News

Typical mortgage loans allow borrowers to purchase a home without paying the full cost upfront. In a similar manner, energy savings performance contracts, or ESPCs, allow Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC, to complete projects at Pantex and Y12 that improve energy efficiency and support infrastructure renewal and reliability without upfront capital.

During the past few years, the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office has partnered with two energy service companies on ESPCs at Pantex and Y12 as part of an enterprise-wide initiative to improve energy efficiency and revitalize site infrastructure.

Senior Director of Infrastructure and Projects Management Dan Glenn said, “The energy service company puts up the capital to do the work, and we pay them back through the energy savings gained over the term of the contract.”

At Pantex, an ESPC with Siemens Government Technologies Inc. has enabled the plant to harness the power of wind energy with the installation of five 2.3megawatt wind turbines capable of producing approximately 47 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.

During installation of the wind turbines, Infrastructure and Projects Management worked with Pantex Engineering to address a concern about possible voltage fluctuations affecting the plant’s sensitive equipment. The solution was to install a power quality meter to monitor the specific output of the wind farm. The 426foottall turbines can generate enough energy cost-savings to pay for the project and later provide additional cost savings directly to Pantex. In the month of May, the wind farm produced 4,022,647 kWh, which was 66% of the plant’s total energy consumption.

At Y12, the ESPC projects, managed by Johnson Controls, Inc., are having noticeable impact on the utility infrastructure, as well as the site’s energy efficiency.

“We wouldn’t have the budget to do this work at Y12 without an ESPC. More money becomes available because it is tied to energy savings. We try to leverage all funding opportunities to improve the infrastructure to make it more reliable and reduce the maintenance needs of the site,” Glenn said.

Currently, there are five main projects at different stages of progress, including the chiller plant upgrade, steam system decentralization, lighting upgrades, a new compressed air facility and steam system repairs. The upfront capital for these projects is funded by JCI; however, Y12 is responsible for support costs, including activities such as lock out/tag out, utility surveys and engineering drawing review.

Providing support funding and coordinating activities to lessen the impact to mission work and schedule are some of the challenges that come with ESPCs.

“These projects improve plant reliability, operational efficiency and infrastructure, and eliminate a significant amount of deferred maintenance. We invest our funds into the support costs for the ESPCs because we know of the bigger benefit to the site,” Glenn said.

“Improving energy efficiency and revitalizing the infrastructure is an enterprise-wide initiative, and we’ll continue to leverage ESPCs to help achieve our sustainability goal.”

More than 800 CNS employees participated in the Active for Life Challenge April 1–June 3. This 10-week program encourages people to be more active and eat healthier foods on a regular basis.

“It was terrific to see people out walking around the plant, in the gyms in town or participating in group activities during lunch,” Sherry Philyaw, Pantex Active for Life captain, said. “My favorite part was seeing people getting active and taking charge of their own health.”

Karen Lacey, LiveWise dietitian and Y-12 Active for Life captain, agreed. “I loved seeing our teams participating at the Secret City 5K and Relay for Life. Our multiple onsite challenges (longest plank, most pushups) encouraged some great competiveness between us and Pantex.”

The overall top CNS team was TEAM V, located at Pantex. This Active for Life team truly embodied the CNS OneTeam vision. Pantexan Marc Brooks explained, “While six of us are here at Pantex, one of your own (Eric White, who works at Pantex about 25 percent), was also a member of TEAM V. So, the top CNS team was a joint effort of Pantex and Y12 after all!”

While Pantex and Y12 didn’t place in the top category for the multi-lab challenge, CNS employees can be proud.

Lacey said, “CNS participants averaged over 46 minutes per day, which meets and exceeds recommendations for overall health and minimizing risk of chronic disease, and far exceeds national averages for activity. It thrills me to see these numbers!”

Lacey and Philyaw are already planning for next year’s campaign.

