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A message from Alan cransberg, Managing Director, Alcoa of Australia
October has been a busy time so far - with celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of Portland Aluminium in Victoria and our annual volunteering month, ‘Month of Service’, in full swing.
It’s a real credit to Alcoa that we retain 53 employees from the year of Portland Aluminium’s inauguration in 1986, while 70% of Portland Aluminium employees have been with us for more than 10 years. It is only due to the commitment and loyalty from all our employees that we’ve enjoyed 25 years of successful operations, and I thank them.
Of course, Portland Aluminium continues to contribute a great deal to the local community. Back in the 80s, the construction of Portland Aluminium led to a significant economic contribution to the state and underpinned important energy infrastructure at the time. It was used by the state government as the basis for developing the Loy Yang complex, which brought a large number of jobs to regional Victoria.
The creation of Portland Aluminium was also the catalyst for the construction of a high voltage line from Geelong to Portland and an interstate interconnector between Victoria and South Australia. There are certainly 25 years worth of reasons to stop, reflect, recognise and celebrate this month. And, it is still a world class operation that we are very proud of.
I’ve had a lot of fun with Month of Service this year. My Australian management team and I spent the morning volunteering with Foodbank in Perth. We helped pack food into hampers for the less fortunate. With one of Foodbank’s biggest challenges being to secure enough food donations containing protein, we also donated a large quantity of beef from Alcoa Farmlands (yes, we are not just an aluminium company – did you know we also have a successful farmlands business?) It feels great to lend a hand, make a difference and give back to the community.
Last week, Alcoa was awarded the ‘Minerals and Energy Export Award’ at the WA Industry and Export Awards, run by the Department of Commerce. This is recognition of the value Alcoa adds to the communities where we operate (75 cents in every revenue dollar earned by Alcoa stays in Australia). Having won this award three times in recent years, we have also been inducted into the WA Export Hall of Fame.
Lastly, our 3rd quarter 2011 results were released this month. You can read the full results in more detail at www.alcoa.com/news.
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