July 2017/ Special Edition
REVISTA
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REVISTA DRUMMOND
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A LIFE FULL OF GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS AND JOYS GARRY DRUMMOND, LIFE STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS SONG IN MEMORY OF MR. DRUMMOND
Garry Drummond: Leadership,
integrity and vision
Content DIRECTOR José Miguel Linares
IN HONOR OF MR. DRUMMOND 3. Quotes about Garry Drummond
EDITORIAL BOARD Alfredo Araújo Amílcar Valencia Diana Tabares Enrique Álvarez Margarita Saade Pablo Urrutia Paulo González Hillary Drummond Carolina Riaño Krystal Drummond EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE Mediática Comunicaciones
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EDITORIALS Mr. Drummond, an exemplary leader in the mining industry A valuable legacy for all
6. TRIBUTE In memory of Mr. Drummond 8. TIMELINE A life full of great achievements and joys 10. MAIN TOPIC Garry Drummond, life story in his own words 14. CURRENT NEWS Song in memory of Mr. Drummond Photos of mass and memorial service
PHOTOS Comunicaciones Drummond Ltd. Colombia DRAFTING, EDITING AND PUBLISHING Gatos Gemelos Comunicación Revista Drummond is a publication edited by Drummond Ltd. Colombia.
The opinions in the articles reflect only the view of the authors. Any full or partial reproduction of the editorial and graphic material published here without the express permission from the authors is prohibited.
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Quotes about Garry Drummond After the passing of Mr. Drummond, friends and employees wrote heartfelt messages to express their condolences and to give testimony about the positive impact he had on their lives. These are some of them:
Garry is a legend in our industry… A tremendous leader with vision, integrity and unrivaled business skills. He cared deeply for the industry and for America.” - Joe Craft, Alliance Coal
He definitely was the pioneer in Colombia.” - Mike Madden, Chief Commercial Officer at Warrior Coal
His commitment made a tremendous impact on thousands of workers and families in Colombia just as the company has done for generations in Alabama.” - Paul Vining, CEO of Foresight Energy
I just think what he did was extraordinary. There was a guy who just went ahead and did it… [Drummond] is not up there with the best. It is the best.” - Gerard McCloskey, founder of the McCloskey Group
I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Drummond personally, and the few times I saw him again he was always very kind. He had that gift with people, he always made us feel like we were his family! Although I know that my company is not perfect, I carry it in my heart, and always will. We had his support, and I can say that I have so much to be grateful to him for, and I will be thankful for everything he has given me! Not only to me, but to my country. Rest in peace Mr. Drummond. I only hope that we will continue to be the GREAT company that he created.” - Ana Milena Molano Arbelaez - Construction, Drummond Port
God calls upon the good men to be by his side, great for his human qualities, great for his humility, and today God calls upon Mr. Garry Drummond for the great human being that he was, for generating wellbeing for an entire country. My most sincere condolences and thank you for changing the life of my family. Thank you.” - Sergio Andres Royero Romero - Materials, Pribbenow Mine
That God in his infinite grace will always have you present. You were and will always be one of the best human beings in the world. Thanks to you, my daughter and I have a future. May the Lord enlighten you always.” - Luz Stella Tinjaca - Truck Operator, Pribbenow Mine
Today, we lost a good man, full of great human qualities, a person with a noble heart who believed in a country like Colombia, a country that would receive and accept him with open arms, a man with a vision for the future who projected investment and who never took a break until he built a good, large, and solid company with human capital who responded and will continue to do so with responsibility and effort. Mr. Drummond, my family and I are grateful because we are who we are thanks to God and you. The life projects that have been carried out were achieved because you believed in the Colombian worker, and your generosity was so great. God bless your family and the country where you were born. Thank you, Drummond family, we can simply have you in our prayers in return for everything we’ve received. Rest in peace.” - Edgar Ricardo Acosta Acosta - Security, Bogota office
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Editorial
Mr. Drummond, an exemplary leader
in the mining industry