Allison Roberts was one of the more than 800 CNS employees who participated in Active for Life

Grocery shopping. Some people carefully plan a weekly menu and painstakingly make a list in an attempt to stick to their budget. Others dread the task so much they just show up at the store hungry, throw items in the cart and go home hoping to make a meal of their basket full of random purchases.

Regardless of which category they fit in, several Pantexans recently turned this mundane weekly task into a fun educational event.

The employees and some family members visited two local grocery stores for healthy shopping tours. The tours, hosted by Market Street United and Natural Grocers, were part of the Active for Life Challenge, a 10-week American Cancer Society program to encourage employees to be more active and eat healthier foods.

At Natural Grocers, the store manager and employees provided an aisle-by-aisle overview of many healthy food products and supplements. They talked about food philosophy and standards. The produce manager even cut a blood orange for participants to taste. Attendees also took home a new product sample and some literature from the store’s nutrition library.

Kelly Delgado-Goudschaal, manager of Pantex Supply Chain Management Transformation and Strategic Initiatives, was impressed by the store’s advice to gradually convert to a healthier lifestyle.

“The store manager encouraged us to make small changes instead of jumping off a cliff into health eating,” Delgado-Goudschaal said. “The prices were also not as expensive as I expected.”

She made the tour a family affair by bringing her wife and three daughters along. The kids said the samples offered during the tour were “not as gross as they expected”.

At Market Street United, a certified dietician offered a two-hour Easy Diabetes Shopping store tour designed to help diabetics make healthier shopping decisions.

Pantex Engineer Sharon Smith said, “The tour was fantastic! We learned how to use the special number on the price stickers to help us choose the healthier items”.

Those who couldn’t attend a store tour were encouraged to complete a grocery store scavenger hunt to learn about product placement and labeling.

Pantex Fire Department members (left to right) David Stewart, Kyle Butler, Scott Johnson and Jeremy Baker won the 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle’s “Battle of the Badges” barbeque cook-off. The team donated their $1,000 cash prize back to the 100 Club.

The Pantex Fire Department recently participated in the 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle’s annual “Battles of the Badges” barbecue cook-off, a competition between Amarillo area law enforcement and firefighters.

Pantex firefighters won the grand championship for their brisket and placed seventh in
the ribs category. The team received award plaques and a cash prize of $1000, which
they donated back to the 100 Club. The winning team members were Scott Johnson,
battalion chief; David Stewart, captain; Kyle Butler, driver/operator; and Jeremy Baker,
firefighter/paramedic.

The 100 Club provides financial aid for families of public safety personnel who are
seriously injured or killed in the line of duty. In addition, as funds are available, the club
provides law enforcement and firefighting agencies with life-protecting equipment and
educational opportunities that cannot be secured through budgeted funds or agencies. It
serves the 26 Texas Panhandle counties.

CNS employees are teaching Girl Scouts valuable STEM skills while leading an Amarillo-wide effort to transform an old camper into a tiny home for a woman in need.

Don’t expect a lot of girl talk from Savannah Gates, Rebecca Heinen, Brandy Ramirez and Courtney Waddell. When they get together, they “do.” Naturally, when the Pantex engineers had the opportunity to share what a STEM education is all about with a group of Girl Scouts, they didn’t pull out the trusty (translate “dull”) PowerPoint presentation. They put tools in the girls’ hands and showed them instead.

“I didn’t get into engineering for the sake of engineering,” said Gates, a mechanical engineer who works in Production and Manufacturing Engineering. “I got an engineering degree because it’s the love of what I could do with it in my personal life. I am passionate about using my skills to make my community a better place to live.”

The four Pantexans have worked with local Girl Scout troops on several community improvement projects and engineering‑related activities. To encourage the girls to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, the engineers involved them in building a “tiny house” to give them hands‑on STEM skills.

Tiny houses are part of a growing trend to lead a simpler, lower‑cost lifestyle, one that many times involves having a reduced ecological impact. Tiny houses are just that — small, usually less than 300 square feet. Some are off‑the‑grid, generating their own electricity, and capture rainwater. They can be portable or attached to slabs. Tiny homes are less expensive to build than larger‑scale homes and are easier and cheaper to maintain.

