BASF employee event recognizes cultural diversity
‘Harvest of Cultures’ features international food, dancing and music

GEISMAR, La., October 15, 2004 -- Employees at BASF's Geismar site recently recognized the diversity of the company’s worldwide workforce through their "Harvest of Cultures" event, which showcased everything from great international food to Scottish bagpipes.

The October 14 event featured performances and music from around the world, international foods - including jambalaya and gumbo - and many other attractions. BASF employee Kyle Frederic, recent winner of the 2004 World Champion Jambalaya Cooking Contest, cooked up big pots of spicy jambalaya and gumbo.

“We are proud of the cultural diversity that we have at the Geismar site,” said Mike Cohen, Senior Vice President and General Manager of BASF’s Geismar site. “The team approach that we take at BASF requires that employees work closely together. Such teams are able to work better when employees understand and appreciate their colleagues’ cultural diversity.”

The “Harvest of Cultures” event at the site’s picnic grounds featured a display of flags representing the countries where BASF has manufacturing facilities. Employees enjoyed a variety of music performed by the Herman Jackson Ensemble Jazz Band of Baton Rouge. The audience was also entertained by the sights and sounds of the Amite River Cloggers and Bayou Bliss, a barbershop quartet. The Baton Rouge Pipes and Drums of the Caledonian Society played Scottish tunes.

Besides the traditional Louisiana dishes, employees sampled desserts from countries ranging from Greece to France and sipped beverages from around the world. Each food item included a card that explained something about the dish and its country of origin.

Happi Scivicque, Production Associate at the Geismar site, led a team of employees that organized the “Harvest of Cultures,” which was sponsored by the company's Geismar Women and Business Issues organization.

"We have employees from many countries working at the Geismar site," said Scivicque. "We organized the ‘Harvest of Cultures’ so that we could have a good time while learning more about other cultures and celebrating our site's diversity."

BASF’s Geismar site manufactures a wide range of chemicals used in hundreds of consumer products.

For more information, contact:
Helen Cane
BASF
Tel: (225) 339-7207
E-mail: caneh@basf.com