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n June 1975, on a Saturday, I was interviewed for an engineering position at Drummond Company, Inc. and met Garry Drummond for the first time. He breezed in and asked me a couple of questions and welcomed me aboard and then was gone. My first recollection of Garry was that he was wide-open. He was an executive that knew every detail that was going on in every aspect of the business. His grasp was far and wide. He was intense and it was impossible to keep up with him. He was a detailed engineering guy when he put his engineering hat on, but he could put on a sales hat or a banking hat just as easily. In fact he had a lot of different hats that he could wear. When he would put on his engineering hat, we would get into the minute details of a piece of equipment and how to use it more efficiently, and what it would cost if we tweaked this or that. It was mostly innovations in the equipment itself and how to get it to yield success during market downturns. It was not uncommon to get a phone call from Garry any time, day or night. One Saturday he called when I was at Home Depot picking up something for the house. Whenever he called it was all business. That day he was calling me about a mining problem in Colombia. I walked around Home Depot and finally found a 5 gallon bucket and turned it over and sat on it in the middle of the store, with people walking all around me and giving me funny looks, and we had a brainstorming session on solving a mining issue we were facing in Colombia. Garry taught me so many lessons in business, particularly on the value of integrity and honesty. I also learned from him how to deal with various personalities, the communities, and how to deal with customers. He taught me a lot in general about the coal industry. Garry was probably the most honest person I have ever known. He would deal with any problem straight on. If there is one thing I would want people to know, it is that Garry really loved children, as you can plainly
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Mike Tracy, CEO
see in his big smiling face in a picture of him at the mine in Colombia with a child on his shoulders. He loved spending time with the kids on family days. He gave a lot of money to children’s charities and had a special place in his heart for them. He always wanted to give back and help people. He was one of the most kindhearted people I have ever known, and at the same time one of the toughest people I have ever known. Garry had been such a part of my life for so long. He was always there, and I have a hard time believing he is gone. When you work for this company and work directly for Garry like I did, I was integrated into part of his life. We went to ball games together and played golf together. We did things together as family. We dedicate this issue of Revista Drummond to Garry Drummond. This special edition will take us through Garry’s life in his own words. It also details many of his accomplishments during his lifetime, quotes from many of his friends and business partners, and photos that will remind us of his great character, determination and kind heart. We know that there will never be enough words to express how much he meant to all of us here at the Drummond family of companies, but we hope this magazine gives you a little glimpse. We will truly miss him.
A valuable
legacy for all
José Miguel Linares, President
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hen I first met Garry Drummond in the mid-eighties, I was a young lawyer working in a firm that helped him establish the company in Colombia. One of the things that encouraged me to join the company later on was Mr. Drummond´s tireless work ethic, straight forward demeanor and honesty. His clear objectives proved beneficial to the company’s workers and hundreds of families, who thanks to his vision and fighting spirit, forged a great company. Although he is no longer with us, the memory of his wide smile and the honest look of a just man will live in the memory of those of us who had the privilege of knowing him.
employees, close to four thousand contractors and tens of thousands more who benefit indirectly, Garry Drummond´s vision and resolve has been providing major sources of revenue for the departments of Cesar, Magdalena, and Colombia as a nation. This company not only benefits the thousands of people who proudly contribute to fulfill its business objectives; it also supplies coal to countries around the globe, with which they in turn generate the energy they need for their sustainable development. I am proud to call myself a member of the extended Drummond family, and very proud to have known a great human being like Garry Drummond. He is sorely missed.
Evidence of his legacy lies in the effort he constantly made to make our planet a better world through the multiple social initiatives and noble causes that he supported, both in the US and in Colombia. Leading by example, all of these values --such as the importance of family-- were very important to him, and he conveyed this to all who worked with and for him. When presented with the opportunity, Mr. Drummond bet on Colombia. With nearly five thousand direct
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Tribute
In memory
of Mr.
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Mike Tracy, CEO
“Garry taught me so many lessons in business, particularly on the value of integrity and honesty. I also learned from him how to deal with various personalities, the communities, and how to deal with customers. He taught me a lot in general about the coal industry. Garry was probably the most honest person I have ever known. He would deal with any problem straight on.”
...“We know that there will never be enough words to express how much he meant to all of us here at the Drummond family of companies, but we hope this magazine gives you a little glimpse. We will truly miss him”.
