Minnesota Facts
Based in Wichita, Kan., Koch Industries, Inc. is one of the largest private companies in America. It owns a diverse group of companies involved in refining, chemicals and biofuels; forest and consumer products; fertilizers; polymers and fibers; process and pollution control equipment and technologies; commodity trading and services; minerals; ranching; and investments. Since 2003, Koch companies have invested about $50 billion in acquisitions and other capital expenditures.
With a presence in nearly 60 countries, Koch companies employ about 60,000 people worldwide. In 2012, Koch companies directly employed more than 47,000 people in the United States, and supported more than 200,000 jobs and about $11 billion in compensation and benefits.
Companies in Minnesota
Flint Hills Resources, LLC, through its subsidiaries, is a leading refining, chemicals and biofuels company. Its subsidiaries market products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, biodiesel, olefins, polymers and intermediate chemicals, as well as base oils and asphalt. A subsidiary has a refinery in Rosemount with a processing capacity of about 320,000 barrels per day. The company has announced plans for more than $400 million in projects at the refinery aimed at improving reliability and the ability to convert crude oil into transportation fuel, while reducing key emissions. Another subsidiary has refined products and asphalt terminals that serve customers in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.
Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. operates pipelines that deliver crude oil to Minnesota refineries, as well as refined fuels to the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota and the upper Midwest. One pipeline supplies a large percentage of the jet fuel used at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.
Koch Nitrogen Company, LLC has terminals in Garden City, Murdock and Verdi that provide fertilizer to customers in the upper Midwest. The company and its affiliates have the capability to market and distribute more than 13 million tons of fertilizer products annually.
The C. Reiss Coal Company is a leading supplier of coal to customers throughout the Great Lakes region. The company owns and operates a coal dock in Duluth. C. Reiss also provides handling and storage for coal, petroleum coke, stone, salt and other bulk materials through a network of terminals and docks in Chicago and on Lake Erie.
Safety and Environmental Commitment
Koch companies are committed to operating businesses in a manner that protects the health and safety of employees and the public, as well as the environment by reducing waste and increasing efficiency. Koch companies’ performance is among the best in their industries. Here are some examples:
- Flint Hills Resources’ terminals in Minnesota have received the 2012 Safety Excellence Award from the International Liquid Terminals Association. The company's terminals group has also received ILTA's Platinum Safety Award, its highest honor. The awards recognize member companies that have a strong commitment to continuous safety improvement. The terminals have also earned numerous awards from the Minnesota Safety Council and the National Safety Council.
- Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend Refinery has received the Minnesota Conservation Award from Xcel Energy for saving 8.7 million kilowatt hours during 2006.
- Flint Hills Resources has emphasized refinery flaring reduction, which earned the company a Clean Air Award from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2004. Between 1999 and 2004, the company’s Minnesota refinery reduced its emissions by 50 percent, and earned a Special Recognition Certificate for Clean Air Awards Program from EPA in 2005.
- Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend Refinery has received the Minnesota Safety Council’s highest award, the Award of Honor, for exceptional safety accomplishments. The refinery has also received the Gold and Merit safety awards from American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers for its safety record. In 2009, the refinery was certified as a MNSTAR worksite for the second time by the Minnesota Department of Labor, recognizing the company’s commitment to workplace safety. It has been a MNSTAR site since 2005.
- Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. received the Distinguished Award for Outstanding Safety and Environmental Performance from the American Petroleum Institute in 2011 and 2012. The award is the organization’s highest award. It also received API’s Environmental Performance Award in 2012 and 2013. Employees reached 8 million work hours without a lost-time incident (days away from work and restricted work injuries) in December 2012.
- Koch Nitrogen Company has earned the Stewardship Award from Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company for three consecutive years and the Safe Handling Award from the Canadian National Railway Company.
Community Commitment
Together with employees, Koch companies provide financial and in-kind support, time and talent to add value in our communities. Here are a few examples:
- Through the Georgia-Pacific Foundation, the company partners with many local and statewide organizations to improve the quality of life in communities where GP employees live and work. The GP Foundation focuses support in four key areas: education, enrichment of community, environment and entrepreneurship.
- In 2000, Flint Hills Resources and Ordway Center for the Performing Arts set out to create one of the country's first international children's festivals. Today, the Flint Hills International Children's Festival is one of the best performing arts festivals of its kind not only in the United States, but in the world. The event has reached more than 350,000 people and grows more popular every year, inspiring new generations of children from all across Minnesota.
- As a premier sponsor of the Science Museum of Minnesota, Flint Hills Resources promotes science education and helps make science fun by sponsoring overnight camp-ins at the museum for children throughout Minnesota. Flint Hills "30 Schools in 30 Days" program with the Science Museum also brings hands-on science assemblies to area schools. The program has reached nearly 70,000 students during the past 13 years.
- For more than 10 years, Flint Hills Resources has partnered with Friends of the Mississippi River to enhance and restore Pine Bend Bluffs, a 1,300-plus acre of natural areas on Flint Hills' property along the Mississippi River, which provides critical habitat for both resident and migratory animals. The site has received Wildlife Habitat Council certification and was nominated for WHC Corporate Habitat of the Year and Community Partner award in 2009. It has also earned the Minnesota Environmental Initiative Award for Natural Resource Protection, and has been designated as an area of outstanding biological diversity by the Minnesota Department of Resources.
- Flint Hills Resources is a long-time supporter of Ducks Unlimited, donating more than $300,000 since 2007. Flint Hills Resources' contributions have led to the preservation and management of thousands of acres of wetlands, and other waterfowl habitat throughout Minnesota. In 2009, the organization honored Flint Hills Resources with its Diamond Heritage Award for supporting its Living Lakes Initiative.
- Project Green Fleet, an award-winning program led by Environment Initiative, started in 2005 as an effort to reduce emissions from school buses. More than 130,000 students across Minnesota ride in cleaner buses because of the program. Flint Hills Resources will donate $1 million to Project Green Fleet to support its clean air programs. The project has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as a national model for improving air quality, and earned a Clean Air Excellence Award in the Community Action category, one of only two nationwide.
- For more than 21 years, Flint Hills has provided regular fire training to our mutual aid partners in Rosemount, Inver Grove Heights, Hastings and Eagan, and for the volunteer fire departments along pipelines and for Minneapolis and St. Paul firefighters. Flint Hills also provides multi-faceted training center near the Pine Bend refinery designed for law enforcement tactical units, military personnel, and first responders. The facility is provided free to law enforcement agencies. More than 2,000 officers were trained at the facility in 2009 alone. A donation to the Marshall volunteer fire department will purchase five sets of new protective gear. Flint Hills Resources operates an asphalt plant near Marshall.
- The Learning Buddies program at the Dakota Area Resources and Transportation for Seniors matches senior volunteers with youngsters in local schools, and has expanded to 28 Dakota County elementary schools since its inception. Flint Hills Resources has sponsored the program for 15 years.
Last Updated: 05/2013
Print