Catalyst

Profile
Kevin Henderson, Methanex Corporation;
Chairman, CIAC Board of Directors
KEVIN HENDERSON HAS come a long
way in his 40 years with Methanex, the
world’s largest producer and supplier
of methanol. Today, he may be their
Vice-President for Manufacturing in North
America, but he started out loading railcars
for the company.
During the past four decades, he has
worked at plants in British Columbia,
Alberta and New Zealand, and done just
about every job—from emergency response
instructor to manager of operations to
plant manager.
Now, Henderson has taken on a new
challenge—Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Chemistry Industry
Association of Canada (CIAC).
While he assumed the role in October
2015, Henderson isn’t new to CIAC’s
board. He joined the association in 2012
and has been a member of the executive
committee since 2014. He initially became
involved with CIAC because of the positive
impact the organization was making
on the industry.
“I admired what CIAC and its members
achieved and the global leadership
they brought to the chemistry industry
with regard to Responsible Care®,” he
explains. “Having worked in the industry
for 40 years, I have seen firsthand the value
of Responsible Care and the work that CIAC
has accomplished—the improvements in
overall safety, and the responsible management
of products.”
Responsible Care is a key part of
Methanex’s operations, not just in Canada,
but also at their plants in Chile, Egypt, New
Zealand, the United States and Trinidad
and Tobago. The company underwent its
first Responsible Care verification in 1996
and was the first chemical company in the
Kevin Henderson, VP North America (centre) is presented with a street sign in
his name from John Floren, President and CEO (right) and Paul Daoust, Plant
Manager, Medicine Hat in recognition of his 40 years of service. The sign has
been mounted on a road inside the Medicine Hat manufacturing facility.
world to be globally verified to Responsible
Care. Henderson says their vision is to
always be a leader in Responsible Care.
“Responsible Care practices are part
of the foundation of all things that we do
within the company”, he says. “We have
been verifying across the globe using the
Canadian standard of Responsible Care and
that has helped us drive our whole business
to improve at every level, from environmental
to safety to product stewardship
to sustainability.”
Henderson is looking to his new position
as a chance to work even more closely
with CIAC, and to find ways to achieve the
goals and expectations of its members. He
is also determined to help the Canadian
chemistry industry grow and be more competitive
in the global marketplace.
“I would like to see further advances in
technology and the opening up of new markets
for Canadian-produced chemicals,”
says Henderson. “I think the Canadian
chemistry industry is poised for growth.
Access to markets through an efficient and
competitive rail and ports system helps to
support that growth.”
Collaborating with government will be
key to making Henderson’s vision a reality,
especially with recent changes in leadership
at the federal level and in several provinces.
He believes it is critical that government
is aware of the sustainability efforts
and the economic value the industry brings
to Canada.
“Since 1992, our industry has reduced
its emissions by 88 per cent and will continue
efforts to improve environmental
performance even further,” he says.
Another of Henderson’s priorities as
chairman is to educate on the economic
value of the chemistry industry. The industry
directly employs 82,000 Canadians and
is the second largest exporter among all
manufacturing sectors, exporting more
than $30 billion worth of product each year.
Continued on page 22
18 • Catalyst WINTER 2016