What’s keeping cottage grove mn from closing? Is the site still profitable? Or, is the costs of remediation the hold up on shutting down operations minus wastewater. Just curious if I should plan being able to retire from 3M, or look at other options. Overall I have no gripes, decent pay, benefits etc for what is expected of me day to day.
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@ag same can be said for 3M Decatur chemical site, zero money being invested in anything other than water treatment, there are no new products in the pipe line and no equipment upgrades, using the same systems that are 30 to 40 years old. Management is hiding numbers from investors with constant site shutdowns to “save money”, leaving their employees without pay for a week or two every quarter…
Yes, too many managers at 3M who are way above their head because of their status and their perceived sense of superiority because of their feeling of Boss complex !
Technically poor, zero people management skills, yet they get promoted like clock work. They get promoted every 3 to 4 years until they reach the position of a Lab Director, provided they can toe the line and continue doing horsework for upper mant.
What value does middle management bring to the table ?? Why maintain this vast army of middle managers across the enterprise? When growth companies like Amazon and Google are actively getting rid of management ranks, why is 3M not taking action.
Cottage Grove was my last stop in a long 35 year career at 3M. Unfortunately I was one of 2000 people let go in 2015 due to cost cutting to make 2016 Q1 forecasts. At that time the director of the site was in way over his head having been promoted to that position after being only a plant manager at a small plant in Nebraska. His forte was six sigma processes which he used to almost dismantle one of the best Plant Engineering groups in the company. Once the blood letting started, valuable people left in droves to be at 3M Center or even voluntarily retired because of his poor leadership. They have had problems keeping good people to stay ever since because of the climate he created. A sad story.
Cottage Grove is not profitable at this time. PE has to trim 3.5 mil$,Chem has exceeded their out of spec limit for the year.
When's the last time 3M invested any real money at the site. It's earned the nickname Garbage Grove because of the disinvestment over the last 25 years. Desi was the last guy to care about the site. Given the forever chemicals reputation, BB would rather have it dissolve into the Mississippi River.
It would bring a lot of really bad press and scrutiny (probably from POTUS as well) if they closed it.
There are still some areas at CG that are critical to the company and not easily moved or replicated. I know one area that would be at least $150M and 5 years to replicate/move and underpins about $1.5B in sales as a sole source.
The site will not leave 3Ms ownership for a very long time because of the remediation. Even if all the production shut down.
I would also be equally stunned if any significant new products/processes came to the site anytime soon.
If you are 10 or less years from retirement, I would worry about it. However, closing the incinerator in 2021 was clearly a sign 3M is not planning of a long-term presence. Remember, they tried to get a permit to bring in non 3M waste years ago to fill capacity but we're rebuffed. The WWTP will be running for a century.