserving energy, providing access to clean water to areas in need, and improving human health. I believe our industry’s creativity and innovations are essential to solving many of our world’s biggest challenges.
ACC: What do you believe are the greatest benefits of the products of chemistry?
DW: At our core, we are an industry that develops and manufactures products essential to today’s modern society—and one that is active in creating products that will be required by the society of tomorrow. The value chemistry brings to safety, health, the economy, and the environment—fundamental parts of American life—is beyond measure.
Advanced technological achievements, advances in medicine, science and exploration, energy discovery and conservation, and protecting and preserving our environmental resources—all of these are made possible through chemistry.
Simply put, you can’t go anywhere or do anything today that doesn’t rely on advances made through modern chemistry.
ACC: Can you provide any examples of efforts by the industry—or your company—to become more sustainable?
DW: Sustainability is being embedded in our corporate culture. In the end, most in our industry acknowledge sustainability is an economic, environmental, and social prerequisite for continued commercial success.
One example of Celanese’s sustainability efforts is our energy reduction commitment. At the beginning of the decade, a goal was set to reduce the energy Celanese uses to make its various products by 20 percent by 2005. Celanese exceeded that goal, with a reduction of 22 percent.
Continuing with this commitment, Celanese has set a goal of reducing our energy index by an additional 20 percent as part of our 2010 sustainability goals. At present, we are on track to exceed this milestone, too.
Achieving this goal will result in an energy reduction of more than 35 percent by 2010, with enough energy saved to power a city the size of St. Paul, Minn.
ACC: As incoming Board Chairman of the ACC, what accomplishments would you like to achieve by the end of 2009?
DW: The chemical industry is facing a very dynamic environment. A new administration and changes on Capitol Hill bring both opportunities and challenges.
On a broader scale, the industry needs to continue its work to ensure the public’s understanding of the safety of our products. Along these lines, we must push for positive changes that address legitimate public concerns without damaging our ability to do business. And while we find ourselves in a weakened economic environment, we must stay focused on supporting our advocacy priorities and objectives.
ACC: How do you believe the slowdown in the economy will impact the industry during your term as Chairman?
DW: As our industry responds to the evolving needs of the global marketplace and a challenging world economy, we see opportunities ahead. To succeed in this difficult economic time, our industry must deliver value to global customers, embrace change, and innovate. This slowdown will give our industry a chance to help our customers create new models of success.
I believe our members need to know, during this time of an economic downturn and a new political environment both in Washington, D.C., and in many of our states, ACC will continue to effectively and efficiently focus advocacy efforts on issues that are vital to our industry.
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