Meet the People Behind Balmert's Practical Safety Leadership Training

Gary Wigginton spent 33 years with DuPont in manufacturing, marketing, and operations leadership roles across the United States, Europe, and Latin America, including serving as plant manager of a large chemical plant with responsibility for more than 1,000 employees and four Strategic Business Units.

Under his leadership, the site achieved best-in-class safety recognition from the Texas Chemical Council and received the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. He later led the implementation of Six Sigma process improvement across his business.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Gary helps leaders translate safety expectations into practical leadership disciplines that improve alignment, execution, and day-to-day decision-making in complex operations.

Pete Robison spent 29 years with Texaco and Shell in technical, environmental, and operational improvement roles supporting refining and distribution. At Shell, he led the development of a companywide fuel quality incident tracking system that significantly reduced recurring events and became a recognized expert in root cause investigation practices.

He also supported refineries, terminals, and retail operations with environmental and regulatory guidance while mentoring technical staff and strengthening problem-solving capability across teams.

Pete brings this practical experience into the classroom by helping leaders ask better questions, investigate issues more effectively, and apply disciplined problem solving to strengthen execution.

Luis Batiz brings more than 35 years of global operations leadership experience with Union Carbide, Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Products, and TPC Group. He served as Senior Vice President of Operations for TPC Group with responsibility for manufacturing, distribution, supply chain, R&D, capital programs, and quality systems.

Luis previously led Shell's Deer Park refinery and global surfactants manufacturing operations across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Throughout his career, he consistently delivered strong safety performance across complex, high-hazard operations and played a key role in advancing process safety and compliance practices.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Luis helps leaders connect expectations, process discipline, and field execution across complex operations where safety performance depends on alignment at every level.

Bill Wilson spent 40 years with International Paper in engineering, operations leadership, supply chain, and corporate process improvement roles across multiple manufacturing facilities and business units.

He concluded his career as Director of Operations in the Supply Chain Center of Excellence, where he led the development of Lean and Six Sigma capability across the organization. Throughout his career, Bill was accountable for both performance and safety results, bringing a disciplined, structured approach to improving how work is executed.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Bill helps leaders apply structured tools to make expectations clearer, execution more consistent, and safety leadership more visible in the way work is planned, managed, and improved.

Van Long brings more than 40 years of leadership experience in the chemicals, petrochemicals, and mining industries with Union Carbide, Rhone-Poulenc, and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

His career includes roles in project engineering, maintenance, operations, plant management, corporate process safety, and Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment with responsibility for performance, safety, and workforce development across multiple complex manufacturing sites.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Van helps leaders understand how visible leadership, clear expectations, and disciplined follow-through shape safety culture across complex operations.

Nancy Sauer brings 20 years of experience with AECOM supporting major industrial clients in the oil, gas, and chemical industries through environmental program leadership and field operations management.

As a Program Manager, she led multidisciplinary teams responsible for monitoring, remediation, wastewater treatment, and environmental compliance across multiple operating sites throughout the Northeastern United States. Her work required close coordination with operations teams to execute environmental responsibilities safely and effectively in complex, high-hazard environments.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Nancy helps leaders strengthen planning, communication, and field execution so environmental and safety expectations are understood before the work begins and applied while the work is being done.

Gary Rivenes brings 30+ years of mining operations leadership experience with Rio Tinto and Cloud Peak Energy, where he advanced from frontline supervisor to Chief Operating Officer.

He has led large production and maintenance crews, managed multi-site mining operations, and held direct accountability for safety and operational performance in demanding field environments. His experience spans the full leadership path, from the work itself to executive oversight.

In addition to teaching for Balmert Consulting, Gary supports marketing and business development and serves as the lead coach for Balmert's coaching and mentoring services. As a teacher and coach, he helps leaders translate safety leadership development into practical decisions, conversations, and actions in the field.

Bill McEwen brings 44 years of experience in fertilizer manufacturing with Imperial Oil and Agrium, where he held leadership roles across operations, distribution, and network management throughout North America.

He began his career in operations and went on to lead major manufacturing and distribution facilities, including responsibility for the safe and reliable operation of pipelines, terminals, and production systems across a complex logistics network.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Bill helps leaders connect reliability, disciplined execution, and safety performance across complex operations where small leadership decisions can have large consequences.

Bruce Garthwaite brings more than 30 years of experience in offshore energy and subsea operations with Halliburton and Oceaneering, where he advanced from commercial diver to operations leadership roles.

His career includes planning and executing complex underwater construction and maintenance projects, as well as leading teams working in high-hazard offshore and manufacturing environments. At Oceaneering, he led operations with responsibility for more than 200 employees and played a key role in improving safety performance across the organization.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Bruce helps leaders prepare for high-hazard work, communicate clearly in the field, and make better decisions when execution conditions change.

Jeremy Lancaster brings more than 30 years of experience in chemical manufacturing, operational leadership, process safety, capital projects, and startup operations across multiple international regions.

His career includes assignments in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and North Africa, supporting complex industrial environments with diverse operating conditions. Before joining Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, Jeremy worked for Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, adding project execution and field construction perspective to his operating experience.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Jeremy helps leaders connect process safety, project execution, and operational discipline during startup, change, and complex field execution.

Todd Crossett brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across the oil and gas industry and public-sector executive management.

His early career included extensive work in Russia and the former Soviet Union supporting major energy clients such as ExxonMobil and BP, where he worked in complex operating environments requiring strong coordination, planning, and execution. He later served as a city manager responsible for full municipal operations, including infrastructure, workforce performance, and public safety across multiple western U.S. communities.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Todd helps leaders apply Balmert tools across different operating environments, from industrial work to public-sector service, where communication, planning, and judgment determine execution.

Brent Peterson brings more than 30 years of leadership, human resources, and organizational performance experience with Union Carbide, PepsiCo, and Becton Dickinson across diverse global operating environments.

He first met Paul Balmert at Union Carbide, where both saw how human resources, when closely connected to operations, can strengthen leadership capability and improve performance. Brent's career has focused on helping leaders build workforce capability, improve engagement, strengthen accountability, and translate expectations into practical leadership behavior.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Brent helps leaders turn expectations into behavior by strengthening communication, accountability, and the conditions that allow people to do their best work safely.

Edward Aronson brings more than 30 years of direct leadership experience in industry, combined with deep academic expertise in organizational behavior and leadership.

He holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from McGill University, with a specialization in leadership, and has taught B.Com. and M.B.A. courses at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management. Before earning his Ph.D., Edward spent more than three decades in direct leadership roles in industry.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Edward helps leaders examine how they think, communicate, and act when safety, performance, and execution depend on leadership in real operating environments.

Newton Scavone brings 40 years of experience with International Paper across engineering, operations leadership, safety, environmental management, human resources, and commercial roles throughout South America.

His career spans the full range of manufacturing leadership responsibilities, including implementation of Lean Six Sigma systems, management quality programs, and development of safety and environmental policies across large-scale operations. In 2017, he became the first certified Managing Safety Performance teacher in South America.

As a Balmert Consulting teacher, Newton helps leaders connect safety, operations, HR, and environmental responsibilities into practical leadership actions that improve execution across diverse, multilingual organizations.