Photo provided by Katie Mickschl Left to Right: Troy Vandiver, Koppers Logistics Manager; Kristy Laitinen, Koppers Plant Manager; Pat Boberg, Mercy EMS CEO and Paramedic, pose for a photo with Mercy EMS’s state of the art CPR machine, bought with funds donated by Koppers.

In April, Koppers donated nearly $20,000 to Mercy EMS for the purchase of a LUCAS device, a state of the art automatic CPR machine.

According to Koppers, “with a Performance Chemicals facility in Hubbell, promotes advancing a Zero Harm culture that places the well-being of employees and the strength of communities first at all times, and is being brought to fruition with this news.”

“We are happy to be able to provide this CPR device to Mercy EMS in support of our community,” said Kristy Laitinen, plant manager of Koppers Hubbell Facility. “We share a common belief with Mercy EMS: there is nothing more important than the health and safety of people. We hope this donation will be a helpful tool for our first responders who work so hard to save the lives of our family, friends and neighbors.

“Knowing that we share that common belief with Mercy EMS, Koppers elected to make this important donation in support of ensuring a safer place for all residents to live and work.”

The nearly $20,000 donation is not Koppers’ first community based act or charitable work.

The Hubbell team is actively involved in the community by supporting a number of causes through funding and volunteerism. Each year, the team sponsors and helps organize the Doghouse Race in Calumet, Michigan, as part of the CopperDog 150. We support our U.P. veterans by chartering a bus and making the trip to Escanaba to welcome several veterans home from the UP Honor Flight. In addition to our employees and their families, we have been lucky enough to have some veterans’ family and friends join us for the journey. It is such an amazing experience that we continue to grow our number of attendees each year — and possibly could expand it to two trips each year.

“Additionally, the Hubbell team makes visits to local nursing home facilities, works with 31 Backpacks (a local group that collects food and necessities for kids who might need a little help during the weekends and school breaks), conducts collections for organizations such as Keweenaw County No Kids Without Christmas, the Salvation Army and Big Brother/Friends of the elderly,” she said. “We also enjoy hosting students to learn about manufacturing/business, and Koppers has adopted a stretch of highway with MDOT Adopt A Highway roadside clean up between South Range and Atlantic Mine.”

Koppers is always excited to find more opportunities to reach out to, and improve the community.

“We love to work within the local communities and look forward to being able to once again get out and continue to visit with local residents and support organizations soon,” Laitinen said.

Koppers is a leading global wood-preservation technology company that use renewable and repurposed raw materials to protect and extend the life of infrastructure, such as railroad crossties, utility poles and decking, with their global headquarters in Pittsburg.

There are two facilities in the Copper Country:

— Hubbell, part of Koppers Performance Chemicals business segment, where employees produce intermediate copper products to be used in wood treatment preservatives such as residential decking and other outdoor structures.

— L’Anse, part of Koppers Railroad Products & Services business segment, where employees conduct scrap tie recycling as well as car cleaning as part of the railroad maintenance program.