Randall W. (Randy) Peterson
- Born 11/23/34 – Rock Island, Illinois
- University of Colorado at Boulder (BS Chemical Engineering 1956)
- Began working for Esso in Baton Rouge as a process engineer.
- Married Baton Rouge Girl, 1960, Margie Ronaldson (now deceased)
- Transferred to Chemicals Marketing – Chicago 1960
- Transferred to New York as a Chemical Product Manager 1965 (lived in Manhattan)
- 1972 – returned to Baton Rouge.
- 1974 – Started Industrial Plastics Company in Baton Rouge – Fabricated and sold specialized (corrosion resistant) plastics equipment to Gulf Coast Chemical Plants. Spent time working with process plants between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Later sold the business. and became a manufacturer’s agent (Homesite Company).
- Homesite Company began publishing Maps and Directories used by others to do business with the Gulf Coast Chemical Industry.
- 2000 – Wrote “Giants on the River” – a history of the petrochemical industry on the lower Mississippi.
- 9/11/2001 – Wrote “Gathering Storm” (after watching smoke rising from the scene) a report describing the vulnerability of the Petrochemical Industry and how to improve our security.
- 1999- 2003 part time consultant for the Louisiana Dept of Health & Hospitals on environmental history on the Mississippi River.
- 2002 – Began providing seminars on the history of Louisiana Petrochemical Industry to students and interested groups i.e. LSU (Ch E Dept), ULL (Ch E Dept) and Baton Rouge Community College, ITT Gonzales, Gonzales Rotary, etc.
- 2014 – Moved away from Paper Copies of Maps & Directories. Placed this information on the Web – http://www.chemplants.com The website included articles of interest to persons working in the industry.
- Articles included titles like:
Thank You Mr. Mitchell
Gulf Coast Ethylene Network
United States Overview of Onshore Oil & Gas (Shale) - The Website also allowed fast updates of changes in the industry and included a monthly newsletter. https://www.gcpn.online