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Timeline
A life full of great
achievements and joys JUNE 8, 1938 - JULY 13, 2016 Garry Neil Drummond was always a visionary who believed anything was possible. For him, obstacles were merely challenges to overcome, and he demonstrated this in the way he led the company. He was also characterized by his strong sense of social responsibility, leading him to make significant contributions to the development of the communities in Drummond’s areas of influence. The following timeline highlights some of his greatest professional achievements:
Graduated from the University of Alabama in Civil Engineering, began working at Drummond Company.
Began working in the mines (age 14).
1938 Born in Sipsey, Alabama.
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1952 1956 H.E. Drummond, founder of the Drummond Company and Garry’s father, passed away.
1961
Garry was named CEO of Drummond Company.
1970 Drummond Co. established first sales agreement with Japan facilitated by Garry Drummond.
1973
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hen he was just 14 years old, Mr. Drummond started working at the mines and came to learn in-depth about the coal industry in all its aspects. Those early steps are reflected clearly in what the company is today and in the legacy he left us. Mr. Drummond’s story fills us with inspiration, unity, and hope, encouraging us to take on the responsibility of continuing to forge this great dream and strengthen this great family through our day-to-day work to promote the
socioeconomic development of the country. Mr. Drummond left us a solid foundation on which we can continue to build a better industry and a better world. As we do our work with excellence, we honor his name.
For him, obstacles were merely challenges to overcome, and he demonstrated this in the way he led the company.
Drummond Co. acquired El Descanso mining concession in Colombia.
Drummond Co. acquired its first Colombian Coal Concession, which eventually became Pribbenow Mine.
ITOCHU Corporation became a 20% partner in Drummond’s Colombian operations.
Inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.
1976 1986 1987-1989 1997 2003 2011 2016 Drummond Co. signed a twomillion annualton contract for 15 years with Alabama Power for Plant Miller. To fulfill this contract, the company purchased three 115-cubic yard draglines.
Awarded University of Alabama Outstanding Alumnus.
Inducted into Alabama Business Hall of Fame.
Passed away at his home in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Main Topic
Garry Drummond life story in his own words
Excerpts from various speeches, compiled by Hillary Drummond First, let me tell you a little more about Garry Drummond. I was born in Sipsey, Alabama, in Walker County; went to school there, and later went to high school in Jasper. I was one of seven children, with two sisters and four brothers. My dad was in the coal mining business, having started his Drummond Company in 1935 when he opened a small mule-and-wagon coal mining operation.
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learned many things from my father while growing up, in that I saw the stresses and strains of a small company, undercapitalized, competing in a tough business. From this experience, the one thing that stands out, even today, was learning perseverance. I can remember during my early high school days that I worked with the company during the summer. Life seemed pretty normal for me up until my senior year. But then, in my senior year, my dad died of heart failure at the age of 50, and suddenly the business was in the hands of the family, especially my two older brothers who had been working full-time with my dad. I went to Auburn that fall and I wasn’t quite adjusted to college life –still an adolescent and thoroughly frustrated. This is an experience I don’t like to talk about…the only thing in my life that I can remember quitting when it was important. I quit college in the middle of the semester and came home. Until this day it comes back to haunt me and bothers me that I quit something. And as I look back on my history as a father, as a business person and engineer, and as chief executive of the company, the one thing that stands out in my mind is that the major difference in winning and losing –and I know this sounds trite –has been not quitting. You know the expression—“It’s always darkest just before the dawn”…A lot of times, the company saw the dawn because we didn’t quit.
period of time, during the cold winter, I was the low man on the totem pole… primarily, I was a coal cleaner and drill operator. The next fall, I enrolled at Walker College to study pre-engineering for two years, and after graduation, I was the proud owner of an associate degree in engineering and father of two young bouncing boys. So I was off to the University of Alabama. When I started the University I had two children, and when I graduated I had three. I recall that my last math course was in differential equations, which I took during my last summer in school. After being up all night the night before at the hospital in Birmingham for the birth of my third son, I walked into the class and handed the professor a cigar and he handed me the final exam. So when I graduated [college] in 1961, I went back to Jasper, Alabama, to rejoin my brothers in the business. Why did I do that? My grades were fairly good and I had some of the better job offers, but chose to go back in business with the brothers—because I loved the coal business and knew something about it. We had a small company…It was something to be built.
From this experience, the one thing that stands out, even today, was learning perseverance.