Gates, Heinen, Ramirez, Waddell and the Girl Scouts are working alongside Pantex carpenters, electricians and welders, who’ve donated their services, as well as city planning officials, community volunteers and businesses, which have contributed supplies, to transform an old camper into a tiny home for a woman in need.

“After hearing about the girls’ efforts from a local news story, our fellow Pantexans began to volunteer their supplies, time and skills to aid in this great cause. This is really an Amarillo‑wide effort spearheaded by Pantex,” said Heinen, who has a degree in industrial engineering. “The house, which is part of a larger community of planned tiny homes, will be for a single mom or woman coming from a poisonous environment, perhaps drug addiction or abuse.”

The Pantexans are teaching the Girl Scouts practical STEM skills through trade work. “We’re breaking away from the traditional STEM classroom approach,” Gates said. “The girls are installing doors and new windows. We’ve put tools in their hands and are showing them how to use them. They’re loving it.”

Imparting their engineering skills isn’t the only motivator for the engineers; they also want to mentor the girls on the importance of giving back to their communities.

“I am always excited to help others,” said Ramirez, a facility engineer in System Engineering. “This project presented a great opportunity to help others as well as teach young girls about engineering and construction. Having a part in building strong, smart, caring young women is very rewarding.”

Waddell, a mechanical engineer, agrees. “The best part of working with my Pantex colleagues is seeing how much love there is for our community,” she said. “The group is constantly looking for ways to give back, and this project is a perfect example of that.”

Each day, highly-trained first responders proudly don a Pantex firefighter or security police officer (SPO) uniform ready to respond to any potential emergency situations and contribute to the important Pantex mission.

Last October, several of these Pantexans opted for more extensive training with the National Honor Guard Academy class hosted in Amarillo by Potter County Fire and Rescue. Ten members of the Pantex Fire Department (PXFD) Honor Guard and five SPOs graduated from the class after six days of rigorous training.

The Pantexans joined other Amarillo area firefighters and law enforcement personnel in an intense week-long “boot camp” with courses in basic drill and ceremonial movements, flag etiquette, uniform care, casket protocol and even a mock funeral service.

Attending the National Honor Guard Academy training sparked interest in creating a Pantex SPO Honor Guard and provided an opportunity for the PXFD Honor Guard to improve and formalize its already established procedures.

“We started looking for a standardized way to do things like in the military,” said Donovan Morgan, PXFD battalion chief and Honor Guard member. “We wanted to be able to blend into ceremonies with other first responders.”

Members of the PXFD established the Honor Guard in 2011 to show respect and compassion to families of fallen firefighters and law enforcement personnel. They developed their own operations manual, flag and uniform, which Morgan is quick to point out has no rank insignia.

“We might have different ranks in our day-to-day work, but there is no rank in the Honor Guard. We all come together to honor our fallen brother or sister,” Morgan said. “It’s not about us. Our main goal is to show respect to the family.”

The group offers fire service funerals at three response levels based on the nature of the death, and occasionally provides flag and color guard presentations for other official ceremonies.

In addition to supporting Pantex and local area memorial services and official ceremonies, the PXFD Honor Guard also travels on their own time and at their own expense to support services honoring first responders killed in the line-of-duty across the country. They have traveled as far as south as Houston and as far west as Prescott, Arizona. Each September, they even attend a ceremony at the International Association of Fire Fighters Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado Springs.

Jody Baker, a Pantex firefighter/paramedic who died in a off-duty vehicle accident December 25, 2011, was very instrumental in organizing the PXFD Honor Guard. After Baker’s death, they were filled with a greater sense of duty and pride.

What began as a way for Pantex firefighters to honor fallen first responders and their families has become a living tribute to one of their own.

Recently, Pantex partnered up with the West Texas A&M Procurement Center and Small Business Development Center to provide local and regional small businesses with opportunities in the Federal arena at the 2015 Pantex Small Business Symposium.

