De La Cruz says goodbye to River Region

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Effective Monday, I will be transferring to Marathon Petroleum Company’s corporate headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, to assume the role of Manager, Diversity & Inclusion.

I’m honored to be trusted with this position and look forward, with great anticipation, to many new challenges and adventures.

However, before I leave, I wanted to take this moment to thank our community for the opportunity to partner over the last five years on multiple key initiatives.

I am also grateful to Marathon Petroleum for the chance to work in Garyville and for the many challenges and inspirations that have accompanied my role.

My time here has been a blessing. I have valued and enjoyed every experience I had and I look forward to hearing about the many successes that St. John Parish and its community will continue experiencing in the future.

During my tenure at Garyville, I’ve had the privilege of working with many educational, religious, parish and statewide leaders on important items that have had lasting impacts on me — and I hope our efforts have also had lasting impacts on the community.

My replacement, Keith Hightower, will soon arrive in Garyville to assume my responsibilities, and I look forward to his leadership in this area.

As I close, I am pleased to mention the annual San Francisco Plantation Festival (“Frisco Fest”) will take place March 5 and 6 of this year, and I encourage all of you to attend.

This festival is always fun and entertaining, and we hope to see as many of you there as possible!

My best to you all and God bless.

Jaime De La Cruz is Manager, Diversity & Inclusion. He can be reached at jjdelacruz@marathonpetroleum.com.