Rather than having to stand in front of a group convincing them that safety and health makes sense, I can come here and hear you tell me how your programs reduce injuries and illnesses. That's where VPP companies excel. And every VPP site is different. IP Nursery in Selma, Alabama, and CF Industries in St. Louis, Missouri, each have only six employees. On the other end of the scale is Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, which covers 31,000 workers.
Industries vary from chemical manufacturing to a nursing home to lumber and wood products.
VPP companies make golf balls, razors and cookies. And I am delighted to share the stage today with Pete Correll, CEO of Georgia Pacific, one of the giants in proving that safety and health management is critical to successful businesses today. Some of your VPP sites have been in the program just a few months. But 51 of you have already established yourselves as monuments of excellence. You have 10 years or more in the program.