MaryJane Mudd, Executive Director, East Harris County Manufacturers Association
For many people, taking the reins to lead a trade association representing one of the largest petrochemical and refining manufacturing regions in the world would be a daunting prospect, even more so when taking into account that the role would begin during a global public health crisis.
But MaryJane Mudd, executive director of the East Harris County Manufacturers Association (EHCMA), was not intimidated by the challenge or the timing; leading through a crisis is her specialty. Her extensive experience has equipped her to be the ideal leader of an organization comprising more than 115 member companies that represent over 130 individual plants.
Founded in 1987, EHCMA supports member companies that operate primarily in the East Harris County, Texas, region, including in Houston, Deer Park, Baytown, Pasadena, North Channel, the Bay Area and La Porte. Members of EHCMA transform natural resources into the materials needed to make products like cosmetics, gasoline, jet fuel, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, electronics, building supplies, household goods, clothes, plastics, automotive parts and other items that are a part of everyone's daily life. Industry in the EHCMA territory contributes an estimated 33,000 jobs and $12 billion to the Houston economy.
“Industry is in the business of ‘making good,’ and EHCMA is proud to be its voice.” — MaryJane Mudd, EHCMA
Before this role, Mudd was already well acquainted with the many ways industry positively benefits society in terms of both economic and consumer impact, but stated that she continues to be amazed by the tremendous value EHCMA's member companies have delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The refining and petrochemical industries provide the feedstocks for making the PPE needed to protect first responders and health care professionals, protective coverings and coatings to protect food products, and sanitation and sterilization solutions, such as hand sanitizer and processes to clean and sterilize surgical tools and hospital equipment and rooms," she said. "Manufacturing these valuable products required many plant workers to show up every day throughout the pandemic, while companies created, invested in and implemented effective and innovative safeguards to prevent the spread of COVID-19."
The ways that EHCMA's companies have come through during the pandemic are not the exception, Mudd said. Rather, that's what they always do, day in and day out. It's an apt reflection of the EHCMA slogan, "making good," which is a clever nod to both the output of essential goods produced by industry as well as the social good created in its communities.
Originally from Baltimore, Mudd's family "moved around a lot" throughout her childhood as a function of her father's job as a plant manager for General Motors. Her father's profession would profoundly shape her work ethic and career ambitions.
"When I was five years old, I remember my father holding my hand and giving me a walking tour of the plant," she recalled. "When we'd pass by workers on assembly lines, they'd smile and wave. Even though I was so young, I was amazed by how intensely focused they were on their work. I still remember looking up at my father with pride, knowing he and the others were responsible for manufacturing the cars people needed and used each day."
The combination of Mudd's pride in her father, awe of the assembly workers' dedication and the realization about how important the plant's products were convinced her that she wanted to work in a business environment, because it "makes a real difference in people's lives."
Mudd would go on to study journalism at Central Michigan University, where she met a recruiter from Dow Chemical. That introduction led to her receiving and accepting a sales position at the global chemical manufacturer. Sales wasn't her passion, though, so when an opportunity came up on Dow's communications team, Mudd seized the opportunity. In that new position, she realized communications was her true calling, and she's been in the field ever since.
Mudd has worked in communications in both the corporate and nonprofit spheres. Her private sector resume reads like a "who's who" of major players in industry: Air Liquide America, Conoco, ConocoPhillips, Dow and Shell Oil; she also consulted for SABIC and Clariant while running her own communications business. Over the years, she developed a passion for community engagement, crisis communications and reputation management. Mudd's proudest professional achievement was the public affairs role she played for the Red Cross during Hurricane Harvey, a time in which she was able to help people in crisis while applying her skillset to participate in roughly 80 local and national media interviews. Over the years, she has served in leadership roles on boards including Leadership Houston, the American Marketing Association, Purdue University Parent Advisory Board and the League of Women Voters of Houston.
She is also a relentless advocate for medical research funding to treat tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a rare disease that the oldest of her three daughters was diagnosed with at the age of one. "My advocacy for TSC has enriched my life in many ways," she reflected. "It's been a 28-year journey, and advocating in Washington, D.C. has taught me so much about lobbying and public policy in general."
Hitting the ground running
Since taking the helm of EHCMA on March 1, Mudd has led the association to refine its mission, vision and values. "Our mission is to deliver value to our members with health, safety, environmental responsibility and economic growth in mind," she said. "We do this by creating opportunities for best-practice sharing as well as engaging in emergency response partnerships, advocacy and ongoing communication with our members and neighbors."
One of her first goals for EHCMA was developing a strategic plan in which she defined six strategic pillars, or areas of focus: business operations, membership, HS&E, communications, advocacy and community (including workforce development).
Mudd rolled out the plan to EHCMA's board of directors in September and in early October, Board Chair Rod Herrick led a workshop in which board members met in person and determined "Big Rocks" - the most critical strategic priorities for the upcoming year. While all strategic pillars will be pursued, the Big Rocks for 2022 are organizational structure, best-practice sharing, crisis communications and community engagement. Plans for implementation are underway, and a status report will be presented to members, partners and community leaders at the EHCMA Annual Meeting in December.
In the meantime, EHCMA continues to engage its member companies and impact local communities through its committees: Channel Industries Mutual Aid (CIMA), emergency management, communications, environmental, legislative, security, transportation and logistics, and workforce development. The committees, comprising representatives from multiple member companies, meet monthly to discuss implementation of specific goals and adjust as needs or opportunities arise. For example, the communications team led a community survey earlier this year to better understand the community's concerns and its impressions of industry. The survey results will be presented to member companies via webinar and in meetings throughout the region. The emergency management team is working with member companies and local partners to assess ways for improving incident communications. Mudd said there are many other examples of good work being done by EHCMA committees.
"Through it all, we come back to our mission of delivering value to our members with health, safety, environmental responsibility and economic growth in mind. This impacts everyone - our member companies, communities and industry as a whole," Mudd said.
Mudd also wants to effectively communicate EHCMA's "making good" message to the community.
"I know it can sometimes be hard for the public to connect the dots about what industry provides to make modern life livable. Our job is to make sure that message reaches them," she said. "As the pandemic subsides, our challenge is to 'socialize industry,' or create opportunities for member companies to share what they offer to society. EHCMA members deliver the vital products people need, and they're on the leading edge to produce safer, cleaner, more affordable, more responsible, and more sustainable processes and products. Industry is in the business of 'making good,' and EHCMA is proud to be its voice."
For more information, visit www.ehcma.org or call (281) 334-9091.
