From left to right, top row, are Nathan Brown, Devin Corbett, and Vista Stewart. Bottom row, left to right, are Mike Sanders, John Fertig, Tyler Totten and Chris Hatcher.

WestRock's Covington Mill Announces Position Changes   Covington, VA (Dec. 16, 2021) - WestRock’s Covington mill announces position changes that were internally announced in October and November. Nathan Brown has accepted the position of No. 1 Power Boiler supervisor in Power. In this position, he is responsible for planning and executing daily maintenance and the annual shut-down, assisting crews with troubleshooting, capital planning, and tracking KPIs. Brown earned his degree in paper technology from Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in 1999, and a degree in IT / Networking and security management from ECPI in 2005. He joined Nalco in 1999, as a technical service representative and progressed through several positions to account manager. After 19 years at Nalco, Brown accepted the position of water treatment engineer in the Covington mill’s Power department in 2018. Devin Corbett has accepted the position of power assistant superintendent. In this position, he will be responsible for the daily operation of the Power department. Corbett earned his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2013. He earned his Professional Engineer certification in July 2018. Corbett interned at the mill in the Power department during summer 2011 and in Fiberline with Area IV Maintenance during summer 2012. In July 2013, he joined the mill as a process engineer and completed a rotation on the No.1 Power Boiler. Corbett accepted the position of validator in the Power department in September 2014, and moved to the position of water treatment engineer in April 2015. He accepted the position of power supervisor in 2018. Vista Stewart has accepted the position of environmental engineer in the Environmental department. In this position, she is responsible for solid waste and air compliance. Stewart earned her B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1993. She joined the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in the Water Pollution Control division in 1993 as a wastewater / storm water inspector and progressed to environmental engineer. In 1995, Stewart accepted a position as environmental engineer with Science Application International Corporation (SAIC) at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, TN, and accepted a transfer with (SAIC) to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Storm Water division in 1997. She joined Chalmette Refining, LLC (joint venture of ExxonMobil and PDVSA) in 2007, as a release reporting advisor. Stewart accepted the position of wastewater contact engineer with ExxonMobil in their Baton Rouge, LA, complex in 2009, and Polymers Air Permitting & Compliance coordinator in 2010, and STOP / storm water program Coordinator in 2013. Stewart joined Weston Solutions in Houston, TX, as a technical / project manager in 2014, before moving to KMCO, LLC, in Houston, TX, in 2015, as an environmental manager / senior air compliance engineer. Stewart joined Cenovus Energy / Husky Energy at the Lima Refining Company in Lima, OH, as an air compliance team lead in 2019. Mike Sanders has accepted the position of vibration analyst in the Maintenance department. In this position, Sanders is responsible for monitoring vital equipment for the prevention of catastrophic failure that can cause unscheduled downtime throughout the mill. Sanders graduated from Covington High School in 1983 and Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in 1985 with a two-year certificate in electronics. He served in the Air Defense squadron of the United States Army from 1985 - 1989. Sanders joined MWV, in September 1990, on the Extra Board. He moved to No. 5 & 8 Paper Machine Loading in 1991, No. 5 Paper Machine in 1992, and No. 1 Paper Machine in 1993. Sanders was accepted into the Millwright Apprenticeship program in 1999 and became a journeyman millwright in 2003. He completed his multi-craft pipefitter training in 2014, and Welding in 2018. Sanders obtained a Thermal Photography Level 1 certification in 2016. He has worked in Maintenance since 1999. John Fertig has accepted the position of training and development manager in Human Resources. In this position, he is responsible for planning and tracking training, managing documentation, developing content, identifying skill gaps, measuring and evaluating results, improving site training processes, and role specific on-boarding. Fertig graduated from Radford University in 1998, with a B.S. degree in Technical Geography, Averett / UVA, in 2001, with a teacher certification, and NC State, in 2015, with a MS in Forest Biomaterials. Fertig joined the Bath County school system in 2000, as a teacher and coach. He moved to the Covington school system in 2006, as a teacher and coach. Fertig accepted a position at the Covington mill in 2008, as a utility assistant on No. 2 Paper Machine, and transferred to No. 1 Paper Machine in 2010. He moved to the Recovery department in 2011 as a 2nd assistant. Fertig accepted the position of hourly training systems administrator in 2015. Tyler Totten has accepted the position of water treatment engineer in the Power department. In this position, he is responsible for the supervision of raw water and filtered water treatment, DI units, boiler deaerators, SO2 scrubbers, and mill air production. Totten graduated from Fairmont State University, in 2018, with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. In May 2017, he joined the Covington mill as a process engineer co-op. Totten joined MEC construction, in April 2018, as an AutoCAD technician and then accepted a position, in August 2018, with Mersen USA in Salem, Virginia, as a mechanical design engineer. In 2019, Totten accepted the position of process engineer in the Fiberline and later that year accepted the position of environmental engineer. Chris Hatcher has accepted the position of validator on C8. In this position, he is responsible for coordinating maintenance activities to optimize paper machine runnability. He will also work to improve the papermaking process by implementing new equipment and strategies. Hatcher earned his A.A.S. in Electrical Engineering Technology from Skyline College in March 2013, and joined ManPower as a computer operator in 2014. He was hired full-time at the Covington mill as a field services technician in April 2015. In 2017, Hatcher accepted the position of quality systems coordinator for the QA department.

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