Renewable energy company Drax partnered with the Gloster Chamber of Commerce to bring a little beauty to the town’s Main Street. On Thursday, May 30, 2024, Drax employees from the Gloster plant and the company’s corporate headquarters in Monroe, LA, joined Chamber members to repaint planters, replace flower decorations, and add new dirt and mulch to those newly painted planters.
“Economic development can take many forms,” says Matt White, Drax Executive Vice President of North America Operations.“For many communities, Main Street is the welcome sign to their towns and cities. Beautification efforts, like the one undertaken by our Drax employees and the Gloster Chamber of Commerce, will help the town put its best foot forward and potentially lure new business and industry to Gloster and the surrounding region.”
Thursday’s project is just another example of Drax’s commitment to Gloster and the surrounding region. The latest commitments from Drax to Gloster residents include:
- Dedicated $250,000 Gloster Fund: Will allow Drax to continue making lasting, positive impacts in the community and will be earmarked specifically for Gloster projects and initiatives that are designed to improve quality of life and support grassroots activities as part of our commitment to being a good neighbor.
- Community Advisory Panel: To help Drax deepen community engagement and more effectively respond to community needs, we created a community advisory panel in Gloster that is made up of community leaders and citizens to help inform Drax’s future investments in the region. This panel will help identify local priority issues and projects to be supported with the Gloster Community Fund. We’ll be identifying panel member in June 2024.
- Career & Job Opportunity Assistance: Drax leadership committed to working with the town to share job openings and opportunities. In addition to posting to the Gloster webpage, the jobs will be posted on the Gloster Town Hall community information board. Drax has also committed to working with Amite County High School and Southwest Mississippi College and Workforce Center to create easier pathways into Drax employment.
- Donation of Computers: To help support educational and tutoring efforts organized by local organizations, including the Gloster Chamber of Commerce, Drax will donate computers to the Town of Gloster. The computers will be housed at the Gloster National Guard Armory where residents can use them for educational and research purposes.
- Annual Town Hall Meetings: To better communicate and respond directly to community questions and concerns.
- Bi-annual Focus Groups: To better understand and address community sentiment.
- New Community Manager: To help coordinate town halls and focus groups, Drax will welcome a new Community Manager in the coming weeks. This position will cover community engagement for Drax operations in the southern U.S., including Gloster.
- Gloster Updates Webpage: Drax is launching a dedicated Gloster webpage that include frequently asked questions, detailed information about the plant and links to the most recent job openings.
“The Gloster Chamber of Commerce took this activity on to beautify the town,” said Kelvin Cotton, Chamber President. “We had flowerpots on the streets that were fading out, so we took this on to make our Main Street look good. These small changes make a big impact; it makes people want to come back to our town, but it also instills a sense of pride in our town.”
To learn more about Drax’s Community Fund our efforts in Mississippi, visit www.drax.com/ms.
Contact Information:
Michelli Martin
Communications Manager, US
318-372-3988
[email protected]
About Drax
Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future and in 2019 announced a world-leading ambition to be carbon negative by 2030, using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology.
Drax’s approximately 3,000 employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production and supply to third parties. For more information, visit www.drax.com.
