ExxonMobil and Central

Since the Standard Oil refinery began operations in Baton Rouge in 1909, residents of the Central community have played a major role in the work of the refinery.
Some Central families, such as the Langlois, Nelson, and Bauer families, have been at the refinery from the beginning!
— Langlois Family —
Central’s Jason Langlois, 41, works in instrumentation at the refinery, now called ExxonMobil. He’s the 4th generation of his family to work for the company. In fact, when the Baton Rouge refinery opened in 1909, his great-grandfather, Lucian Langlois, was working as a “fireman,” keeping the fires in the stills at the required temperature.
Jason’s grandfather, Elmo “Doc” Langlois, was a boxing champion and All-State football player at Catholic High, before going to work at the refinery in the 1930’s. He took time out to join the Army during World War II and fought in France, where he was wounded. After the war, he returned to the refinery as a pipe fitter.
Jason’s father, Donald Langlois, started at the refinery in 1981 and retired in 2009. Jason and his brother Joshua went to work for Exxon in 2006. Jason is a mechanical first line supervisor. Joshua is a mechanical planner.
“It was a smart decision for us,” Jason Langlois said. “We adopted the culture of the company. Exxon has been very good to us and given our family great opportunities.”
Recent attacks against ExxonMobil by the far-left organization Together Baton Rouge resulted in the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board rejecting a proposed Industrial Tax Exemption (ITEP) for Exxon. For a few days, it appeared Exxon might be on the verge of reducing its commitment in Baton Rouge.
That would be a huge blow to Baton Rouge, Langlois said.
Fortunately, the Mayor-President, Sharon Weston Broome, and a host of political and community leaders spoke out strongly for Exxon and praised its contribution to the Baton Rouge area.
Exxon responded positively to the expressions of support and last week announced a $500 million expansion at its polyolefins plant in north Baton Rouge.
Here in Central, the controversy has not gone unnoticed. Together Baton Rouge tells the media Exxon does not make a large enough contribution to Baton Rouge. A video by Together Baton Rouge blames Exxon for poverty near its refinery in North Baton Rouge.
However, residents of Central have a very different view. Based on their personal experience, they see Exxon as the engine that drives the Baton Rouge area economy.
— Exxon and Central —
Ian James, a financial consultant and president of Capital Financial Group, began his firm in Central in the early 1990’s. Today, he manages nearly $1 billion in assets, mostly belonging to several hundred Exxon retirees in the Central area.
“Exxon is really one of the last major companies that treats its employees this well. Where else can someone with just a high school diploma earn $100,000 or more a year and then retire after only 25 or 30 years? Most of my clients who retired from Exxon have a net worth between $1.5 million and $2 million,” James said.
“What does Exxon mean to Central? It means Exxon employees and retirees have money and they are here spending that money in our retail stores in Central, generating profits for business and sales taxes for local and state government,” James said. “It means people with money building nice homes and paying more in property taxes to support our schools.”
“But there’s also a psychological dimension to it. I know hundreds of Exxon employees and retirees, and I have never seen people who are prouder of what they do. They genuinely feel that what they do drives the nation and makes our economy in Baton Rouge possible. They are right!” he said.
“By comparison, I grew up in a mining town in Northern Idaho. I saw what happened when Gulf Resources pulled out of our little town. We lost 4,000 jobs, and I watched a town die.”
James said, “The mines had been there 100 years, and we thought they would never leave, but they did! The town didn’t really understand and appreciate what we had until it was too late. My hometown has never recovered. The mines never reopened. People left. Schools had to close and consolidate. Parks and swimming pools went away.”
“Exxon is very good to its employees, and Exxon is the foundation of our economy in Baton Rouge. We should never take them for granted or assume they will always be here, because they can change their minds about Baton Rouge in a heartbeat,” James said.
Jason Langlois explained how Exxon retirees are able to do so well: “The company allows you to participate in the Thrift Fund, and you can use up to 20 percent of your salary to purchase Exxon stock. In turn, the company will match the
first seven percent that you buy.”
Over the years, employees’ purchase of their own company’s stock has proven a very wise investment. The stock has done well. Perhaps even more important, Exxon workers are not only employees but owners as well. They have a strong vested interest in the company’s success. They are not on the outside looking in but on the inside helping to make things work.
Langlois and other Exxon employees say they try to purchase as much Exxon stock every month as they can. On a couple of occasions, Exxon has had a stock split. When that has happened, it has been very profitable for Exxon employees.
— Nelson Family —
Robert “Mark” Nelson of Central is another person whose family has greatly benefited from Exxon for four generations. His grandfather, Robert E. Nelson, Sr. got a job at Exxon in the 1920’s. He was 16 years old and worked in the mail room. By the time he retired, he had risen to the top of local management. Although he never graduated from high school, he developed the skills to be a key leader at one of the world’s largest oil refineries.
Mark Nelson’s father, Robert E. Nelson, Jr., went to work at Exxon in 1948. In 1958, he was in a big layoff. Layoffs sometimes put workers on the sideline, in his case for five or six years. However, when business improved, Robert E. Nelson, Jr., returned to Exxon and finished his career at the plastics plant. He was an instrument specialist. Although he graduated from Baton Rouge High, he had no college.
