COVINGTON, VIRGINIA – WestRock’s Alleghany Highlands Operations announces position changes that were announced internally in June 2023.
Edwin Johnson accepted the position of tour leader in Plant Protection. In this position, he is responsible for checking fire extinguishers, hose stations, and fire alarms, as well as making security check rounds throughout the plant, answering fire and rescue calls, and conducting incident investigations.
Johnson graduated from Lexington High School in 1982 and from Ferrum College with his A.A.S. in Fine Arts in 1986. Johnson joined Walmart in 2005 and was promoted to assistant manager in 2008. He began work for Garda World as a temperature screener in 2020, and then he accepted a position in the Woodyard as a scaler in 2021.
Amir Young accepted the position of security guard in Plant Protection. In this position, he will manage security gate access, mill evacuation systems, dispatch fire and rescue response calls, monitor security cameras, and issue daily visitor passes.
Young graduated from Covington High School in 2018. He joined EKG Security in 2022.
Bob Rodgers accepted the position of superintendent – C2. In this position, he will be responsible for the daily operations of C2, including safety, housekeeping, quality, and production.
Rodgers began his career with Westvaco in 1991 as a laborer on the Extra Board. In 1992, he transferred to the General Utility department as a laborer. Later that year, Rodgers accepted the position of screen assistant in the Unbleached Pulp Mill. In 1993, he moved to C2 as a utility assistant. Rodgers progressed to fourth assistant in 1994 and to third assistant in 2003. In 2009, Rodgers accepted the position of foreman, and in 2012, he assumed the role of validator on C2. In 2016, he accepted the position as operations supervisor on C2.
Jason Wood accepted the position of fiberline assistant superintendent in the Woodyard. In this position, he is responsible for the overall day-to-day operations of the Woodyard, including safety, manning, production, quality, and compliance.
Wood received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University in 1999. Before earning his degree, he was enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp infantry from 1988 – 1992. He accepted his first engineering position at Huntsman Petrochemicals in February 1999 before joining Graphic Packaging as a research engineer in February 2000. At Graphic Packaging, he held several positions in the Power, Recovery, and Caustic department including process engineer (2000), production supervisor (2005), product engineer (2006), and senior product engineer (2008). In February 2011, he was promoted to fiber superintendent. Wood joined WestRock in 2015 as an assistant superintendent in
Recovery at the Covington mill before being promoted to Recovery superintendent. In 2020, Wood moved back to West Monroe, LA, as powerhouse assistant superintendent at Graphic Packaging.
Freddy Hobbs accepted the position of process improvement leader. In this position, Hobbs will help instill Lean Six Sigma principles into the mill processes and help drive the use of Lean Six Sigma tools to facilitate operational and cost excellence.
Hobbs received his B.S. in Paper Science and Engineering from NC State in 2014. After graduation in 2014, he accepted a position of associate engineer with Domtar, in Kingsport, TN. In December 2014, Hobbs accepted the position of utilities department process engineer and in 2015, accepted the position of shift supervisor, Bleached Pulp Mill. In 2017, he was promoted to wet-end coordinator and then in 2018 he moved to
No. 4 paper machine area owner. His last position with Domtar was paper mill superintendent in 2019. Hobbs joined WestRock in March of 2020 as a C1 wet-end engineer.