So I returned to Jasper and went into the business with my brothers. Drummond Company consisted of four employees at that time—myself, my two brothers plus one more outside employee. The business at that time was a very small one, simply providing a livelihood for the family after my father’s death. The next eight to nine months of my life was a learning experience. I had worked every summer in the mines with my dad, so I knew what work was about. But I did it only in the summer time and had the reprieve back to school during the winter. By this
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Main Topic
Our investment in Colombia is the strongest testimony one could give for belief in the future of that country. I believe in the future of Colombia.
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During the following year we had to handle a make-or-break decision. In 1962, we started a new operation that required us to invest some $300,000. The operation was having cash flow problems, and even though it was manageable, it was scary at the time. A decision was about to be made to quit with this operation, and default on payment of a large commitment we had for the purchase of equipment. After a lot of discussion it was decided that we would gut it up, and go ahead with the operation and not quit. As I look back at the history of the Drummond Company today, it is just as important in my mind now as it was back in 1962—that default was the wrong thing to do.
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Our company would not be the company that it is today, and maybe no company at all, if we had not made the right decision at that moment. The past 50 years have been the growth period for our company. From a ten-million-dollar asset business as late as 1970 to a company with billions of dollars in sales today. We have truly become an international company. This was done by a private company—a company owned by my immediate family. We compete in a business that’s owned mostly by large publicly held international corporations with access to public equity.
Drummond is primarily in the coal business, but we are also the largest producer of foundry coke for the U.S. casting industry. We are also in the real estate business in the U.S., with developments featuring world-class golf courses. But coal is primary. Why? Because coal is here to stay as a major supplier for energy and other very necessary uses. Coal is absolutely vital for the economy of the world and the health of its people. And that is not going to change any time soon. Drummond Company is extremely impressed with its potential in Colombia and has confidence in its future there. Since I am investing my family’s money and not the money of thousands of stockholders, to me, our investment in Colombia is the strongest testimony one could give for belief in the future of that country. I believe in the future of Colombia. What is the future for coal? Coal is here to stay, and it will remain as one of the solid foundations of the world’s energy requirements for the future. And those requirements are staggering. Increased energy use is both the fuel for growing economic systems, and the inevitable result of this growth.
have, or should we diversify our investment to other forms of energy, or other businesses? Coal is going to grow. I’m betting my future and my family’s future on just that. Coal is here to stay. I would like to leave you with this thought. The improvement in the lifestyle of the people of the world depends on energy. The economic well-being and the reduction of poverty among the very people of the world depend on energy. The very existence of the people of the world depends on energy. And I’m very proud to be in the production of energy. In closing, coal has been good for the Drummond family. In 1943, my dad borrowed $300 to carry on his business. He mortgaged three mules as collateral for this loan. We have lived the American dream. We have lived the entrepreneurial dream.
At Drummond, we have looked seriously at the question: Should we as an independent company invest in coal to the extent that we
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Current News
Song in memory of Mr. Drummond Eduard Chavez BeleĂąo - Loader Operator, Roads - Group 1, Pribbenow Mine, composed a song in honor of Mr. Drummond, in which he expresses his sincere admiration, affection, and respect for everything he did for the company and for Colombia.
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r. Drummond’s enterprising spirit brought benefits to thousands of Colombians and continues even now to produce a positive impact on our lives. He left an indelible imprint on our hearts that spurs us on to be better day by day. Through this song, one of our workers expresses this mixture of emotions.
LYRICS FROM THE SONG ABOUT MR. DRUMMOND: Yesterday, the lights were off And the shovel moved no coal Because the mines were in mourning The news we heard at the company Caused grief in our families Now, they will remember Many farms, properties and towns La Loma, Cesar, my Becerril and La Jagua de Ibriico We cannot forget It was your company that made us different
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Trumpets of my town have been quiet Since we learned that Mr. Garry went away They are sad, they continue to cry Because the one who gave them the most has passed But that is the way this world works When you least expect it, your time comes So today we say our last goodbye Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Mr. Garry Drummond
Photos of mass
and memorial service A heartfelt ceremony was held at the facilities at the Mines, at which the workers were able to say goodbye to Mr. Drummond. The following are some photographs of the service, which put in evidence the affection and admiration his employees feel for him.
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REVISTA
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