Mark Nelson himself graduated from Baton Rouge High in 1970. After two and a half years of college, he was hired at Exxon in 1974 as an instrument technician apprentice. He retired in 2009 as a second line supervisor over instrumentation.
Mark said, “If you want to work for somebody else, Exxon is a good company to work for!” He brought his family to Central more than 30 years ago. They live in Geo-Jé’s subdivision off Frenchtown Rd.
Mark’s son Brian Nelson joined Exxon in 2005. He is an instrument specialist. In fact, all of the Nelson family have been instrument specialists except grandfather Robert, Sr., who was on the process side. Brian is a graduate of Central High.
Looking back today, Mark Nelson said one of the best things the company ever did was create the Thrift Fund. When he was at Exxon, you could contribute up to 16 percent of your salary to the fund and, as today, the company would match up to seven percent.
“My grandfather instilled in us to buy and buy and buy and never sell. That’s what we did! Exxon has a good record. They had a stock split and we made a lot of money. They also pay part of retirees’ health insurance,” Mark Nelson said.
For many years, Red McDowell was president of the Baton Rouge Oil and Chemical Workers Union at Exxon. He and other leaders of the local union maintained a cooperative attitude toward management. Both sides saw the benefit of working together to solve problems where possible.
Good relations between Exxon and the union were important to the success of the Baton Rouge refinery, Mark Nelson said. “For 36 years, we never had a strike. We had a local union and we negotiated in good faith on wages, benefits, and conditions,” he said. “Large national unions tried to come in but we never agreed. Later the workers did affiliate with a national union.”
Working at Exxon is not for everyone, Mark Nelson said. “When you walk through those plant gates, you are there for eight hours. You can’t come and go as you please, but if you can handle life at a plant, Exxon is a great choice.”
While a certain amount of conformity is required, the rewards have been great.
— Bauer Family —
For the Bauer family, the commitment to the refinery goes back to when it was being built, even before the plant opened in 1909.
Camile C. Bauer was born Oct. 14, 1884. He started at the refinery as a laborer during construction and stayed on as an employee when it came online. He worked there until he retired. He passed away Nov. 12, 1966.
While Camile Bauer was still at Standard Oil, his son, Leo C. Bauer, went to work at the refinery. That was in 1940. Leo retired in 1974.
Camile’s grandson, Ronald Bauer, said, “The only thing I remember about Grandpa’s time at the refinery was seeing the brass with a number stamped on it. It was used for time keeping in the early days and then a tin badge with his employee number and a black and white picture of him.”
Ronald Bauer said his dad Leo was in a layoff and lost four years as a result. “Eventually he ended up in process and spent most of his career at the chemical plant working as head operator on the Neo-Acid/Benzene/Resin units until he retired.”
Ronald Bauer’s first job wasn’t at Exxon but with Pennsylvania Industrial Chemical Company (PICCO) just north of Scotlandville. They made resin that was used in the production of tires. After four years, in 1972, he was hired by the refinery.
Ronald Bauer said, “This was two years before my father’s retirement. Dad lived until he was 93 and got to see all his children retire during his life span. I spent my whole 32-year career at Exxon working on seven of the units in one area that made up part of what was known as the Cracking area.”
“Starting as an apprentice in 1972, I was able to be a part of a major transition in how we ran. Back then, everything was controlled with instrumentation that we had to tell what to do. Later in my career, the computer age caught up with us, and I was able to be part of the transition into the world of computer control. When I retired, I was running units that I had never set foot on. It was all done by computers and what was known
then as Upper Level Controls.”
“I saw three name changes during my 32 years. When I was hired, it was Humble, then Exxon and after the merger it became ExxonMobil,” Ronald said.
Ronald Bauer’s son Timothy — the 4th generation to work for Exxon — was hired at the refinery in 2001, four years before Ronald retired in 2005.
Ronald said, “Timothy was also in Process. In our utilities area, that takes care of all the utilities needed to run the refinery, such as air, nitrogen, well water, steam and the waste water sewer systems.”
“After gaining enough seniority, he was able to become the Fire Operator on his team. The refinery has its own highly-trained Fire Department. Outside fire departments are never used, because they usually aren’t trained to respond to the types of fires that happen in operating oil units. Also, they are not familiar with how our units are laid out and interconnected. Tim is still with the refinery and now has about 18 years of service.”
There has been a Bauer at Standard Oil ever since the refinery began production in 1909.
How important has Exxon been to the Bauer family? Ronald Bauer said. “Exxon allowed my Mom and Dad to raise their four boys and two girls here in Central, all of whom graduated from Central High. It also allowed my wife Gail and me to raise our three boys in Central and be able to afford to send them to Christian schools. Because of Exxon, we have been able to center our whole life here in Central.”
— Conclusion —
Not long ago, the City of Central was named the third wealthiest city in Louisiana with an average household income of more than $71,000 a year, compared to an average household income of about $48,000 a year in Baton Rouge.
Many people wondered how that was possible.
Without doubt, the contribution of ExxonMobil to hundreds of families in Central who have worked for the company — some for 110 years — is a large part of the reason. Not only have they personally profited from the relationship but their spending and their investment here have helped make Central a success.
Woody Jenkins is Editor of the Central City News.