Rick Palmer, Director of the WTAMU Procurement Center saw this program as a great opportunity to gather all the parties in one room and get down to the business of small business.

“The mission and goal…is to get great local businesses together with potential clients such as governmental agencies and their contractors. We were able to accomplish this by hosting a showcase event where the CNS Pantex managers met many local companies and their people,” Palmer said.

Presentations were made by Pantex, WTAMU, Small Business Administration, the city of Amarillo and its Mayor Paul Harpole, all designed to help walk attendees through the procurement process.

The highlight of the day was a ceremony to recognize the 2015 Pantex Small Business of the Year award, presented by Mayor Harpole and Caleb Pool, representing 13th Congressional District Representative Mac Thornberry’s office.

This year, the award went to Corporate Technology Group (CTG); a locally owned, Woman Owned Small Business, committed to excellence in all phases of business. They provide extraordinary customer service and in FY2014, CTG had a 95.1% overall success rating with Pantex for on-time delivery. CTG met or exceeded Pantex’s goals in almost all instances, negotiated with manufacturers and vendors to lower costs while still meeting required Pantex deadlines.

Monica Graham-Carlson, Pantex Small Business Program Manager, was pleased with the turnout and the commitment made to the small business entrepreneur.

“I think the event was a great success. Pantex is committed to including small businesses in contracting opportunities and believe this event allowed us to reflect on that commitment.”

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC has partnered with the West Texas A&M Procurement Center and Small Business Development Center to provide local and regional small businesses with opportunities in the Federal arena with Pantex at this year’s Business Procurement Symposium.

CNS Small Business Subcontracting has set a 65% small business goal; including those classified as small disadvantaged, woman-owned, veteran-owned, and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. CNS considers small businesses of paramount importance and continues to actively seek opportunities for them.

A partnership was formed with West Texas A&M University/Small Business Development Center to assist in getting the word out to subcontractors regarding opportunities. Today’s symposium is designed to inform potential businesses and vendors the methods and processes that are utilized including background and mission information, socio-economic programs and to answer any questions. There will be numerous presentations made by Pantex, WTAMU, Small Business Administration, the city of Amarillo and Mayor Paul Harpole designed to help walk attendees through the procurement process.

As part of today’s program, a special award is being given out: The 2015 Pantex Small Business of the Year award, recognized by Amarillo Mayor Harpole and a representative from 13th Congressional District Representative Mac Thornberry’s office.

Along with video of the event, a number of local small business owners have agreed to media interviews as well as officials from CNS and the SBDC. Their contact information is below and we would be happy to assist in setting those interviews up for you in a timely manner.

Available for Interviews:
CNS: Mike Vermeulen, CNS Supply Chain Senior Manager

WTAMU: Rick Palmer, Program Director, WTAMU SBDC Procurement Center

Businesses: Kristy Gomez/Batteries PlusBulbs, Karen Hicks/Casters of Amarillo, Inc., Belinda Waldrip/R. E. Waldrip & Co., Inc., & Michael Ramirez/High Plains Contractors and Management Group of Dumas

Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Pantex and Y-12 are key facilities in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, and CNS performs its work with a focus on the performance excellence and the imperatives of safety, security, zero defects and delivery as promised.

For more information on each site, visit www.pantex.energy.gov or www.y12.doe.gov. Follow Pantex on Facebook, X or LinkedIn. Follow Y-12 on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

It is the single goal for every professional sports team…to win a national championship. The prestige and pride is usually accompanied by a one-of-a-kind championship ring that is one of the most prized possessions in all of sports.

Now, Pantex can claim a championship ring, but not for what was done on a field of dreams, well, not directly anyway. It’s a congratulatory gift designed to acknowledge contributions made by Pantex to Kids Incorporated which helps out thousands of local kids with sporting events all year long.

