PRESS RELEASES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Daniel K. Youhas | (202) 347-5462
Washington, DC – December 8, 2005 –- Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) member Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. has been invited to present at the 2006 State/EPA Conference on Environmental Innovation and Results. The event will be held January 23-25, 2006 in Denver, CO.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), and Council for Excellence in Government are sponsoring the three-day conference, designed exclusively for state environmental agencies and EPA to learn about the latest strategies shaping environmental policy and improving environmental results.
Jackie Morris, Quality Assurance & Environmental Manager and Webster “Dale” Jermyn, Director, Process Improvement & Training will make the presentation on Bender’s Environmental Management System (EMS).
An EMS serves as a guide assisting organizations in weaving environmental decision-making into daily business decisions. The goal is not only to achieve better compliance assurance, but also to improve environmental performance.
Bender is one of six shipbuilding and ship repair companies that implemented an EMS as part of EPA’s Shipbuilding & Ship Repair Environmental Management System Pilot. The pilot was run through EPA’s Sector Strategies Program (formerly known as the Sustainable Industries Program), of which SCA is a founding member.
Bender has operated their EMS since 2000, reducing welding consumables and smoke emissions at their facilities by 30%. The company has also integrated lean manufacturing processes into their EMS, reducing waste, simplifying procedures, and increasing production.
Other items on the conference agenda include plenary sessions with environmental leaders and workshops on practical topics like performance measurement. The seminar is the third of its kind, with the first being held in 2000.
Founded in 1919 and incorporated in 1923, Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Co., Inc., of Mobile, AL, is one the world's leading builders of mid-size steel and aluminum vessels. The company operates 12 yards over 54 acres on the Mobile River, including 3 steel floating dry-docks with lifting capacities of 4,000, 7,000 and 18,000 tons that can accommodate vessels over 600 feet in length. Seven of the yards have launching ways capable of end and side launchings and the maximum lift capacity of the 25 bridge, mobile, crawler and floating cranes is 250 tons.
SCA is the largest and most broadly-based national trade association representing the U.S. shipyard industry. SCA members build, repair and service America's fleet of commercial vessels. SCA members constitute the shipyard industrial base that maintains and repairs Navy combatant ships and other government craft, as well as builds small and midsized vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and other government agencies. The Council represents 38 companies that own and operate over 100 shipyards, with facilities on all three U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes, the inland waterways system and Hawaii. SCA also represents 26 affiliate members that provide goods and services to the shipyard industry.