The Shadow
COVINGTON, VIRGINIA – December 2023 – WestRock’s Alleghany Highlands Operations announces position changes that were announced internally in September and October 2023.
Cyntoria Vaughn accepted the position of safety rotational associate in the Safety department. This is her second rotation. During her rotation, she will complete specific safety and industrial hygiene projects. Vaughn’s first assignment was at WestRock in Hendersonville, NC.
Vaughn graduated from Louisville Central High School in Louisville, KY. She received both her B. S. in Criminal Justice in 2020 and her M.S. in Safety, Security, and Emergency Management with a concentration in Occupational Safety in 2022 from Eastern Kentucky University. Before joining WestRock, Vaughn interned at Fayette County Public Schools from January 2021 to December 2022 and worked at General Electric as a machine operator from August 2015 to January 2019.
Craig Buchanan accepted the position of project engineer in Engineering. In this position, Buchanan is responsible for coordinating the safety, planning, organization, and completion of capital projects, managing and coordinating safety and environmental reviews for projects during the design and construction phases, managing all design and construction of approved capital projects, and completing FEP I, FEP II, and FEP III engineering studies for capital jobs.
Buchanan graduated from Oak Hill High School in Oak Hill, WV, and he earned his ADDA drafting certification from Fayette Institute of Technology in Oak Hill, WV, in 2014. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Fairmont State University, Fairmont, WV, in 2018. In 2017, Buchanan served as an engineering intern for Toyota Manufacturing in Buffalo, WV. He joined Murray Energy Corp. in Metz, WV, in 2018 as an operations engineer / maintenance mechanic. Buchanan began work at Modine Manufacturing Company, Buena Vista, VA, as a manufacturing engineer in 2019. He returned to Toyota North America in Buffalo, WV, as a powertrain production engineer in 2021.
Alex Kessinger accepted the position of reliability lead engineer. In this role he is responsible for mill-wide equipment reliability improvements. Kessinger will serve as the plant’s pressure vessel quality control manager and will oversee the mills R-Stamp repair program.
Kessinger earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering Technology from East Tennessee State University in 1989 and his MBA from Liberty University in 2008. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1990 to 1995. He worked as a project superintendent for Insituform Technologies in Atlanta, Georgia, from September 1995 until June 1996. He began his career with Westvaco in 1996, holding the positions of GMC field engineer, C1 maintenance planner, reliability engineer, and AMS in Area III and
Area I. Kessinger accepted the position of director of administrative services for Alleghany Public Schools in 2004. He rejoined MWV in 2006, and served as power engineer, power superintendent, and shift operations manager. In 2016, Kessinger joined Packaging Corporation of America in Deridder, LA, as the mechanical and electrical maintenance superintendent. In 2017, he accepted the position of maintenance manager at
Greif, Inc, in Amherst, VA. In 2020, Kessinger returned to his hometown of Covington and joined the West Virginia Great Barrel Company as maintenance manager. In 2021, he returned to the Covington mill as planner on C1.
Charles Wright accepted the position of senior financial analyst. In this position, his area of responsibility is Low Moor which includes raw material consumption, FP&A reporting, forecasting and budgeting, standard costing, KPI reporting, and cost management. Wright will also be providing support to the mill finance team.
Wright earned his MBA from Liberty University in 2016. He completed his Lean / Six Sigma certification at the University of San Antonio in 2022. He accepted the position as manager of operations at the Ninth Street Parlor in Lynchburg, VA, in 2015. Wright then joined Munters Global in 2020 as a manufacturing engineer and was promoted to head of Financial Planning in 2021.
Bruce Lowman accepted the position of safety coordinator in the Safety department. In this position, he is responsible for providing safety and health support to finished products and Area 1 maintenance.
Lowman graduated from Covington High School in 1988 and has an Advanced Safety Certificate from the Chesapeake Regional Safety Council. He began his career with Westvaco in 1989 in the General Utilities department. Lowman joined the Unbleached Pulp Mill in 1993 and moved up through the progression to washer operator. In 2009, Lowman was accepted into the electrical journeyman / apprenticeship. He earned his E&I Journeyman certification in 2012 through Dabney S. Lancaster Community College. He earned his Journeyman Advanced / Electrical certification in 2013. Lowman served as the hourly safety facilitator in the Safety department from 2014 to 2018. He returned to the E&I department in 2018.
Kevin Ellison accepted the position of IT operational business relationship manager in Covington. In this position, he will partner with mill and plant leadership to understand business IT&D needs and to help ensure strategic alignment at the regional and local level. Ellison will ensure adequate and effective services are provided to each facility from IT & digital functions. He will help support business continuity as the onsite IT support services are shifted to HCL. Part of Ellison’s responsibilities will be to provide proximity to stakeholders, decision makers, and end users in order to effectively increase standardization, drive digitization, and provide a scalable and secure foundation for the Covington mill.
Ellison earned a B.S. in Business Administration, and a B. S. in Management Information Systems, with a minor in Economics in 1988 from West Virginia Institute of Technology. He earned his MBA from Averette College in 2000. Ellison traveled the US while working in commercial painting and sandblasting in the late 1970’s before returning to college. He worked his way through college while employed at Kroger. He joined Westvaco in 1989 and became the tech team lead for IT Field Services.