Receiving this championship ring isn’t based on catching a touchdown pass or hitting a home run. It’s about how well Pantex performed off the field and the charitable contributions provided off the field to Kids, Inc. To be a member of this “Ring of Honor,” the contribution column of a business’ score card has to total more than $10,000 in donations.

The ring itself is named after Bus Dugger, the very first coach at Kids, Inc. At 95 years young, Coach Dugger was on hand at the ring ceremony to present his namesake championship finger-sized trophies. In fact, about 60 different businesses were honored as Champions, due to their donations and investment made back into the youth of Amarillo and the surrounding areas.

In 2014, Kids, Inc. had almost 16,000 kids involved in their events. This year, as they celebrate their 70th anniversary, they decided to recognize those organizations and their employees who make these programs possible.

“Pantex was one of the first companies to step up and assist us financially when we began providing medals for the kiddos at the end of each sport," states Jimmy R. Lackey, President & CEO for Kids, Incorporated. “We have many, many volunteers who are employed at Pantex. We are so grateful for the support they provide to our organization."

Pantex Site Manager Michelle Reichert expressed appreciation for the honor and stressed Pantex's commitment to Kids, Inc.

“Pantex and its employees have been long-time supporters of Kids, Incorporated and being recognized with this ‘Ring of Honor’ is something everyone out at the site can be proud of and I gladly accept this on behalf of each and every employee at Pantex,” said Reichert.

Any athlete will tell you that receiving accolades at the end of a successful season is not what competitive sports is all about. It’s about promoting and building team work, having everyone focus on a single goal and performing up to the expectations of what you and your team members committed to doing long before the season began. That is what it takes to become a true champion. In this case, just like the kids on the field of any Kids, Inc. event, Pantex and its employees can also share those same goals as they received a championship ring for their efforts of giving back to the community.

Pantexans are well known for their generosity and going “above and beyond” to help out in their communities and that spirit of giving was never more prevalent than at the recent Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Bowl For Kid’s Sake. Besides Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC being a corporate sponsor for this year’s fundraiser, Pantex employees filled lane after lane with bowlers to help raise money and awareness for the mentoring program.

It’s an all-day event with teams coming and going at Western Bowl for bowling fun and bringing in sponsorships that go directly to the BBBS organization, which serves more than 250 young men and women in the Amarillo and Canyon area. Along with those successfully matched, at any one time, BBBS may have up to 150 little brothers and sisters on their waiting list, usually from single parent homes where a young man or woman might not get the one-on-one time with an adult that they need.

At absolutely no cost to the parent, the children, or “Littles” are signed up and then matched up with a “Big” who agrees to spend a few hours a week with their match. Their mission is to help children reach their full potential through professionally supported, one-to-one mentoring relationships. Through fund-raising efforts like Bowl for Kids’ Sake, they are able to keep the program up and running. It’s a huge undertaking for the staff at BBBS, but the rewards are worth every minute spent in fundraising.

“Bowl For Kids’ Sake is one of our agency’s largest fundraisers and accounts for over 30% of our annual budget. Proceeds from the event are dedicated to program costs that directly affect the lives of the children we serve. We are able to help more than 250 children participating in our programs, thanks to our Bowl For Kids’ Sake sponsors,” said Emily Shelton Nance, executive director, BBBS of the Texas Panhandle.

Pantex employees always make up one of the largest groups to be represented with multiple teams being the norm, rather than the exception. Having the site so highly represented is also something that BBBS never takes for granted, and is very thankful for when it comes time each year to let the bowlers roll a pair of games.

“Pantex has been a cherished supporter of Bowl For Kids’ Sake. In the last nine years, more than 147 teams have participated in Bowl and provided needed funding to serve virtually hundreds of children living in our community,” added Nance.

BBBS is planning new and diverse forms of fundraising through the coming months, but it’s a sure bet that Bowl for Kids’ Sake will continue on as usual, with a great feeling of accomplishment from everyone involved, including the Pantexans who will once again takes to the lanes to make a big difference and have a little fun for some “Bigs” and “Littles” who are the real winners.